A 56‑year‑old female snorkeller on holiday from the USA on the Caribbean island of St Croix has died following a suspected shark bite.
The fatal incident occurred yesterday (8 January) at around 4.40pm. The US Virgin Islands Police Department (VIPD) reported that the 911 emergency call-centre had received multiple reports of a snorkeller believed to have been bitten by a shark at Dorsch Beach on the island’s west coast.
Marine units and fire and ambulance crews were dispatched to the scene, where it was confirmed that the woman had lost an arm. A US nurse and former lifeguard, Christopher Carroll, had swum out and brought her back to the beach.
Initial reports indicating the possibility of a second victim were later dismissed following searches.
The woman was identified by a family-member, understood to be her husband Richard, as Arlene Lillis from Detroit Lakes, Minnesota. She was taken to Juan F Luis Hospital, but later died of her injuries.
The islands’ government expressed condolences to the family and commended beachgoers and first responders for their actions at the scene. The VIPD stated that an investigation was ongoing, requesting anyone with information to contact the Virgin Islands Criminal Investigation Bureau.
Shark bites recorded in the US Virgin Islands are very rare, with only a handful of documented cases over many decades.
In 1972 two oceanic whitetip sharks were deemed responsible for the loss of a diver in Cane Bay, and in 2020 a nurse shark injured a snorkeller’s hand at Candle Reef, both sites off St Croix, the largest of the US Virgin Islands.
