U.S. authorities announced that "a 65-year-old woman was attacked by a predatory shark at Rockaway Beach, marking the first attack in New York City waters in decades." A spokesperson for the city’s parks department noted that "the woman, named Tatyana Koltuniyuk, reportedly from Ukraine, was bitten on her left leg while swimming near Beach 59, with the shark tearing off a portion of her leg, leaving a wide and deep wound several inches long." Koltuniyuk was swimming alone when lifeguards heard her scream for help, according to a police report, which confirmed that her condition is "serious but stable."
The police report stated that "the woman lost about 20 pounds of flesh due to the bite." According to the International Shark Attack File maintained by the Florida Museum, a database of all known shark attacks, there have been 20 unprovoked shark attacks in New York since 1837.
The report noted that Koltuniyuk's attack is the first confirmed shark attack in New York City since the 1950s. The last documented shark bite in the city listed in the database occurred in 1958, when a man was bitten by a shark after provoking it.
