A 60-year-old New Yorker died Monday after being attacked by a great white shark in southern Maine, authorities in the northeastern state said Tuesday (July 28th). The woman, who was wearing a wetsuit, was attacked while swimming along the coast near the city of Portland. Maine Department of Marine Resources official Patrick Keliher said kayakers then brought her back to shore, where she was pronounced dead.
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The victim was identified by authorities as a 63-year-old woman, Julie Dimperio Holowach, who lived in New York and owned a residence on the coast in Maine. A tooth collected at the scene confirmed that it was indeed a great white shark. This is the second shark attack on record in Maine, where the water is cold for swimming, and the first fatal. The local Department of Agriculture and Forestry has ordered bathers to stop when they have waist-deep water in the ten state parks that have a beach, AFP told AFP. spokesperson.
The Maine Department of Marine Resources advised him not to swim near seals or schools of fish, which are often the initial targets of sharks. For several weeks, sharks have been sighted in several places on the northeast coast of the United States, including near New York.