Lilian Tagliari from Perth, Australia was freediving with a group of 50 nurse sharks when she was bitten on the leg – a video of the attack shows her screaming in pain
Moment a woman is bitten by a shark in the Maldives
Shocking footage shows the moment a snorkeler cries out in pain after being bitten by a shark.
Lilian Tagliari, from Perth, Australia was freediving with a group of 50 nurse sharks in the Maldives when one of them sunk their teeth into her right leg. In the clip, filmed by her husband Matthew, the travel influencer is seen smiling as she swims alongside the sharks before suddenly turning around and screaming as the sea creature takes a bite.
She is then seen bleeding underwater, with teeth marks clearly visible on her calf. The video of the attack has now received more than 18 million views after being shared online.
Despite being left with cuts from the bite, Lilian breezed over the incident as “just another story to tell” and said the shark had likely confused her leg for a fish due to their poor eyesight. Recalling her close encounter with the creatures, she explained: “After diving with them for almost two hours, I decided to jump in again because the visibility got better, so I passed my camera to my husband. My husband Matthew was taking videos of me when the nurse shark thought my tiny leg was food. The position of my leg combined with the species’ bad eyesight was probably a big factor.”
“A lot of divers, snorkellers, and photographers come to Maldives and dive with nurse sharks, and rarely do any accidents happen. Nurse sharks very rarely bite humans, and the bite is more like a suction, so no limbs missing, it’s just another story to tell.”
Nurse sharks are a slow-moving species which primarily feed on small sea creatures, such as crabs, squid, and sea urchins. They also eat some small fish like mullet, catfish, and rays. The sharks, which can grow up to 14ft long, are primarily found on the seabed in tropical or subtropical waters, typically around reefs.