Shark attacks in Maine are rare, but on Monday the state suffered its first fatal shark attack in recorded history.
Julie Dimperio Holowach, 63, was swimming near Bailey Island when she was attacked by a shark while her daughter was swimming nearby. The daughter was not harmed but was unable to save her mother.
Nearby kayakers brought Dimperio Holowach, a New York City resident who summers in Maine, to shore where she was declared dead.
A recovered tooth fragment was used to confirm that the attacking shark was a great white. Dimperio Holowach was wearing a wetsuit when she was attacked. It is believed that the shark thought she was a seal.
You can read more about the attack in this New York Times article and read this New York Post article about the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act that has increased seal numbers and may be contributing to shark attacks on humans.
