On December 29, 2023, a 22-year-old Mexican fisherman was mauled and killed by a shark while diving at the Gulf of California near Playa Tojahui, a beach located in Huatabampo, Sonora state, Mexico.
Victor Alejandro Soto Garcia was fatally injured by a great white shark while free-diving for scallops. The shark, estimated to be 13 feet long, inflicted a severe wound on Garcia’s left leg, leading to his death.
The incident took place about 12 miles southeast of Huatabampo, near the town of Yavaros. Garcia’s fellow fishermen promptly responded, bringing the injured diver back to the pier at Yavaros. Despite immediate life-saving efforts, Garcia died from his injuries.
The Sonora Civil Protection agency, CEPC reported that Garcia was not equipped with a shark-repellent bracelet, a safety device designed to emit electronic signals or chemicals to deter sharks. Notably, around 100 of these bracelets had been distributed among local fishermen in Sonora state the previous year.
In response to this tragedy, the Sonora Civil Protection agency has emphasized the importance of preventive measures for fishermen in the area.
This incident is part of a disturbing trend along the Sonora coast, where five scallop fishermen have been killed by sharks in the past two years, as reported by El Financiero.
Other recent shark-related incidents in the region include the death of a 76-year-old Belgian man, attacked by either a shark or a crocodile at a beach in Ixtapa, Guerrero, just weeks before Garcia’s incident.
In early December, in another incident off the town of Melaque, a 26-year-old mother, Fernandez Martinez Jimenez, a former marine biology student at the University of Guadalajara, was attacked by a shark while trying to lift her child onto a floating platform. She suffered fatal leg injuries.