Shark kills 16-year-old high school student in Jamaica

A shark attacked and killed a 16-year-old Jamaican high school student whose body was found in waters just north of the island, authorities said.

Police identified the victim as Jahmari Reid from the northern parish of Trelawny, located just east of the popular tourist town of Montego Bay.

The teen apparently went spearfishing alone early Monday, with fishermen finding his body the following day with injuries consistent with a shark attack, police said in a report late Tuesday.

Since 1749, only three unprovoked shark attacks have been reported in Jamaica, according to the International Shark Attack File, which is administered by the Florida Museum of Natural History and the American Elasmobranch Society.

Shark attacks are rare, with a total of 69 confirmed unprovoked attacks worldwide and 14 fatalities reported last year , according to the file. The report noted that a "disproportionate" amount of people died from shark bites in Australia last year when compared with other countries, and Australia accounted for about 22% of the world's unprovoked shark attacks in 2023.

In July,  a surfer lost his leg after a great white shark attacked him in Australia.

The month before that, surfer Tamayo Perry died after sustaining fatal injuries in a shark attack off the island of Oahu in Hawaii.

In January, a young fisherman diving for scallops was killed by a shark off the Pacific coast of Mexico.