Swimmer killed Monday in shark attack off Maine vacation spot, state says

A woman swimming off the coast of Maine was killed in a great white shark attack Monday, according to a statement released Monday evening by the Maine Department of Marine Resources.

The woman was identified as Julie Dimperio Holowach, 63, of New York City, according to a Maine Marine Patrol press conference posted by CBSNBoston and other news outlets. She was swimming with her daughter at the time of the attack, MassLive.com reports.

“Until further notice, swimmers and boaters are urged to use caution near Bailey Island and to avoid swimming near schooling fish or seals,” the state said in a Facebook post.

Holowach was attacked 20 yards from shore near Bailey Island, a coastal community northwest of Portland that is popular with vacationers.

Two women were swimming together at around 3:30 p.m. “when one woman appeared to be flung up in the air by something from under water,” News Center Maine said. First responders said the woman died “at the scene,” the station reported.

“An eyewitness reported that the woman was swimming off the shore near White Sails Lane when she was injured in what appeared to be a shark attack,” the Department of Marine Resources said in a Facebook post.

“Kayakers nearby brought her to shore and EMS responders were called to the scene where she was pronounced deceased. No other information is available at this time and the investigation into the incident is continuing.”

The Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, which tracks white sharks on the East Coast, reported Tuesday that sightings of white sharks in the Gulf of Maine are “relatively rare.” However, the species is known to roam Maine’s coastal waters “from early summer through fall.” During that period, white sharks typically prey on seals and porpoises, the conservancy said in a Facebook post.

The last fatal shark attack in the Northeast was in September 2018, when Arthur Medici of Revere, Massachusetts, was attacked off Newcomb Hollow Beach off Wellfleet, according to the National Park Service.

The Florida Museum of Natural History keeps an annual tally of global shark attacks and it reports there were 64 unprovoked bites in 2019, two of which were fatal.

“The U.S. led the world in shark attacks with 41 bites, an uptick from 32 the previous year,” the museum reported in January. “Attacks were mostly concentrated in the Southeast with 21 in Florida.”