Swimmer killed Monday in great white shark attack off Maine vacation spot, state says
A woman swimming off the coast of Maine was killed in a “confirmed” great white shark attack Monday, according to the Maine Department of Marine Resources.
The victim was identified as Julie Dimperio Holowach, 63, of New York City, according to the department. She was swimming with a family member at the time, who was identified by MassLive.com as Holowach’s daughter.
“While this is an extremely rare occurrence, with only one other confirmed shark attack ever in Maine waters, DMR urges swimmers and others recreating in or on the water ... to avoid schools of fish or seals, which attract sharks,” the department said in a press release.
Holowach was attacked 20 yards from shore near Bailey Island, a coastal community northwest of Portland that is popular with vacationers.
It happened around 3:20 p.m. and a witness reported seeing “one woman appeared to be flung up in the air by something from under water,” News Center Maine said.
“Nearby kayakers who witnessed the incident helped bring Julie to shore where she was pronounced deceased by EMS personnel,” state officials said in a release.
The only other known shark attack in Maine waters was a decade ago near Eastport, and it involved a porbeagle shark, state officials said.
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.”
This story was originally published July 27, 2020 at 6:36 PM with the headline "Swimmer killed Monday in great white shark attack off Maine vacation spot, state says."