A BOY has been rushed to hospital after a brutal shark attack at a controversial aquarium on the world’s most densely populated artificial island.
The 14-year-old is said to have come close to losing his hand after being bitten by the fish, thought to be a tiger shark.
A fourteen-year-old boy (not pictured) was hospitalised after a shark attack at a controversial aquarium
The aquarium welcomes dozens of tourists who come to swim with the sharks
The boy, who has not been named, was visiting Santa Cruz del Islote off the coast of Colombia with his family when the scare happened.
The horrifying incident unfolded inside a homemade elongated pool of fish tanks, where fee-paying tourists jump in to swim and touch the captive creatures.
Critics have long branded the unregulated attraction illegal and demanded its closure.
Locals reportedly tell visitors the sharks have had their teeth removed — but this shocking attack shows that it isn’t always the case.
The boy received emergency treatment on the island before being transferred to a hospital on Colombia’s northern Caribbean coast.
Local media, which said they had obtained images of the attack and the “very serious” injuries, declined to publish them.
The pool, which can hold up to 14 sharks at a time, is part of a guided tour that costs just £2.
It ends with a swim among the confined animals, where visitors are encouraged to snap selfies and videos.
Animal rights activists have been warning about the aquarium for years.
In May 2021, outraged campaigner Alejandra Marin posted photos of a family surrounding a nurse shark and wrote: “I want to denounce this case of animal mistreatment in Santa Cruz del Islote.
“Do something to free this shark. The conditions it is living in are very precarious.”
A travel blogger who recently visited the island described the aquarium as “disheartening”.
They said: “While we were interested to learn how locals live in such a place, we clearly could not support the exploitation of animals for monetary gain. It was a disappointing end to such a wonderful day.”
The attack comes amid growing concerns over shark encounters in Colombia.
In March 2022, Italian tourist Antonio Straccialini, 56, died after a tiger shark tore a large chunk from his thigh while he swam at La Piscinita on San Andres island.
The incident occurred at a homemade pool where tourists swim with captive marine lifeUnknown
The scare happened during the boy’s visit to Santa Cruz de Islote, the world’s most densely populated artificial islandAlamy
And in July 2023, Colombian free diver Cristian Castano was bitten by a shark off the same island, later posting a hospital photo with both forearms bandaged.
Santa Cruz del Islote, home to around 800 people on just one hectare of land, welcomes around 500 tourists a day.
The man-made island is claimed to be the most densely populated island in the world and one of the most overcrowded places on Earth.
It sits on the Archipelago of San Bernardo, a protected coral paradise, and was built on a coral platform by the pioneer families.
With an area just surpassing one hectare, hundreds of islanders live in 97 homes with ridged tin roofs crammed next to each other.
There are ten neighbourhoods and four main streets, but no cars or motorcycles can ride along them.
And as distances between places are so short, people either walk or take boats to get around.
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