Horrifying moment woman is attacked by a SHARK while diving

This is the terrifying moment a woman was bitten by a shark while diving off a paradise island.

Travel influencer Lilian Tagliari was swimming among a group of fifty nurse sharks in the Maldives early last month when one suddenly took a bite out of her right leg.

Crazy images – viewed more than 18 million times – show Lilian screaming in pain underwater.

There is blood coming from her leg and the teeth marks are clearly visible on her calf and shin.

Lilian said she thought she had been bitten because one of the sharks mistook her for a fish due to their “poor eyesight.”

She said, “I would say [there was] probably about 50 sharks, and I’ve been swimming in the same spot for years.

‘The boats do throw fish where they are, and because nurse sharks have very poor eyesight, it just thought my leg was a piece of fish.

‘I had to take antibiotics for a bacterial infection. My leg has been bothering me for a few days now.

There is blood coming from her leg and the teeth marks are clearly visible on her calf and shin

‘We spent a good hour with them and then I decided to go back to our boat. Then the conditions got better and I thought “oh a few more dives can’t hurt”.

“When I came back, this shark decided to take a bite. I thought ‘just my luck’ because it happens so rarely.”

The Maldives are known for its white-sand beaches, turquoise lagoons and coral reefs, but are also home to around 30 species of sharks, according to Samudra Maldives.

These include scalloped hammerhead sharks, tiger sharks, whale sharks and gray reef sharks; it is not immediately clear which shark species appeared in the footage.

Many hotels and resorts on the island offer guests swimming with sharks as a guided activity.

‘Most sharks near the Maldives are friendly, and shark attacks are rare. But encounters with tiger sharks and nurse sharks in the Maldives can be fatal if precautions are not taken,” the holiday website explains.

Diving and snorkeling with the animals is also a popular activity among tourists, but ‘not all friendly sharks swim on the surface, so you will need to book an experience that allows you to dive into the sea and see sharks such as gray reef sharks or whitetip reef sharks’.

Crazy images – viewed more than 18 million times – show Lilian screaming in pain underwater

In the photo: Blood runs down Lilian’s leg after she was bitten by the shark last month

According to National Geographic, nurse sharks, which can grow up to four meters in length, are largely harmless to humans.

However, they have very strong jaws filled with thousands of small, serrated teeth and are known to ‘bite defensively when stepped on’ or ‘be bothered by divers’.

Nurse sharks are carnivores and mainly eat fish, shrimp and squid, but they have also been known to crush and eat crustaceans.

Lilian’s shark bite comes after terrifying footage also captured the moment a huge shark clamped its jaws around a diver’s head during a surprise attack in the Maldives.

The clip shows a swimmer floating innocently in the blue water while looking at the camera.

But out of nowhere and with shocking speed, the shadowy figure of a huge shark appears behind the diver.

In a heartbreaking moment, the sneaky shark quickly opens its jaws before engulfing the diver’s head.

For a few seconds, the swimmer’s head remains in the predator’s mouth as it shakes the marine researcher back and forth in an attempt to gnaw his head off.

The diver can be seen kicking his feet and spreading his arms as he desperately tries to escape the hungry shark.

Miraculously, the swimmer fortunately managed to escape as the beastly fish unlocked its jaws and swam away, freeing the diver from the hair-raising attack.

The diver then scrambled away to the water’s surface and waved his hands at the brave cameraman as a warning that they too should flee the scene.