Horrifying moment nurse is bitten and injured by 220lb shark during snorkelling trip in Maldives

This is the shocking moment a 220-pound shark slammed its teeth into a female snorkeler, leaving her with a six-inch grizzly wound on her side in the Maldives.

Carmen Canovas Cervello, 30, was diving with a friend in Paradise Island’s Vaavu Atoll when the eight-foot nurse shark pounced on her and locked its jaws on her side.

Dramatic footage shows the creature circling the bikini-clad tourist before suddenly turning and attacking her.

Somewhat surprisingly, the woman decided to immediately jump back in for a second dive after cleaning the wound left by the angry nurse shark.

Cervello and his friend Ibrahim Shafeeg, 37, an underwater photographer who took the amazing images, swam freely with the school of sharks for more than 45 minutes before the disaster occurred.

Cervello took a dip in the sea off the coast of the Maldives with his friend Ibrahim Shafeeg, 37, an underwater photographer who captured the amazing images

Cervello was left with a 6-inch gaping wound after a 220-pound nurse shark sank its teeth into it

Cervello was met with a gruesome death after the eight-foot nurse shark pounced on her and clamped its jaws on her side while she was diving in the Maldives.

In the shocking footage, it appeared as if a shark decided they were too close for comfort and showed its dominance by clamping its teeth onto Cervello’s shoulder and upper back.

Even if it was only for a brief moment, the determined creature left quite a mark about six inches in diameter on the diver’s body.

Mr Shafeeg caught the shocking attack unexpectedly while using his GoPro camera to film the sharks around him.

Both Mr. Shafeeg and Mrs. Cervello immediately jumped out of the water to look at the damage the biting creature had done to their shoulder and back.

The pair emerged from the water near the Dhiggiri resort on Vaavu Atoll and cleaned the wound while assessing its severity.

Despite the attack, the daredevil couple felt the sharks gave the wound as a warning not to get too close, and believe the bite was only a minor injury that could easily have been much worse.

Amazingly, the undisturbed couple decided within seconds that they would dive back into the shark-infested waters to continue their diving adventure.

Cervello didn’t feel she needed any medical attention or treatment, so the couple decided to spend days snorkeling and diving with the sharks and let the bite heal on its own.

Nurse sharks are widespread in the Vaavu Atoll region of the Maldives, as it is a common place for the sharks to forage at the various tourist spots in the area.

Cervello did not feel that she needed medical attention or treatment, and the couple decided to continue snorkeling

Somewhat surprisingly, the woman decided to jump back for a moment, despite leaving behind the hideous wound with teeth.

Ibrahim Shafeeg caught the shocking attack off guard while using his GoPro camera to film the sharks around him

If provoked, nurse sharks can deliver a life-threatening bite due to their extremely sharp teeth and powerful jaws

Nurse sharks are not typically aggressive and have been known to swim away when approached. But if somehow provoked, their bite can be life-threatening due to their extremely sharp teeth and strong jaws.

According to reports, before 2022 there were approximately 51 provoked and five unprovoked nurse shark attacks.

It was the first time Cervello had been bitten by a shark, but that didn’t stop the couple from diving head first into the dangerous waters to experience just how up close and personal they are with the sharks in their natural habitat.

“We dived with nurse sharks at Shark Bay on Vaavu Atoll,” said Shafeeg.

“We decided to do a free diving trip to Shark Bay and snorkel with a pod of sharks there.

“There were about ten nurse sharks ranging from 198 pounds to 220 pounds and over ten feet in diameter.

“After the shark bite, we thought it was nothing serious because it was just a minor injury, so we cleaned the wound and continued snorkeling in the same place.”