Latest: Expert: sharks may have been triggered before attack

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Latest on the shark attack that killed a college student in the Bahamas (all times local):

1:15 p.m.

A biologist says there was likely a trigger that caused sharks to attack a 21-year-old US college student while she snorkeled in the Bahamas.

Bahamian officials say Jordan Lindsey of Torrance, California died after being attacked by three sharks Wednesday while on a family vacation.

Dr. Erich Ritter, a shark expert who is investigating the incident, said Thursday that the sharks’ behavior was not normal. He says they may have been triggered by something, like chum being dumped nearby.

Ritter, who studies shark-human interactions, said the snorkeling company should have monitored the area better. He questioned the decision of the guides to be on the boat and not in the water during the expedition.

Lindsey’s father, Michael Lindsay, tells ABC News that her mother was just a few feet away during the attack.

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11:40 a.m.

A Southern California college student was killed in a shark attack while on vacation with her family in the Bahamas.

The Royal Bahamas Police Force says 21-year-old Jordan Lindsey was snorkeling Wednesday near Rose Island around 2 p.m. and attacked by three sharks.

KABC-TV reports Lindsey’s parents saw the sharks and tried to warn her, but she didn’t hear them.

Lindsey suffered bites to her arms, legs and buttocks and her right arm was bitten off, according authorities.

The Bahama Ministry of Tourism says she was pronounced dead at a hospital in New Providence.

Lindsey was a student at Loyola Marymount University.

Her family started a GoFundMe page, writing that the money would be used to cover funeral costs and expenses related to transporting her body back to California.