A Jamaican teenager has been decapitated by a shark after he went spearfishing alone on Jamaica’s north coast.

The body of Jahmari Reid, 16, was reportedly found in the water on Tuesday near to a large tiger shark with both his head and left arm missing.

The local high school student had gone spearfishing early on Monday near his home in Trelawny, east of the popular resort town of Montego Bay, police said.

When he did not return, a search was launched on Tuesday morning and a group of divers recovered Jahmari’s body later that day.

His father, Michael, was on the beach outside the town of Falmouth when it was brought in.

“I can’t believe that he went to sea by himself…and that was the outcome. Sad to know. I feel so bad,” he told the Jamaica Observer, adding that he had tried to discourage his son from his spearfishing hobby.

Jahmari’s mother, Lavern Robinson, told the Jamaica Star: “Right now [I] don’t know what to say. Jahmari has been going to [the] sea [since he was] small.”

The group of divers who found the teenager’s body said they saw a “big” tiger shark close by, according to Christopher Reynolds, a local fisherman.

“All of the fishermen went out there and, while they were diving to take him up, they saw the big shark. They shot at him but they didn’t get him,” he added.

Mr Reynolds said the local community was determined to locate the shark, kill it and retrieve the severed head.

It is the first time in recent history that a person has been killed by a shark in local waters, according to Fritz Christie, the head of the local fishermen’s association.

He suggested the shark may have followed a cruise ship into Falmouth Bay and then stayed in the area. Mr Christie urged anyone going spearfishing to be extremely cautious.

Shark attacks are incredibly rare in Jamaica, with only three reported off the coast of the Caribbean island since 1749, according to the International Shark Attack File.