Posted on: Wednesday, April 17, 2002

Olowalu won't post shark warning

By Timothy Hurley
Advertiser Maui County Bureau

Permanent shark warning signs will not be posted on the West Maui coast at Olowalu, even though officials say they're probably warranted.

Randy Honebrink, state Shark Task Force spokesman, said yesterday the proposal won support in the community, but government attorneys warned it could make the state a bigger target for lawsuits.

"So we've suspended the effort,'' Honebrink said. "We will not proceed any further.''

Fear stems from the idea that by putting up signs, the state is acknowledging a threat. That would increase liability in case of an attack.

Olowalu, a popular snorkeling area, has been the site of three shark attacks in 11 years, two of them in the past year and a half.

State policy is to post temporary shark-sighting signs after an attack and to remove them within a day or two.

After the latest Olo-walu attacks, officials said they were considering permanent signs to warn visitors. It would have been the first time beachgoers would have been confronted with such a warning anywhere in the state.

Honebrink said the liability issue was too great to overcome.

"We're hoping nobody gets bit there in a long, long time," he said.

He said snorkel and scuba operators and the Pacific Whale Foundation were among those who opposed the signs, but many others supported it, including the Maui Visitors Bureau.

The latest Olowalu shark attack occurred New Year's Day, when Thomas Holmes, 35, of Los Angeles, was bitten on the buttocks while snorkeling about 100 yards offshore.

Henrietta Musselwhite, 56, of Geyserville, Calif., survived bites to her upper and lower back while snorkeling a half-mile offshore on Oct. 18, 2000.

And on Nov. 26, 1991, swimmer Martha Joy Morrell, 41, of Maui, was mauled by a tiger shark in front of her oceanfront home in Olowalu.

Her death triggered a state-sanctioned shark hunt and formation of the Shark Task Force.