Posted on: Wednesday, November 20, 2002

Maui shark sighting closes beaches

By Timothy Hurley
Advertiser Maui County Bureau

LAHAINA, Maui — The beaches from Mala Wharf to Ka'anapali's Black Rock were closed yesterday following a shark sighting.

A lifeguard saw a shark at about 3 p.m. off Hanaka'o'o Beach just south of the Ka'anapali resort, said Marian Feenstra, chief of the county's Aquatics Division.

The sighting came two days after a 6-foot shark attacked a 34-year-old San Diego woman swimming 150 yards off the Embassy Suites Resort just north of Ka'anapali. The woman survived with injuries to her shoulder, arm and wrist.

Feenstra said she didn't know the size or species of the shark spotted yesterday, but that it could have been attracted to the murky runoff flowing into the ocean yesterday at Hanaka'o'o, also known as Canoe Beach.

Aquatics Division personnel posted shark-warning signs and warned beachgoers to stay out of the water, in accordance with the state's shark-sighting protocol. The beaches will remain closed overnight and the waters will be patrolled at first light for any additional sightings.

Following Sunday's shark attack, the Ka'anapali beaches were closed just north of Black Rock.

On Oct. 30, a woman was bitten on the foot while swimming at Kama'ole Beach Park I in Kihei on Maui's south shore.