Shark attack suspected on Maui
By Timothy Hurley
Advertiser Maui County Bureau
A 62-year-old woman suffered deep cuts on her right foot yesterday after she was bitten by what officials suspect was a shark off south Maui.
The incident occurred just before noon at Kama'ole Beach Park I in Kihei as the woman was swimming in 10 to 15 feet of water about 20 to 30 yards from shore.
The water was murky from recent rains and she did not see what bit her, said county water safety operations supervisor Archie Kalepa.
The woman, a part-time Maui resident, was helped out of the water near the Charley Young entrance to the beach park by another beachgoer at 11:56 a.m., Kalepa said.
Lifeguards treated her on shore until medics arrived. She was taken to Maui Memorial Medical Center, where she underwent surgery and was in stable condition last night.
The surgeon said the wound was consistent with the bite of a shark, and that she may have suffered nerve damage, said Randy Awo, Maui District chief for the state Division of Conservation and Resource Enforcement.
Awo said the beaches within about a mile and a half of the incident were closed yesterday — normal protocol following a shark attack — and were expected to remain closed until after an evaluation of the shoreline is completed by state Division of Aquatics officials in consultation with county lifeguards.
The closed beaches, popular among locals and tourists, include the three Kama'ole beach parks and Kalama Park.
Officials say three to four shark incidents occur every year in Hawai'i, although there have been at least five shark attacks reported this year.
Arnold Lum, 55, was trolling on a surfboard Sept. 27 off Kahala Beach when a 4-foot-long black tip shark took a bite out of his board.
On Aug. 28, a tiger shark 11 to 12 feet long gashed the foot of Shawn Farden, 16, and ripped the end off his surfboard in the Kewalo Basin channel.
On March 25, bodyboarder Hoku Aki, 17, lost his left foot in a shark attack at Brennecke Beach on Kaua'i.
Tommy Holmes, 35, of Los Angeles, was bitten on the buttocks New Year's Day while snorkeling off Olowalu, Maui.
In August, the DLNR posted permanent warning signs along the Olowalu shore, which has a reputation for shark activity. Three shark attacks have occurred there in past 11 years. It's the only place in Hawai'i with permanent shark warning signs.
