Updated at 7:58 p.m., Sunday, October 21, 2007
Shark sightings prompt Maui beach closures
Advertiser Staff
Maui police officers cleared the beach at Kamaole Beach Park No. 1 at about 6 p.m. this evening, after a shark was sighted about 10 to 15 feet offshore.DLNR officials were called.
While the species could not be confirmed due to the dimming light conditions, Maui Police Department officers who observed the dorsal fin of the shark estimated it was approximately the same size as the hammerhead shark sighted this morning at Keawakapu Beach. Kamaole Beach Park No. 1 is approximately 1.5 miles north of Keawakapu Beach.
Keawakapu Beach had been closed for several hours earlier today by the state and county lifeguards after a shark was sighted at the beach, which is between Kihei and Wailea in South Maui.
A Maui County lifeguard confirmed that there was an 8-foot hammerhead shark "cruising" about 10 to 15 feet offshore.
The lifeguard believed the shark was ill, officials said yesterday after the 8 a.m. call.
The beach was reopened at 12:30 p.m., officials said.
