Shark bites snorkeler off
Maui’s Olowalu beach

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By Gary Kubota
gkubota@starbulletin.com

WAILUKU >> A 35-year-old visitor was recovering today at Maui Memorial Medical Center after being attacked by a shark in West Maui waters.

Thomas Holmes of Los Angeles said he and his girlfriend were snorkeling about 1 p.m. yesterday about 100 yards off the beach at Olowalu when they saw the shark and began swimming toward shore.

"I pulled my head out of the water and looked back," Holmes said. "He was four feet away and his mouth was open."

Holmes said he and the shark began to struggle.

"I pounded his nose. I got two good shots at him," he said. "He went below the surface."

Holmes, a recording artist, said he and his girlfriend, Monica Boggs, swam to shore.

Holmes said the shark bit him once and left bite marks on his buttocks and thigh. He estimated he had more than 35 stitches.

State officials closed the beach at Olowalu yesterday and part of today.