GENE SIMPSON / SPECIAL TO THE STAR-BULLETIN
Signage at Kamaole Beach Park I warned beachgoers yesterday to stay out of the ocean after Wednesday's shark attack.
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Shark sighting forces more beach closures
Maui spots could reopen today after officials meet
WAILUKU » Some South Maui beaches were reopened while one remained closed and others were shut down, as authorities confirmed the sighting of a shark yesterday, only a day after a shark attacked a swimmer.
Jonathan Genant, 29, of San Diego was listed in stable condition yesterday at Maui Memorial Medical Center after undergoing surgery to his left hand.
Genant lost his pinkie finger, the top of his ring finger and the side of his palm, when a shark bit him about 11:30 a.m. Wednesday about 400 yards off Keawakapu Beach.
He swam on his back two-thirds of the way to shore before receiving assistance from surfers and boogie boarders.
Genant, interviewed Wednesday in the hospital emergency room, said the shark came up from the bottom and had a white stomach and gray surface.
A fire rescue helicopter noticed a 12-foot-long tiger shark swimming in the area shortly after Wednesday's attack.
Ocean activities from Polo Beach to Kamaole Beach Park III were scheduled to be shut down until noon yesterday, when state and county officials could reassess conditions.
But officials revised their plan after a county helicopter sighted an 8-foot-long tiger shark at 11 a.m. yesterday about 200 yards off Kamaole Beach Park I, a mile north of the shark attack.
Authorities decided to reopen the beaches from Polo Beach to the Kihei Boat Ramp, including Keawakapu Beach. But Kamaole Beach Park III remained closed.
Also shut down yesterday were beaches further north, including Kamaole Beach Park II and I, and Cove and Kalama parks.
State and county officials plan to meet at 7 a.m. today to decide whether to reopen all the beaches.
"If there're no more shark sightings, we'll reopen," said Marian Feenstra, the county Aquatics Division chief.