Beaches in South Maui
close after shark is seen
WAILUKU >> State and county officials shut down ocean activities along a 2-mile stretch of shoreline in South Maui for about four hours yesterday morning after a shark was seen by surfers and fishermen.
The shark, about 10 to 12 feet long and believed to be a tiger shark, was seen about 200 yards off the shoreline at Cove Park in Kihei at about 6:45 a.m., authorities said.
County Ocean Safety Capt. Jeff Meadows said the shark apparently attacked a green sea turtle and had left some of the animal's intestines in the water.
Meadows said waters fronting Kalama Park and Kamaole Beaches I, II and III were closed until 11 a.m.
Meadows recalled that the last time the beaches were closed was when a woman was bitten on the left foot at Kamaole Beach I. He said that according to paramedics, the marks on the foot were consistent with a shark bite.
The woman was in about 15-foot-deep water and 20 yards from shore when she was bitten at about 11:56 a.m. Oct. 30, 2002.
A shark fatally attacked 57-year-old surfer Willis McInnis in murky water about 200 to 300 yards off Pohaku Park in West Maui on April 7.
In 1992, 18-year-old bodyboarder Aaron Romento was attacked off Keeau Beach Park in West Oahu.
Maui resident Marti Morrell was fatally attacked by a shark near her beach home in Olowalu in 1991.