2nd Maui Shark Bite Incident, This Time at Kahului Harbor

Shark bites board in Kahului Harbor. Photo courtesy DLNR.

By Wendy Osher

A 58-year-old stand up paddle boarder is safe after a shark encounter at Kahului Harbor on Maui this morning, in which a shark reportedly bit the man’s board, state officials confirmed.

The incident was the second shark bite incident in three days on Maui–the other occurred when a surfer fended off a shark attack in Māʻalaea on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2014.

No injuries were reported in either incident. In both cases state officials say the waters were brown from storm runoff.

Officials with the state Department of Land and Natural Resources say the stand up paddle boarder in today’s incident “felt a hard bump on the back of his board, knocking him into the water.”

After he surfaced, officials with the state DLNR say the man “observed a dorsal fin about six feet away.”

While he was unable to identify the species of shark, the man estimated the fin was 12 inches tall, according to state officials.

The sighting was also observed by another paddle boarder in the area who reported seeing the fin of the shark.

Following today’s incident, officials with the state Department of Land and Natural Resources issued a reminder to ocean users advising them to “stay out of murky water statewide.”

“Please follow the strong warnings not to enter the ocean for any reason when the water is brown or murky,” DLNR officials said in a press release statement.

Crews from the Department’s Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement and the state Department of Transportation, Harbors Division closed waters at Kahului Harbor, and waters for one mile in either direction of the harbor through at least Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2014.

Authorities plan to do a reassessment of the area tomorrow to determine if they will reopen the shoreline.

There was a high surf advisory posted for the north facing shores of Maui and Molokaʻi through noon today. A full forecast is available in the weather section of our website at: http://mauinow.com/category/weather/.