HAWAII | MAUI
Stretch of Maui beach closed after shark attack
A four-mile stretch of beach on Maui, from Kalama Park to Wailea, remained closed to swimmers after a woman was bitten by a shark Monday.
The woman, who was snorkeling off Keawakapu Beach in Kihei, was attacked about an hour after a nearby beach was closed because of a shark sighting.
Believed to be in her 60s, the woman was injured on her foot and calf and was taken to Maui Memorial Medical Center in Wailuku. The injuries were not life threatening, said Maui County spokeswoman Mahina Martin.
Authorities did not immediately release the woman's name or hometown.
Kihei resident Amon Aquarian told the Maui News that the woman had a deep gash on her right foot and another wound on her leg. He ran to the woman's aid after a bystander called for help and sat with her for 15 minutes until medics came.
"She was conducting herself totally in peace and serenity," he said. "I couldn't imagine someone being so together in her situation."
Others who came to the woman's aid applied a tourniquet to stop her leg from bleeding, Aquarian told the newspaper.
The attack was reported Monday morning by a bystander on the beach. The size and type of shark were not immediately known.
About an hour earlier, a surfer had reported that his friend's surfboard had been bumped by what appeared to be a tiger shark at nearby Kamaole Beach Park II, prompting a closure of that beach and a shark alert by the county.
"Normally, what happens in a shark sighting is they close that front area and one mile up and down the beach," Martin said. She said Keawakapu is more than a mile from Kamaole.
The last previous shark attack in Hawaii was in November in the same area. Kyle Gruen, 29, was bit by a shark he estimated to be six to 10 feet long while swimming 10 yards off Kamaole. Gruen, of Vancouver, Canada, suffered injuries to his hand and leg.
It was one of four shark attacks in Hawaii, none of them fatal, in 2006.
There are about 40 species of sharks that live in Hawaiian waters, but the most frequently encountered are the tiger, whitetip reef, sandbar and scalloped hammerhead sharks, according to the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources.
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