An uptick in shark attacks in the Aloha State has officials reviewing shark incident protocols and issuing safety reminders. The main Hawaiian Islands become a destination for migrating tiger sharks this time of year, scientists warn.
An uptick in shark attacks in the Aloha State has officials reviewing shark incident protocols and issuing safety reminders. The main Hawaiian Islands become a destination for migrating tiger sharks this time of year, scientists warn.
The review by the Department of Land and Natural Resources seeks ways to more quickly and accurately stream information between emergency responders, the media and the public following attacks. The review is on the heels of an Oahu attack at Makaha Wednesday on a 10-year-old boy that left him with large lacerations on his right thigh and leg.
Raymond Senensi, who was bodyboarding at the time, is recovering and expected to return to school next week.
The incident was the seventh in Hawaii waters this year. Two of those attacks were off Hawaii Island, including the Sept. 20 attack on Kapaau spear fisherman Braxton Rocha, who received a deep gash in his leg from a 13-foot tiger shark off of Opuolu Point. Just after the attack, Rocha filmed and posted a video of his wound.
On March 18, Kansas physician Ken Grasing was standing in 4-foot deep water off the south end of Hapuna Beach when his arm and thigh were slashed by a 10- to 12-foot tiger shark. His arm was repaired in surgery at The Queen’s Medical Center on Oahu.
The past three years have seen as many attacks statewide as the seven years prior to them.
Researchers with the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology in recent years have begun tracking sharks via transmitters and are gaining a better understanding of their behavior.
“Tiger sharks pup during the fall and migrations from the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands to the main Hawaiian Islands during this time of year are proven facts,” said Carl Meyer, a shark expert with HIMB, in a statement issued earlier this month.
“Native Hawaiian oral traditions clearly link the fall months to a risk of shark bites,” Meyer said.
“This traditional knowledge is reflected in our current shark incident statistics.
“In recent decades, almost one-third of all shark bites in Hawaii have occurred during the months of October and November.”
Meyer said that past measures to catch and “cull” out thousands of sharks in Hawaii have proved ineffective, with attacks continuing during and after those efforts.
“Ongoing increases in the numbers of people using the ocean and changes in the types of recreational activity are collectively the most likely explanation for increases in shark bites over time,” Meyer said.
There were six reported attacks statewide in 2014, one of them 150 yards offshore at Halaula Lighthouse in North Kohala. Kailua-Kona surfer McKenzie Clark lost a part of one finger and required extensive stitches in her hand after a 15-foot tiger shark clamped down on her hand and board and began to tow her out to sea.
The shark had dropped the board and was returning for Clark when her surfing companion, Brian Wargo, rolled off his own board, grabbed the dorsal fin and began punching the shark in the gills.
“It felt like I was going to break my hand,” Wargo told West Hawaii Today at the time. “About the sixth hit, I felt the shark shudder and turn away from her.”
The tiger left a bite in Clark’s board measuring 15-by-9 inches.
The past three years have seen an increase in attacks on the Big Island compared to years previous. In 2013 — a peak year — there were four attacks, three of them in West Hawaii waters and 14 total statewide.
Two of the attacks off Maui’s southwest coast were fatal.
The year 2012 had 11 attacks statewide, none of them on the Big Island.
In 2011, two surfers reported having their boards bitten in West Hawaii, but were not injured.
Tips for staying shark safe:
• Avoid murky waters, harbor entrances and stream mouths.
• Swim, surf and snorkel with others.
• Stay out of the water at dawn, dusk and night, when sharks feed.
• Do not enter the water with open wounds.
• Avoid wearing high-contrast clothing and jewelry in the water.
• Do not enter the water if sharks are known to be present.
• Remove speared fish from the water or tow them behind you.
• Watch the other marine life. Fish or turtles behaving erratically could indicate a shark is nearby.