Local professional surfer Kai Barger, 21, said he wasn’t sure what to think when he and his friends heard a bodyboarder screaming from 20 yards away at the infamous "Ledges" surf spot at Kahului Harbor Sunday.

"Usually someone yells ‘shark’ and everybody freaks out and heads back in," he said. "But we couldn’t hear what he was yelling, and I wasn’t really sure what to think. The waves were pretty good and we wanted to stay in. We weren’t sure if it was someone crying ‘shark’ just to have the spot to himself."

Barger’s wait-and-see attitude proved potentially lifesaving to a 15-year-old boy who suffered foot and leg injuries after being bitten by a 6-foot shark at about 3:45 p.m.

State enforcement officers and county lifeguards kept people out of the water from Kahului Harbor to Paukukalo Monday morning while lifeguards on personal watercraft scanned waters for sharks. Warning signs were removed at noon Monday, and ocean users were allowed back, a state Land Department spokeswoman said.

On Sunday, Barger and three friends had paddled out to the experts-only surf spot in hopes of catching a prime set of waves generated by a northeast swell. He said two bodyboarders were also out in the water but appeared to have been drawn farther out by the tide.

Barger said he heard one of the bodyboarders scream but could not believe that there was a shark nearby. He watched as the two bodyboarders paddled slowly back toward him and his friends.

"I asked them if they had seen a shark, and he said that he had been bitten by one," Barger said. "He lifted his leg, and his fin was gone and all of the skin on his shin was off. It was really gnarly."

Barger and fellow professional surfer Tanner Hendrickson towed the two boys back to shore against the current.

"We just told him that he was OK, that he still had a foot and that he was going to survive this," Barger said. "We just did whatever we could to keep him calm."

On the beach, Barger and Hendrickson used their leashes as tourniquets for the wound while they waited for emergency medical services to arrive.

State officials closed the harbor to swimmers and surfers after the incident.

Barger, who won the Billabong ASP World Juniors Championship last year, said he was "stoked" that the boy appeared to be in good condition after the attack and that he and his friends were able to help.

"It’s just the code of the water that you help when someone is in trouble," he said.