Shark bites surfer’s leg in waters off White Plains

A surfer was seriously injured in a shark attack Monday afternoon at White Plains Beach in the Ewa Beach area, Emergency Medical Services said.

EMS spokeswoman Shayne Enright said city lifeguards plan to help federal lifeguards this morning with reassessing the waters for safe swimming. White Plains is not a city beach, so there were no city lifeguards on scene.

Enright said the man, who appeared to be in his late teens to early 20s, was apparently bitten by a shark on a leg around 2 p.m. Paramedics treated him on the scene before transporting him in serious condition to a trauma center, she said.

The beach had been closed by 6 p.m., but it was unclear as to when the closure began and whether it was weather- or shark-related.

As waves, wind and rain from Tropical Storm Flossie rolled over the islands Monday, Hono­lulu lifeguards by 4 p.m. had rescued 10 swimmers and took 230 preventive actions at Sandy Beach, and rescued three swimmers and took 100 preventive actions at Maka­puu Beach Park, Enright said.

Last month a Kailua-Kona man was bitten by a 10- to 14-foot-long tiger shark while he was swimming with friends at Mahaiula Bay in Kekaha Kai State Park. James Kerrigan, 28, said he didn’t realize he had been attacked until he saw blood in the water. He had a good-size chunk taken out of his calf, sustained deep lacerations and received a lot of stitches, but none of the damage was permanent, Kerrigan said.

In April a 58-year-old visitor from Marina Del Rey, Calif., suffered two deep lacerations on his right thigh after being attacked by a shark off Lahaina.

And in January a 43-year-old man had his right hand nearly severed by a 15-foot tiger shark that attacked him while he was surfing at Kiholo Bay near Kailua-Kona. Steve Macres said he heard a blood-curdling scream, turned around and saw Paul Santos’ surfboard fly into the air and the shark twist its body in the air before it landed on the surface of the water.