Valley Isle shark attack lands woman in operating room

A woman underwent surgery after being attacked by a shark Wednesday in south Maui.

The attack took place in murky water between 8:30 and 8:45 a.m. about 30 feet off a rocky point fronting Ulua Beach in Wailea, authorities said.

The woman was taken to Maui Memorial Medical Center and was recovering Wednesday night after the surgery.

Within a little more than a year, there have been nine shark attacks off Maui — seven injuring people and two damaging boards, according to the website Hawaiisharks.com.

Ulua Beach is a popular snorkeling area for residents and visitors.

Wednesday’s shark attack was the fifth in the state and the fourth on Maui this year. Three of them injured surfers.

Nearly three miles of beach was to be closed until at least noon today, pending an ocean safety evaluation by the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.

Water safety officials posted shark warning signs and patrolled the 3-mile stretch of coastline by watercraft.

Department enforcement branch chief Matt Yamamoto said officials could reopen the beach by midday depending on safety conditions.

Yamamoto said state and Maui County aquatic workers did not see any signs of a shark Wednesday and did not know what kind of shark attacked the woman.

Most attacks in Hawaii involved tiger sharks.

A state conservation officer has been assigned to interview the victim.

The water was murky from runoff from Tropical Depression Flossie.

This year’s incidents:

» At 4:30 p.m. on Jan. 16, a man was surfing in 10 feet of water about 200 yards off Kiholo Bay, Maui, when a tiger shark estimated to be 10 feet long attacked him, according to Hawaiisharks.com. The surfer had lacerations to his right forearm and superficial lacerations to his lower right leg.

» At about 6 p.m. Feb. 21, Jacob Lansky was surfing about 75 yards offshore of Paia Bay along Maui’s north shore when a 6-foot-long reef shark bit the rail of his foam board, according to the state Shark Task Force. Lansky was not injured.

» At 8:30 a.m. on April 2, a 58-year-old California man visiting Maui with his wife was attacked by a shark off Kaanapali while surfing. He suffered two deep lacerations on his right thigh.

» At 2 p.m. Monday, a 19-year-old Kaneohe man was attacked by what was believed to be a tiger shark at White Plains Beach in Ewa coast. Kiowa Gatewood underwent emergency surgery.