Shark-bite victim on life support

The 20-year-old woman who lost her right arm in a shark attack while snorkeling off Maui last week was on life support Monday.

Jana Lutteropp, a visitor from Germany, was 50 yards offshore in an area known as White Rock in Makena when she was bitten Wednesday afternoon.

She remains on full life support and is in very critical condition, Maui Memorial Medical Center said.

"The family was asking that people respect their privacy," said Maui County spokes­man Rod Antone. "They’re going through a hard time."

There have been eight shark attacks this year, including three on Maui, according to a state database. There were 11 shark attacks in the state in 2012. The last time anyone in Hawaii died from a shark attack was in 2004.

On Sunday a well-known 16-year-old surfer sustained multiple cuts and puncture wounds to his legs after being bitten by a shark while surfing near the Poho­iki Boat Ramp on Hawaii island.

JIMMY Ulualoha "Ulu-boy" Nape­ahi is recovering at Hilo Medical Center.

Officials closed the coastline around the boat ramp Sunday afternoon after a gray-shaded shark about 8 feet long attacked the teenager. The area reopened at noon Monday along with Hapuna Beach in Wai­mea, which was closed earlier Sunday after a reported shark sighting.

Most attacks in Hawaii are by tiger sharks, which are gray.

Napeahi’s attack was the state’s fourth bite in the past three weeks.

Although shark attacks are alarming, some shark experts say this summer’s surge is not necessarily extraordinary.

Carl Meyer, an assistant researcher at the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, said the string of attacks could just be coincidence.

Though there’s been a recent uptick in attacks, Meyer said, the individual risk of being bitten by a shark remains "extremely low."

"The absolute number is very low wherever you look," he said.

"Of course, that doesn’t tell the whole story because the often-unquantified component is the number of people that are going into the water … which is in Hawaii very, very large."

Meyer said he is involved with a research proj­ect aimed at determining "whether tiger sharks in the waters around Maui show any evidence of greater residency or more frequent use of shallow waters than in other areas of the state for which we already have shark movement data."

Just because there’s a momentary increase in attacks "doesn’t mean that there’s been a change in shark behavior," he said.

ANDREW Rossiter, director of the Waikiki Aquarium, echoed Meyer’s statements.

"In most cases it’s bad luck," Rossiter said. "Sometimes it’s bad behavior as well: People seem to continue to swim in river mouths or in dirty, cloudy waters or at dawn and dusk when sharks are most active."

Although Lutteropp’s arm was bitten off in the most serious of this year’s attacks, the bite — like most — was probably what experts call an exploratory one, Rossiter said.

"Unfortunately, if it’s a big shark, even the exploratory bite can be devastating," he said.

Rossiter and Meyer both said people should be cautious when entering the ocean.

"Once you’re in the water, you’re in their territory," Rossiter said. "And there’s always a chance — be it very, very infinitesimal — that something will bite you."

Additional shark attacks this year include:

» July 31 at Ulua Beach, Maui, about 125 yards from shore.

» July 29 at White Plains Beach, Oahu, about 20 yards from shore.

» June 18 at Maha­lula Bay, Hawaii island, about 100 yards from shore.

» April 2 in Kaanapali, Maui, about 100 yards from shore.

» Feb. 21 in Paia Bay, Maui, about 75 yards from shore.

» Jan. 16 in Kiholo Bay, Hawaii island, about 200 yards from shore.