A 58-year-old Kansas man scared away a tiger shark that bit him by punching it Wednesday in the bay off Hapuna Beach Park, a state Department of Land and Natural Resources spokeswoman said.
The man, of Overland Park, was snorkeling with relatives at the Hawaii island beach park when a shark bit his left arm about 11:45 a.m., police said.
He was assisted to shore and taken to North Hawaii Community Hospital where he was treated for severe lacerations to his forearm and injuries to his left thigh, police said.
A spokeswoman for the hospital said the man, who was in stable condition, was flown to Oahu for further treatment at the Queen’s Medical Center.
Deborah Ward, DLNR spokeswoman, said the man was in about 4 feet of water at an area called Jumping Rocks near the south point of the park in South Kohala when the incident occurred.
"He punched the shark, causing it to retreat," Ward said. She added that after the incident park personnel closed the state park.
The shark was seen again in the bay sometime after 1 p.m. and was confirmed to be a 10-foot to 12-foot tiger shark, Ward said.
Shark warning signs were posted along Hapuna and Wailea beaches, at Spencer Beach Park to the north and at Puako Beach to the south.
Hapuna Beach Park will remain closed and warning signs posted until the Hawaii County Fire Department conducts area flyovers Thursday morning, DLNR said in a statement. If no shark is sighted by 11 a.m., the park will reopen at noon, the statement said.
Touted as the state’s largest white sand beach, Hapuna Beach Park is known for good conditions for swimming, bodyboarding and snorkeling, according to the Hawaii Tourism Authority’s website. It has also has been included in numerous international top 10 lists, the website said.
According to the state’s shark website, the last shark incident before Wednesday was Jan. 27 when a man was bitten while fishing on Maui.
The state classified the January incident as provoked because the fisherman reeled in the shark on his line.
In 2013, one person died and 12 were injured in Hawaii shark incidents, marking the state’s highest annual number of shark incidents in more than 30 years, according to state records. Last year, there were six shark-related injuries and no deaths.
