Ocean Safety: Man in Waikiki was likely bitten by eel not shark
lifeguard rod alderton picked up two kitchen linens used as tourniquets for a man who was attacked by a shark off lanikai beach on saturday. alderton was at the scene when the man was brought to shore and said that both of his feet were badly bitten.
The man who was seriously injured Saturday night off Waikiki Beach was likely bitten by an eel and not a shark, Ocean Safety officials said.
Ocean Safety received a report from the Department of Land and Natural Resources this morning saying the victim’s injuries are consistent with an eel bite, said spokeswoman Shayne Enright.
At 6:50 p.m. Saturday, Paramedics responded to a 911 report of an injured 33-year-old surfer near the Honolulu Police substation on Kalakaua Avenue in Waikiki.
Paramedics found a man with serious injuries to his left foot. Bystanders were using towels to stop the bleeding.
The man, a local resident, said he was surfing when he fell off a wave and felt pain to his foot.
Paramedics took him to the hospital in serious condition.
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Lifeguards were not on duty at the time. However, Ocean Safety brought in lifeguards to patrol the water on a rescue watercraft.
Ocean Safety also noted that there have been a consistent school of barracudas in areas off Waikiki.
Earlier Saturday, at 11:40 a.m., paramedics responded to a call at 1502 Mokulua Drive involving a 44-year-old man, an Oahu resident, who was injured in an apparent shark attack off Lanikai.
The Lanikai victim and another man were swimming to shore from the Mokulua Islands, when the shark attacked. The attack happened about 50 to 100 yards from shore, the Honolulu Fire Department said.
The victim sustained injuries to his lower legs but the other man was not injured.
A Good Samaritan on a one-man outrigger canoe brought the injured man to shore. Bystanders helped make a tourniquet to help stop the bleeding until paramedics arrived.
The victim suffered injuries to both feet, an Emergency Services Department spokeswoman said. Paramedics took him to the hospital in critical condition.
According to witnesses, the shark involved was a 10-foot tiger shark.
Lifeguards on rescue watercraft patrolled the area, advising people to stay out of the water.
Saturday’s attack in Lanikai come just eight days after 25-year-old Colin Cook was bitten by a shark at the North Shore surf spot known as Leftovers. He lost his left leg above his knee and is recovering at the Rehabilitation Hospital of the Pacific in Honolulu.
