4th shark attack on Maui this season!

[combs]

See link below...snorkeler looses arm. Kiteboarder's board munched.
I also heard a rumor recently that a SUP boarder was attacked at Kanaha earlier this year.


What's going on at Maui?

I just returned from Maui last month and had a great time with windsurfing and snorkeling every day, but starting to wonder if I should stay in the Gorge next summer!

http://www.eturbonews.com/37064/fourth-shark-attack-maui-past-two-weeks

[victor]

lots of sharks this year at kanaha.

the below video was shot last month. a friend of mine talked to pete on the beach after the incident. i think pete knows a shark when he sees one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSxLTTAOzjc

theory is there is an unusual amount of juveniles lately that don't know better than to stay outside the reef or are being driven in by territorial adults.

[chakochako]

More sharks have been spotted this year in Southern California too

http://www.easyreadernews.com/73079/great-white-sea-lion-palos-verdes-coast/

[beallmd]

Why more sharks;
1) food supply has exploded; turtles on maui, seals and sealions (maybe otters as well) in Ca. All are protected and have exploded in numbers AND live close to shore.
2) more humans than ever in the water for longer periods. More divers, SUP, kiters etc. Maui visits are up even tho the economy is still marginal.
3) there is NO EVIDENCE that sharks are in decline, threatened etc. Only now are we learning about shark migration patterns, mating areas, feeding areas etc. Tagging is teaching us lessons about all marine life and the results are staggering and hugely surprising.
4) now if we can only develop effective shark repellent strategies.

[Goodwind]

Why more sharks;

California started banning shark fin soups this year.

[beallmd]

From AP today; HILO, Hawaii (AP) - Hawaii authorities say the second shark attack in the state in less than a week has left a 16-year-old surfer with leg injuries.

The Hawaii County Fire Department said the boy suffered injuries on both legs after he was bitten Sunday afternoon southeast of Hilo. He was airlifted to Hilo Medical Center for treatment.

The boy's condition isn't clear. A call to the hospital's spokeswoman was not immediately returned.

The Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources closed ocean waters along the Pohoiki coastline after the attack.

Earlier Sunday, officials closed Hapuna Beach on the Big Island's northwestern shore after lifeguards spotted a shark.

On Wednesday, a shark bit off the arm of a 20-year-old German tourist who was snorkeling in Maui.

We do need an effective shark repellent strategy.

[combs]

Update on one of the victims:

HONOLULU  A German woman who lost her arm in a shark attack died Wednesday, one week after she was bitten while snorkeling off Maui. Jana Lutteropp, 20, who had been on life support, died at Maui Memorial Medical Center, hospital spokeswoman Carol Clark said. ...

[l_loperena8002]

beallmd says "Why more sharks" and "3) there is NO EVIDENCE that sharks are in decline, threatened etc. "

It is impossible to be more wrong than beallmd. The evidence is overwhelming, well documented, and ubiquitous that sharks are in "catastrophic decline" worldwide.

Stop posting such nonsense, it's obvious that you have no idea of what you are talking about.


Alarming Decline of Sharks Causing Other Species to Vanish
http://www.livescience.com/7240-alarming-decline-sharks-causing-species-vanish.html

Shark decline confirmed by demographic model
http://www.bitsofscience.org/demographic-shark-decline-overfishing-3458/

Effects of Shark Decline
http://www.coml.org/discoveries/trends/shark_decline_effects

Fishing leads to significant shark population declines, researchers say
http://news.fiu.edu/2013/03/100millionsharks/52935

Reef shark populations in steep decline: study
http://beta.dawn.com/news/714367/reef-shark-populations-in-steep-decline-study-2

Sharks on the decline
http://wildlifeinperil.blogspot.com/2012/08/sharks-on-decline.html

Reef shark populations on the Great Barrier Reef are in the midst of a catastrophic collapse, according to a new Australian study.
http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/news/sharks-fighting-life/

Overall, nearly a third of all sharks and rays worldwide may be threatened with extinction.
http://www.livescience.com/8306-people-dangerous-sharks.html

[beallmd]

Okay I'll refine that; There is no evidence that Great Whites or Tigers are in decline-we were talking about shark attacks after all. On shark week, the very guy who has tagged great whites and studied them from San Francisco to Hawaii to Mexico said; "We have no idea if the population is steady, declining or rising." Because they have only begun to be able to track these critters. How many great whites a 100 years ago? 50 years ago?, No one knows. Only in the last few years have we learned that great whites do go to Hawaii, and spend significant amounts of time between Mexico and Hawaii, possibly mating? Who knows?

[3.7_Maui]

Odd how the same thing happened last winter - a SUP guys board was attacked by a tiger shark in Kanaha north shore than the following day a snorkeler at Makena on the south shore gets attacked. This time a shark hits a Kite borad at Kanaha and the following day the girl snorkeling at Makena gets attacked. Maui is in record territory now for shark attacks and this is the "off season" for shark encounters - should be an epic winter.

See you on the water