HAWAII SHARK ATTACK: Woman, 60, who vanished while snorkeling off coast was ‘eaten by aggressive shark’
MAUI, HAWAII: A Washington woman who disappeared on December 8 while snorkeling in Hawaii was likely killed by an aggressive shark, says the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources. After interviewing the beach-goers, investigators came to know that a large shark apparently fed on something in a pool of red water, although a body has not yet been recovered. The identities of the 60-year-old woman and her husband have not been revealed by the authorities.
According to the dead woman's husband, the tragedy was struck by an "aggressive shark" when the couple was on vacation in Maui, Hawaii, and snorkeling about 50 yards off Keawakapu Point. "He and his wife were not snorkeling right next to one another and he could only see her from time to time. As the shark continued to circle him he continued looking for his wife...popping his head out of the water and scanning the surface," officials said, according to Daily Mail. "The husband did spot something in the distance and then the shark came back, and he could see something red around the shark's gills. At the time, he said people on the beach began yelling at him to get out of the water because a shark was feeding in the area."
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The husband's claims were further backed up by the witnesses who were present on the beach during the tragic event. One man had even dialed 911 to report a possible shark attack. "Earlier [a witness] spotted the couple snorkeling and began looking for them to warn them 'when he saw the shark's large mouth continuing to feed on something in the middle of the red cloud in the water," authorities said. "He continued yelling for the man to get out of the water but no longer was seeing the woman."
A snorkel set and part of a bathing suit were recovered. Following the attack, a 10 to 12 feet long tiger shark was reported to be in the area by the searchers. Tiger sharks have been linked to 39 "unprovoked" deadly attacks across the globe, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History. The two-week investigation was conducted by the Maui Police Department and DLNR Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement. Crews from the US Coast Guard, Maui Fire's Air 1 helicopter, Maui Ocean Safety, and Maui Fire Department were also involved in the search operation.
MEAWW previously reported that a Great White shark attacked and killed a 39-year-old woman on September 25 in Plettenberg Bay in South Africa. It was the second fatal shark attack at the coastal town in three months after a swimmer, named Bruce Wolov, was killed by a shark at Sanctuary Beach in Plettenberg Bay on June 28.