Woman bitten twice by shark while swimming off Hawaii coast as officials say the predator is 'still in the area'
According to the police, a woman was bitten by a shark twice while she was swimming off the coast of Hawaii. The woman was swimming in the waters off Napoopoo Park in Kealakekua Bay at around 8 a.m. Tuesday when the incident took place.
The 27-year-old was bitten by a grey tip shark, the Hawaii police department revealed. She was rushed to the Kona Community Hospital with injuries on her lower back and right hip area but was in "good health" and is expected to be released. The officials have not identified the woman. It was also reported that the bay was closed till Wednesday afternoon and shark warning signs were placed on both sides of the Kealakekua Bay State Historical Park.
The Hawaii Fire Department Battalion Chief William Bergin spoke to the Associated Press and revealed that the woman had been swimming around 50 yards from the shore when the shark struck. He also shared that he did not know whether the woman was a tourist or is a Hawaii local. He told AP on Tuesday, "The shark is still in the area, so we're trying to get people out of the water at this time." He further added that it was very likely a 6-foot blacktip reef shark.
"According to local fishermen, this time of year there's a lot of fish in the area, so it does attract a lot of sharks and dolphins birthing," he shared. The high surf also results in poor visibility in the water. The state officials revealed that this is the ninth shark encounter reported this year, including one that was fatal.
It was just last week that a surfer off Oahu's western coast escaped injuries when a shark bit onto his surfboard. According to the Florida Museum of Natural History's International shark attack records, Florida leads in the country's shark attacks and accounts for 24% of all the unprovoked attacks in the world.