MANA — A Waimea man walked away unhurt after a shark took a 13-inch chunk out of his surfboard yesterday morning at Housings, a Westside surf break. The man was surfing alone off the Pacific Missile Range Facility when he said
MANA — A Waimea man walked away unhurt after a shark took a 13-inch chunk out of his surfboard yesterday morning at Housings, a Westside surf break.
The man was surfing alone off the Pacific Missile Range Facility when he said a shark hit his board late yesterday morning, sometime before 11 a.m.
The man, whose name was not released, was interviewed in person by personnel from the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.
The surfer left the water under his own power, told a base resident on the beach what happened, then got in his car and drove away, officials from the PMRF and DLNR said yesterday.
The type of shark was unknown, and the official report of the incident is pending investigation, but Tarey Low, head of the DLNR Enforcement Division, said evidence indicates an attack.
“There are some bite marks through the board,” he said. “It appears to be a shark.”
After the surfer left the base, a piece of his board washed up on shore, said Tom Clements, PMRF spokesman.
“The piece that we got was 13 inches across and 6 inches deep,” Clements said. “It might have only been the tip of the mouth.”
Low said the investigation will be handled through the DLNR’s O‘ahu headquarters.
The beach was closed after the incident, and Low said how long it will remain closed is up to the state, though he anticipates noon today as the earliest time it could reopen. Standard procedure after a shark sighting calls for a 24-hour closure.
Recent shark sightings have also closed Salt Pond Beach Park.
