KEKAHA — Doug Moore was sitting on his surfboard when he felt a sharp pain in his right index finger around 8:30 a.m. at Davidson’s Beach on Monday.
“I thought it was a jellyfish at first, but then I saw the shark,” Moore said yesterday.
He hit it a couple times and called out to his friends, including Ray “Mac” Pigott.
“I saw the swirling, fins and some of the shark’s body,” Pigott wrote on Instagram after the attack.
“(Moore) was free from the attack quickly,” Pigott wrote, noting that it was an old, scarred shark. “I yelled for him to keep his eye on the shark. I was looking for it when I saw my friend catch a belly ride in. … I paddled towards him asking if he was ok. He yelled, ‘My hand.’”
Friends drove Moore to Kaua‘i Veterans Memorial Hospital, where he was given 26 stitches to his finger. Luckily, Moore said, there doesn’t seem to be any major injury.
“There was for sure adrenaline, I admit that I was trembling,” Piggot wrote.
This incident happened in almost the same exact spot on the reef as another shark attack, Piggot said.
In 2017, a French surfer had his right leg amputated after a shark reported to be around 12 feet long attacked him at Davidson’s. Moore said he was there that day and got out of the water shortly before this incident. Moore was the one who applied the tourniquet to the French visitor.
“I’m never planning on surfing there again,” he said.
The Ocean Safety Bureau closed the Davidson’s after the apparent tiger shark attack. Soon after, officials posted “Shark Sighted” and “No Swimming” signs and spent the day warning surfers and beachgoers to stay out of the water until further notice.
Piggot’s been surfing at Davidson’s nearly every day and said the water at Ho‘omano was some of the clearest in a while.
Waters will be reassessed this morning. The county suggests reaching out to county lifeguards or by calling the Ocean Safety Bureau at 241-4984 for beach conditions. Moore urges others to not surf alone.
The Department of Land and Natural Resources was notified of the incident.
•••
Sabrina Bodon, public safety and government reporter, can be reached at 245-0441 or sbodon@thegardenisland.com.
Not mentioned in this article was another shark attack at Davidson’s in which local surfer Mitch Milan suffered some serious damage to his hand. That attack occurred in between the time of the two hits mentioned in this article. Ray “Mac” Pigott was right there for all three of these incidents. Note to self: never go surfing with Ray Pigott…just kidding, Mac!
It sucks too cuz Dave’s been pumpin these passed two days