Shark warning signs still up at Kaimana Beach after shark encounter

By Kristen Consillio

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    HONOLULU (KITV) — Shark warning signs are still up after an aggressive shark took a bite out of a surfer’s board on Monday.

“There definitely has been a lot more sharks around,” said Lt. Dennis Coglietta of the City & County of Honolulu Ocean Safety Division.

The Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) and Ocean Safety personnel are monitoring the waters after an eight to 10-foot tiger shark bit into a surfboard right off Kaimana Beach.

“There’s a fairly large marine animal out here in the water,” he said.

That’s the warning lifeguards are giving beachgoers, many of whom stayed out of the water a day after the encounter.

“Sharks are not rare, but bites, especially of this nature, are rare,” Coglietta said.

But they seem to be occurring more frequently. Over the weekend, emergency personnel suspect a young girl was bitten by a shark near Kualoa.

“During the summer we had couple run ins with some aggressive sharks around some of the surf spots,” he said. “There was one day I think we had 30 signs along the whole South Shore coast.”

In the most recent incident, the owner of the board — a member of the Outrigger Canoe Club — was lucky to get away unscathed.

“Quite a few people scrambling to get out of the water,” said beachgoer Greg Browne.

Browne was just about to take his usual sunset swim when he noticed the commotion.

“We know they’re out there,” he said. “But having said that, I still don’t want to be thinking about them when I’m out there swimming.”

“It’s just part of the deal when you go out there from professional divers, surfers to visitors that just are coming to the beaches for the first time, anytime you enter the ocean, that’s a risk,” Coglietta added.

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