Maui Shark Attacks Leave Two Injured, Close Hawaii Beaches; Nine Maui Shark Attacks This Year

Two Maui shark attacks closed beaches in Hawaii. The victims in both Maui shark attacks survived. On Wednesday, a woman was bitten in the upper torso in a Maui shark attack. She was able to swim ashore and is now recuperating from surgery. A Maui shark attack last Sunday happened when a shark took a bit out of a 19-year old male surfer’s leg. The Maui shark let go and swam away and the victim is also recuperating from surgery. There have been nine Maui shark attacks this year.

The victim of the Maui shark attack on Thursday was Evvone Cashman, a woman from Cerritos, Calif. The Maui shark attack happened in the early morning about thirty feet from shore. It happened at the Ulua Beach Park, in Maui. It was the second shark attack in Maui in four days and two beaches off the Hawaiian island of Maui have been closed. According to news reports, she was bitten in her upper torso.
Evvone Cashman told KHON-TV Channel 2m “I must have had my hands up in front of my face. I think my head was above water, if I remember correctly. I don’t know because it happened so fast. I didn’t see him coming. I didn’t see him leave. He just came and hit me hard and bit me hard and I just took off to the shore as fast as I could. He only bit once, and he let go right away. He thinks according to the bites and where they are and what they look like, it was probably about a 25-foot shark. That was his guess "

The chief of the Department of Land and Natural Resources in Maui, Clarence Yamamoto didn’t reveal how bad her injuries were, but pointed out that she was able to swim to share after she was attacked. Yamamoto said that there was “limited visibility” in the water at the time. The woman was not able to identify the species of shark. Officials closed beaches in the Kihei-Wailea area from Polo Beach Park to the Mana Kai Maui Resort.

On Sunday afternoon Kiowa Gatewood was surfing off White Plains Beach in Oahu when he was bitten by what he believes was a Tiger Shark.

Kiowa Gatewood told KHNL, an NBC affiliate that “I was sitting on my board, when all of a sudden I saw this shark come out of the water and grab my leg. From there, I had this instinct to like, hit it with my left hand and then it let go and turned around and swam away. "Sharks can bite hard," he said, but he added that he plans to surf again.

Officials will evaluate whether it is safe to reopen the beaches on Wednesday.