A 20-year-old woman from Germany remains hospitalized in critical condition, after her right arm was severed in a shark attack at Palauea Beach, also known as White Rock in Mākena, on Wednesday afternoon, county officials confirmed.
The attack was reported at around 4:41 p.m. while the woman was snorkeling about 50 yards from shore. County officials say the conditions were choppy with limited visibility.
Hawaii shark attack location August 14 2012
“We heard screaming from the water and it was this unbelievable scream like I’ve never heard before,” said Andree Conley-Kapoi, a resident of Upcountry, Maui who was working in the area.
“The only time anybody would scream like that is if they are being attacked by a shark,” said Conley-Kapoi who observed the commotion taking place and called 911.
According to Conley-Kapoi, she could see one person attempting to swim another person in to shore. A separate person grabbed a kayak and went out to assist as well, she said.
“The amount of time from when we heard the initial screams to them pulling her out of the water was probably about 10 minutes,” said Conley-Kapoi who described the woman as being “completely white,” when she reached shore aboard a kayak.
“I could see that she had a bite on her foot, and I could also see that she lost a limb,” said Conley-Kapoi who said it looked like the victim was missing an arm.
County officials say crews from the Maui Fire Department’s Ladder-14 from Wailea administered CPR and first aid upon arrival on scene; and medics transported the woman to the Maui Memorial Medical Center for further treatment.
Crews from Ocean Safety, the Department of Land and Natural Resources, and Fire department personnel worked to close the beaches for one mile in either direction of the incident from Mākena Beach Resort to Mana Kai Resort. The Maui Fire Department’s Air-1 helicopter and Maui Police were also seen doing air and land patrols of the shoreline area where the incident occurred.
County officials say a search will be conducted on Thursday, Aug. 15, to determine whether or not affected beaches can reopen. The area will remain closed for a minimum of 24-hours according to shark attack protocols, county officials said in a statement.
The public is asked to adhere to all warnings and beach closures.
I read somewhere that cell phones are the reason why there are more shark attacks in recent years. The frequency of shark attacks are on the increase (Source available). Sharks have sensors that pick up electrical signals from their prey (Source available . In recent years the cell phone usage all areas including beaches has increased (Source available).
The sharks, sensing the signal from both the cell towers and phones on the beach are attracted to the swimming area, with all that delicious meat in the water. And thus, more attacks.
i know of someone who got attacked and yes i believe this situation was similar to johns because it was a very busy beach but cellphone usage has increased even though there were not many sharks in this location before it was a shock i feel very sad for everyone who has been attaked before and hope your lives will be okay in the future xx
Cell phone signals and radiation responsible for attacks? are you kidding me? The sun emits way more radiation than a cell phone does, especially on a bright, clear day at the beach. Sun rays reflected off the water generate mush stronger wavelengths than a cell phone does.