In Hawaii, a 2nd Shark Attack in 5 Days

UPDATE Dec 14, 2022 9:05 AM CST

A man in Hawaii has reportedly survived a shark bite to the butt in what's believed to be the second attack in the state in a week. The 68-year-old from Waikoloa used a diving knife to fend off the 12-foot-long tiger shark as he swam in Anaehoomalu Bay, on the north end of the Big Island, on Tuesday, officials say, per CBS News. The shark "got a good chunk of the left side of his back rear" before releasing the man, who is in stable condition, witnesses tell Hawaii News Now. The attack comes five days after a 60-year-old woman from Washington state vanished while snorkeling off Maui's Kihei, just across the Maui Channel, following a tiger shark sighting. A search for the woman was called off Friday, per Maui Now.

Dec 9, 2022 7:24 AM CST

A woman is missing after what authorities say was a "possible shark/human encounter" in waters off southern Maui, Hawaii, on Thursday. Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources spokesman Dan Dennison said a man told police he had been snorkeling with his wife around 50 yards off Keawakapu Point in Kehei when he saw a shark swim by repeatedly, People reports. Hawaii News Now reports that the man told authorities they both fought the shark and tried to get back to the shore, but his wife didn't make it. Dennison said the man searched for his wife but couldn't find her. According to Hawaii News Now, a snorkel set and part of a bathing suit were later recovered.

Dennison told reporters Thursday that an air and water search for the woman would continue until nightfall Thursday and resume Friday morning. The US Coast Guard said it had sent a C130 Hercules plane and a helicopter to assist the Maui Fire Department and Ocean Safety Division. The last known shark attack in Kihei was in February 2020, when a tiger shark bit a paddleboard but the paddler wasn't injured, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. In an attack off northern Maui earlier this year, a woman who had been snorkeling lost her left arm and two fingers on her right hand. (More shark attack stories.)