A shark bit a 68-year-old man Tuesday morning in Anaehoomalu Bay on the island of Hawai’i, police say.
The shark bit the unnamed Waikoloa man in his lower left torso at around 8 a.m. while he swam about 400 yards away from shore, according to the Hawai’i Police Department. The swimmer managed to defend himself from the shark with a diving knife, and the fish eventually released him. (RELATED: WARNING GRAPHIC: Watch The Moment A Shark Bites Off A Man’s Finger)
The shark released the man after he used a diving knife to defend himself, authorities said. https://t.co/iA3h1ueQ3N
— FOX 11 Los Angeles (@FOXLA) December 14, 2022
Paddleboarders pulled the man out of the water and brought him to shore, KHNL reported. They told the outlet he was conscious and responsive on land.
“I guess it’s just wrong place, wrong time,” a witness named Anna Kathryn Sengupta told KHNL.
“It was hectic,” another witness, Anthony Singh, said, according to the outlet. “It was brutal.”
The Hawai’i Fire Department transported the swimmer to Queens North Hawaii Community Hospital, police said in a press release. The man is in stable condition and will be treated in Oahu for non-life-threatening injuries.
Anaehoomalu Bay is closed and warning signs have been posted in the area, KHNL reported.