Maui shark attacks have claimed two lives so far this year, the second occurring this past Monday when a man fishing from a kayak was fatally bitten by a shark off the Hawaiian coastline.
The man, 57-year-old Patrick Briney of Stevenson, Wash., succumbed to his injuries from
the shark attack as he was being brought ashore, Reuters reported.
The attack occurred in the waters between Maui and Molokini, a small island less than three miles off the southwest coast of Maui that's popular for diving and snorkeling.
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According to the victim's fishing partner, the shark bit Briney's foot which was dangling over the side of the boat. The fishing partner immediately tied a tourniquet round the man's leg and signaled to a nearby charter tour boat which took the men to shore.
The type of shark involved in the attack was not available.
Monday's shark attack is the eighth shark attack near Maui this year. Statewide there have been
13 shark attacks in Hawaii since January, the Associated Press reported, the most recent of which occurred on Friday when a woman swimming off Maui suffered nonfatal injuries from an attack.
"We are not sure why these bites are occurring more frequently than normal, especially around Maui," Department of Land and Natural Resources Chairman William Aila Jr. told the AP. "That's why we are conducting a two-year study of shark behavior around Maui that may give us better insights."
In August, 20-year-old German tourist Jana Lutteropp died off Maui's coast one week after
suffering a shark attack in which she lost her arm. She was snorkeling about 100 yards off the beach in southwest Maui when the attack occurred.
Prior to Lutteropp's fatal shark attack, the last person to be killed by a shark in Hawaii was in 2004.
Sharks are "an absolute danger, every single day. You have to respect the fact they can bite you at any time," Hawaiian kayak fisherman Isaac Brumaghim told the AP.
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"Just a little bit of blood, a little meat in the water, that's all you need," Brumaghim added referring to bait most fisherman used to attract big game of Hawaii.
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