Snorkeler recovering from shark attack on Maui

WAILUKU >> A 51-year-old woman from France remains at Maui Memorial Medical Center after suffering serious injuries in a shark attack Saturday afternoon on Maui’s north shore.

According to the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, the woman was snorkeling in murky water with low visibility about 100 feet from shore at Lower Paia Beach Park when bystanders noticed she was in distress and needed help. Maui police reported the woman was 100 yards out when bitten and that bystanders brought her to shore, where she was treated by first responders before being transported to the hospital.

DLNR said Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement offers and personnel from the Division of Aquatic Resources had not been able to interview the woman yet.

Meanwhile, Maui County today reopened three beach parks it had ordered closed following the shark incident, the third so far this year in Hawaii.