Shark bites into Maui man’s stand-up paddleboard

WAILUKU, Hawaii (AP) — A spokesman for the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources says a shark knocked a Maui man off a stand-up paddleboard and left the tail of his board with bite marks.

The 58-year-old was paddling Monday in Kahului Harbor when he felt a hard bump on his board and fell into the water. He surfaced and saw a dorsal fin a few feet away.

A friend sitting on a paddleboard nearby estimated the size of the fin at 12 inches but neither man was able to identify the species of shark in waters that were rough and murky from a recent hurricane.

The run-in followed an incident Saturday, when a surfer used his fist and board to fight off a 12- to 14-foot tiger shark off Maalaea (mah-uh-LAY’-ah) in Maui.

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Information from: The Maui News, http://www.mauinews.com

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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