Shark kills Surfer in Hawaii Forcing the Suspension of a Surfing Competition | Hawaii Shark Attack

A surfer who was attacked by a shark in Hawaii on Tuesday has died, prompting the suspension a women's professional surfing competition in Honolua Bay.

The unidentified victim passed away early Wednesday evening.

The 56-year-old man from Lahaina, a city in West Maui, was paddling out from the old ramp in the bay when the incident occurred, according to a release by Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources. He was taken to the hospital and admitted for surgery after the attack.

The state department posted multiple photos to social media showing a surfboard with large bite marks. One photo showed a bite mark appearing to measure 17 inches wide. The attack prompted the indefinite hold of the World Surf League women's professional surfing competition Maui Pro on the day of the incident, according to a release by the WSL.

The WSL announced the decision to cancel the remaining heats of the competition at Honolua Bay on Wednesday, stating in a release that the organization is working on options to complete the event at an alternate location in Hawaii after working with local authorities and speaking to surfers.

The surfer who died in the attack was a recreational surfer and was not involved in the WSL competition.

The surfing organization shared condolences to the shark attack victim's family, friends and the Maui surfing community in a social media post on Thursday.

"The WSL has learned that Tuesday's victim of the shark attack at Honolua Bay has tragically passed away," wrote the WSL in a caption on social media. "Our thoughts and hearts are with the victim's family and friends as well as the entire Maui surfing community."

Teenager survives shark attack saw fish bite leg surfing Florida

'It bit straight through my leg': Surfer, 17, suffers horror wound after 7-ft shark attacked him when he fell off his board in waters off Florida

Jordan Hooper, 17, had been surfing near Ormond Beach, Florida when he fell off his surfboard and kicked something in the water

A surfer from Florida is recovering after being attacked by a shark which left him requiring dozens of stitches in his leg.

Jordan Hooper, 17, was surfing near Ormond Beach near Daytona Beach and was 100 feet from shore when he was knocked off his board by a wave.

He felt something in the water as he kicked away, and suddenly felt a searing pain around his right leg.

Although he never came face to face with the shark, he knew that he had been the victim of an attack after seeing the sea turn red around him.

'I started swimming toward the board and that's when I kicked something in the water. It grabbed completely around my leg.

'As soon as I kicked it, boom! It all happened so fast! It completely grabbed onto my leg,' he said to Tracking Sharks.

'The back of it is the worst. All of its teeth went straight through my leg,' Hooper said to WIST. 'They said it could have been anywhere from a 6 to 7-foot blacktip.'

He didn't know what he had kicked until he suddenly felt his leg, pictured, being clamped down upon. The sea around him turned red and Hooper realized he had been bitten by a shark

'That's when things just started going through my head. I turned and saw all the blood in the water and confirmed what happened. I knew I needed to swim to my board.' 

'I think, if anything, I kind of got in its way more than anything when I kicked it. I think it lost its cool and just snapped on me,' he said. 

The current in the ocean was so strong and coupled with blood loss from his shark bite, Hooper struggled to swim back to his surfboard 

'I became exhausted, and felt like I was going to pass out,' he said. 

He tried to signal his friends, but they didn't understand what had happened.

The teenage have been swimming in the warm waters off Ormond Beach, Florida

'That's when I realized I was wasting my energy, but I needed to get on shore before anything could get any worse.' 

Fortunately, a large wave came by picking up the teen along with his board giving him a ride back to the beach. 

It took a further 45 minutes before paramedics arrived to take the teenager to hospital.

He had to go to the emergency room for a few hours and will have to stay out of the water while his leg heals and the stitches are removed. 

Nevertheless, Hooper says he plans to get back on top of his surfboard as soon as he is healed. 

'I'm sure I'm going to have a little bit of PTSD. I'm going to step on something in the water, and it will freak me out a bit. That's going to take some time to get over for sure,' he said.

'If you look at it, every time you get in the water there is going to be a shark 50 feet from you. They are just as scared of you as you are of them. Obviously, I am going to get back in, it's just going to be sitting in my head the whole time. I was bitten by a shark and I don't want to do it again.'  

Hooper is the 10th shark bite victim of the year in Volusia County.

Pro Surfer Matt Wilkinson Shark Encounter

Photo: Kelly Cestari

Drone footage has captured professional surfer Matt Wilkinson’s narrow escape from a great white shark measuring about 2.5 metres off the coast of Ballina in northern New South Wales.

The world championship tour surfer was paddling on his board near Sharpes Beach on Wednesday when a shark swam quickly up behind him.

“I heard a splash and a noise and looked around and couldn’t see anything,” Wilkinson said, according to a statement from Surf Life Saving NSW.

Australian surfer whose partner fought off great white shark tells why she wants to save them

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Surf lifesavers were operating a drone overhead and were able to broadcast a warning from the aircraft’s speakers.

“The drone came down and told me that there was a dangerous shark in the area, return to the beach,” Wilkinson said.

“I got to the shore feeling a bit weird and the lifeguards showed me the footage and I realised how close it came without knowing it was there. It looks like it’s going for my leg and it’s changed its mind.

“I’ve been surfing with sharks my whole life and I understand they’re there and know enough about them to know they have not too much interest in humans. I’m just glad today the shark reconsidered at the last second,” Wilkinson said.

Following the incident, the beach was evacuated and closed for the day.

Wilkinson was also competing when Mick Fanning was attacked by a shark in South Africa in 2015.

“I feel grateful and pretty weird at the same time but happy it decided not to go me. When I saw the footage I saw the similarities, like, I had a yellow leg rope on and Mick’s board was yellow is what I was thinking about when I came in,” Wilkinson said.

“I called my wife because I didn’t want her to see the footage before I saw it. She doesn’t want me surfing for a couple of days now.”

The drone operator, Beau Monks, described watching the encounter from his monitor on shore.

“It sort of came out of nowhere, then went right up to Matt. It moved pretty fast. I was tracking it and notified the lifeguards and used the speaker on the drone to get everyone out of the water,” he said.

“Within 10 seconds it was at the surfer and five seconds later it was gone.”

Monks told ABC news breakfast the sound of the drone may have scared the great white away.

“I’m not entirely sure why the shark decided to turn away at the last minute. It could have been something as simple as just bumping into his leg rope, or it might have been the drone. Marine creatures have been known to dart away when the drone does come over,” he said.

Drones are being flown over a number of beaches across NSW every day of the school holidays, and are used to warn surfers and swimmers of a variety of dangers, including marine animals.

The chief executive of Surf Life Saving NSW, Steven Pearce, said drones were the future of aerial surveillance.

“They have proven themselves to be cheaper and more effective than helicopters and are preferred by the community,” he said

Drone footage captures great white stalking Matt Wilkinson off Ballina in northern NSW.

#MattWilkinson #sharkattack #Ballina

Surfer girl was bitten by a shark

14 year old surfer girl can’t wait to return to the waves despite a shark bite. Video by Tim Shortt

Brevard County's sixth shark-bite victim this year can't wait to get back in the water.

But 14-year-old Kaia Anderson of Floridana Beach will have to wait until sometime next year, when the severed tendons on her left heel have mended. Late Saturday afternoon, Kaia was surfing with friends when she was bitten

"I felt a tug on my leg," the teen said.

She shouted to her friends that she had been bitten, and they returned to the beach. A fisherman carried her closer to State Road A1A and her parents were contacted.

"She went into shock a little bit, but she didn't cry," said her father, Randall Anderson.

Kaia, whose name is Polynesian for 'ocean,' was treated at Sebastian River Medical Center. It took 100 stitches to patch up the bite, she said.

Anderson said the shark was likely swimming toward food, but clamped onto Kaia's heel instead.

"It immediately let go," he said.

The family lives just on the east side of A1A and uses the Floridana Beach Civic Association's beach access point to hit the surf. Getting from their front steps to the beach is a short walk.

But it's not a walk Kaia will be able to make on two feet for a while, let alone get back in the water. Her doctor said it's a nine-month recovery time for the Hoover Middle School student.

Kaia Anderson, 14, of Floridana Beach (south of Melbourne Beach) was bitten by a shark this past Saturday while surfing. While being interviewed, their dog Spot wanted to be in the photo. (Photo: TIM SHORTT/ FLORIDA TODAY)
"I'm going to miss it because the surf is really good in the winter," she said.

Kaia was Brevard's sixth bite victim this year and 29th in Florida, according to the International Shark Attack File at the University of Florida.

Souce: floridatoday

Shark Attack on surfer south of Mandurah Western Australia 31 May 2016

Video from News24

The attack happened at a surf break close to Panamuna Drive in the Mandurah suburb of Falcon this afternoon.

The 29-year-old man was taken to Peel Health Campus where he is in a serious condition.

A hospital spokeswoman said medical staff were working to stabilise him.

Mandurah Mail reporter Nathan Hondros said it was a desperate scene when he arrived at the beach not long after the attack.

"The gentleman was on the beach by the time we got down here," he said.

"Ambulance crews were trying to resuscitate him by the looks of it. RAC rescue chopper came in yeah, so it was just quite desperate and heart wrenching scenes.

"He had lost a leg from what looked like above the knee, so it was quite a savage attack by the looks of it."

Mick Fanning fights off shark during ‪‎Jeffreys Bay in South Africa

The final of the J-Bay Open had only just started when Fanning was knocked off his surfboard and into the sea.

Exclusive interview with Mick Fanning following the ‪#‎JBayOpen‬ shark attack

Slater gives a hug Mick Fanning after he escaped from shark attack 

Photos: WSL