Surfer bit by shark off Hawaii coast, part of leg severed in attack

A surfer in Hawaii was bitten by a shark off the coast of Maui Friday, authorities said.

County of Maui Police and Fire said in a Friday press release that a 61-year-old local man was surfing at Waiehu Beach Park at a surf spot known as “Sand Piles” when he was bitten. First responders said that the man's right leg had been severed in the attack, according to CBS affiliate Hawaii News Now.

A GoFundMe account identified the man as "Kenji" and said that, as of Saturday, he is out of the Intensive Care Unit at Maui Memorial Medical Center and recovering.

Witnesses told Hawaii News Now that the surfer was brought to shore by surfers where first responders administered aide.

"I heard this yell and I looked, and all of a sudden I just seen him splash, and I don’t know what was happening," witness David Basques told the station. "He swam himself back maybe more than half the way and then I seen somebody jump in and they went bring him inside."

USA TODAY contacted the GoFundMe account for further comment but did not immediately receive a response

Shark bites by the numbers

Sixty-nine unprovoked shark bites were reported by the University of Florida’s International Shark Attack File in 2023, up six over the five-year average.

Two people died in the U.S. after shark bites in 2023: One in California and one in Hawaii. Four people were killed in shark attacks in Australia. One death each was confirmed in the Bahamas, Egypt, Mexico and New Caledonia.

There were 16 attacks with bites reported in Florida, with eight of those attacks in Volusia County home of Daytona Beach and New Smyrna Beach. That area has long been dubbed "the shark bite capital of the world." 

In addition to the fatality in Hawaii last year, there were seven other bite attacks. Three such attacks were reported in North Carolina, two in South Carolina and two in California, including the fatality.

Four bite attacks occurred last year in New York, including one in New York City. One attack was reported in New Jersey.

The 36 bite attacks reported in the U.S. were about 52% of the worldwide total.

Elsewhere in 2023, bite attacks were reported in Costa Rica, Colombia, Brazil, New Zealand, Seychelles, Turks and Caicos, Ecuador’s Galápagos Islands and South Africa.

In June, "Pirates of the Carribean" actor Tamayo Perry died in a shark attack off of the coast of Oahu.