Officials closed a 2-mile stretch of beach in Kihei for more than three hours Thursday morning after a large shark was seen off Cove Park.
The stretch of shoreline, including Kamaole beach parks I, II and III, was reopened at 11 a.m. after Maui County lifeguards and state enforcement officers patrolled the area but found no sign of a shark.
As officers arrived at the beach following the 7 a.m. report, beachgoers were yelling warnings to two surfers who were in the water, said Randy Awo, Maui enforcement branch chief of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources. "They did not realize the shark was fairly close," he said.
While no one was attacked, the report Thursday reflects an increasing number of shark sightings off Maui in recent years, Awo said. "In the past several years, more incidents are occurring of shark sightings and close encounters," he said.
Police received the initial report of a large tiger shark mauling a turtle about 200 feet from shore, Awo said. Fifteen people reported seeing the tiger shark, said police Lt. Hamilton Rodrigues of the Kihei Patrol District.
Awo said lifeguards worked with DLNR enforcement officers to patrol the area by personal watercraft and boat. A lifeguard, arriving at the beach first, saw a large shark in the area, Awo said. Shortly afterward, a DLNR officer spotted a smaller shark in the same general area, Awo said. As a precaution, he said officials decided to close the beach for one mile on both sides of Cove Park.