A stretch of South Maui shoreline from Cove Park to Keawakapu Beach was closed until at least noon today after a shark attacked a 29-year-old Canadian man Saturday afternoon between Kamaole Beach parks II and III.

Kyle Gruen, a resident of Vancouver, British Columbia, and former pool lifeguard and competitive swimmer, was swimming about 30 feet from shore around 1 p.m. when he was bitten by a shark on his left hand and thigh, according to Randy Awo, Maui chief of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources' Division of Conservation and Resource Enforcement.

Kyle Gruen was conscious throughout the ordeal, giving his brother a "thumbs up" when he first arrived by ambulance at the Maui Memorial Medical Center emergency room for treatment. He was listed in stable condition on Saturday afternoon at the hospital where he was expected to be treated and then released.

Awo said it wasn't immediately known what kind of shark attacked Gruen, but county lifeguards and state conservation enforcement officers were patrolling the beaches Saturday afternoon to keep people out of the water.

Jeff Gruen said his brother told him he did not see the shark and had no warning before the shark bit into his thigh, leaving a scar that Jeff Gruen indicated was approximately 6 inches wide and 15 inches long. He said that his brother told him he immediately pulled away from the shark, kicking the animal with his foot and then scrambling to shore.