Tiger shark chomps on inflatable board, chases paddleboarders to shore in Hawaii

Beaches are closed on Maui after a 10- to 12-foot tiger shark bit a paddleboard Monday, throwing a 57-year-old man into the ocean, the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources says in a release.

Larry Oberto had been turning to go back to shore after spotting the shark about 10 a.m. when it bit the back of his inflatable stand-up board, instantly deflating it, Hawaii News Now reported.

“At first I didn’t know that he’d been hit by the shark,” said nearby paddleboarder AJ Gaston, according to the station. “So I saw him fall in the water and I thought, ‘Man that’s dumb — there’s a shark right here.’ ”

Gaston pulled Oberto onto his own board and they headed for shore — with the tiger shark “acting very aggressively” while giving chase, The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported.

The attack took place about 200 yards offshore, according to Maui Now. No one was hurt.

State officials closed the water from Cove Park to Waipu‘ilani Park in Kīhei and posted warning notices about the shark, the release says.

About 40 species of sharks are found in Hawaiian waters, ranging from pygmy sharks to whale sharks, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources reports.

“Whitetip reef, sandbar, scalloped hammerhead and occasionally tiger (sharks)” are the species most commonly found close to shore, the agency says. Tiger sharks are considered the most dangerous normally seen off Hawaii.

In October, officials found the shredded clothing of a missing diver off Hawaii, suggesting a fatal shark attack, McClatchy news group reported.

The month prior, snorkelers on a shark tour off Oahu reported minor injuries after being caught up in an “unreal” shark feeding frenzy, according to a McClatchy news group story.

And in May, a shark attack killed a 65-year-old retired doctor from Granite Bay, California, who had gone out for a last swim on vacation, The Sacramento Bee reported. It was the first fatal shark attack in Hawaii since 2015.