A surfer in Hawaii is in a serious condition after he was bitten by a shark in the leg on Sunday.
According to the Honolulu Emergency Medical Services (EMS) the 58-year-old man was attacked shortly before 7am near the Kewalo Basin.
The surfer has not yet been identified by the authorities.
The EMS said that paramedics responded to the incident and “administered life-saving treatment to a patient who was surfing and suffered shark bite to his right leg”.
“Honolulu Ocean Safety will continue to patrol the waters off of Kewalo Basin and Ala Moana after this morning’s shark bite. Lifeguards posted signs in the area,” EMS spokesperson Shayne Enright said in an email to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
This is the fourth shark incident this year and the third in which someone suffered a bite, reported the outlet, citing an incident list kept by the state Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR).
On March 19, two 5-foot Blacktip reef sharks bit a swimmer at Anaehoomalu on the Hawaii island, leaving lacerations to the back of their left knee and left hand.
The same night two cookie-cutter sharks, approximately 18 to 22 inches long, caused semi-circular puncture wounds to a swimmer’s chest and abdomen around 12 miles from Papohako Beach.
On 19 February, a person who was on his inflatable stand-up paddleboard near Kihei, Maui had a part of the board bitten off by a shark.
According to the DAR, shark bite incidents in Hawaiin waters are rare.
DAR Records show that the last shark incident that happened at Kewalo was in 2002.
An approximately 10-foot tiger shark bit a surfer on the left foot while duck-diving under the waves.
However, the DAR says that the risk of injury from shark bites remains small.
