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05/02/2005 Scott Hoyt (Hawaii) No Injury

Shark Attack Survivors News Archive for Shark Attacks in 2005
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helmi
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Joined: Thu Dec 18, 2008 10:23 pm

05/02/2005 Scott Hoyt (Hawaii) No Injury

Post by helmi »

Scott Hoyt was surfing at Noriega's (Maui) when a shark knocked him off his surfboard.
( bite marks on surfboard ).

Posted on: Tuesday, May 3, 2005

Surfer 'shaken up' after shark rams him on Maui

By Timothy Hurley
Advertiser Maui County Bureau

KU'AU, Maui — Scott Hoyt never saw a shark in more than a decade of surfing in the waters around Ku'au Bay on Maui's north shore. That streak ended yesterday when one knocked him off his surfboard and bit into the fiberglass.

"I'm still a bit shaken up," Hoyt said a few hours after the encounter 200 feet offshore at a surf site known as Noriega's.

Following the 10:30 a.m. incident, authorities cleared the water, posted warning signs and closed the beaches for a mile on either side of the bay. State and county enforcement officers patrolled the coast in personal watercraft, keeping surfers and swimmers out of the ocean.

The near shore waters will remain off limits until this morning, when another ocean check will determine whether the beaches should be reopened, said Archie Kalepa, the county's supervising ocean safety officer.

There are an average of three to four shark attacks each year in Hawai'i. The last occurred Feb. 16, when a surfer's board was bitten 40 yards from Rocky Point at Sunset Beach, according to the Department of Land and Natural Resources.

Hoyt, a 47-year-old helicopter mechanic, lived in Ku'au for 11 years before moving to Reno, Nev., in 2003. He returned to the coastal enclave a couple of weeks ago to housesit for a friend, and he was enjoying surfing in his old stomping grounds.

Yesterday, the ocean water was clear and so was the weather, with virtually no wind to interfere with waves of 2 to 4 feet.

Hoyt said he had been in the water for a couple of hours and was paddling out for another set when he was jolted off his board. When he turned around, Hoyt saw a shark's gray head, about 18 inches wide, gnawing on the board.

For an instant or two, Hoyt thought he was fish food. "He had me dead to rights," he said.

But instead of going after the surfer, the shark disappeared. Hoyt jumped back on the board and yelled a warning to another surfer nearby before catching a wave into shore.

Back at his friend's house, Hoyt said he was finished surfing on Maui's north shore. He was scheduled to return to Reno Friday.

"I'm not going to go there," he said. "There is a hungry shark out there. It would be crazy to go."

Hoyt, fingering the five or six jagged tooth marks at the edge of the surfboard, said he was lucky none of his limbs were dangling in the water. "I just think he didn't like the taste of fiberglass. Maybe he got hit by the (surfboard) fin. Who knows?"

Russell Sparks, a specialist with the DLNR's Aquatic Resources Division, wouldn't speculate what kind of shark bit the board. Tiger sharks are believed to be responsible for most of the shark attacks in Hawaiian waters.

There was mixed reaction from other surfers yesterday.

Steve Rhody of Makawao said he saw some hammerhead sharks birthing in the area two days ago, but he didn't think much of it. He said he was disappointed to be turned back from the surf yesterday.

"When you drive a car, you know others are having accidents. It's the same principle," he said.

But Steven Kornreich of Pukalani, who surfed the same waves earlier in the morning, said he wasn't sure he would go out surfing again until next season.

Hoyt said he's looking forward to returning to Nevada. "There aren't any sharks there."

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/artic ... ln22p.html

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