An 8ft shark was spotted swimming around the pier at Brighton Beach this morning, about 15ft away from swimmers.
The shark was spotted by a woman running on the pier, who immediately reported the sighting.
There were about four or five people in the water near the shark, totally unaware until someone pointed it out. They left the water unharmed.
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The search by air, sea and land for the missing surfer has been called off as of 3:30 p.m. Thursday after firefighters could not spot any sign of him.
Meanwhile, the shark-warning signs at Laniakea Beach, Papailoa Beach and Chuns Reef were removed at 11:30 a.m. yesterday after Ocean Safety and Lifeguard Services personnel did not spot any sharks in the area.
Firefighters had resumed the search Thursday morning after a resident found a tattered pair of black shorts on Papailoa Beach and called police, who identified the shorts as belonging to the missing surfer. The missing surfer was described as an Asian male in his mid-thirties and was reported to be wearing black shorts.
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Three large tiger sharks forced a search team to halt its efforts yesterday to locate and recover the body of a missing swimmer from Northern California who had disappeared from Laniākea Beach in Hawaii on Tuesday evening.
A helicopter spotted the sharks at about 7:30 a.m. near a body that was floating roughly a half mile off Pāpa’iloa Beach.
Lifeguards issued a shark warning and closed all beaches within one mile of the area.
Following ocean safety protocol, the fire department would not allow its rescue divers in the water for a 24-hour period. But the air search continued.
The Visitor Aloha Society of Hawai’i is helping the swimmer’s wife of six years and his family. Visitor Aloha Society of Hawai’i officials described the swimmer as a 35-year-old man from Beijing who was living in Sunnyvale, Calif.
Other family members will arrive from Beijing on Saturday, VASH officials said.
Helicopter pilots described the animals around the swimmer as 12- to 15-foot-long tiger sharks.
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Two divers rescued a shark the other day with a frisbee around its neck.
John Dickinson and Chip Garber were diving near Palm Beach in Florida when they saw a nurse shark struggling on the ocean-bed.
The shark had a plastic ring around its neck which prevented it from eating.
Garber wrestled with the shark and, after a brief struggle, removed the frisbee.
Garber and Dickinson said they hoped the shark would begin (uh) eating again and make a quick recovery.
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Water was seen leaking from a Dubai mall’s massive fish tank, which holds more than 2 million gallons of water and 33,000 captive sea creatures. According to the Dubai newspaper, “It is believed that a leak occurred in the 270-degree acrylic walk-through tunnel, but it was sealed quickly.”
Uh, anyone see Jaws 3-D?
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A SeaWorld employee died this afternoon during an incident at SeaWorld’s Shamu Stadium.
SeaWorld, rescue personnel and the Sheriff’s Office are not revealing the identity of the victim, although a local TV station is reporting that it was a female employee who was killed after she was grabbed by one of the theme park’s whales at the start of a public show.
Park guest Victoria Biniak said that the trainer was a veteran of SeaWorld and had just finished explaining to the audience what they would see during the performance when the whale came up from the water and grabbed the woman and started thrashing her around.
She said sirens went off and everyone was forced to leave the stadium. Guests were evacuated from the area, and the whale show was cancelled. The park is not shut down.
Orange County Fire Rescue personnel arrived on scene within five minutes of receiving a 911 call for an unknown medical condition just prior to 2 p.m. The woman was dead when rescue officials arrived.
The whale involved in the incident is named Tillikum, and apparently “Tilly” has a controversial past…
Divers are combing Yadua waters in Bua for a man believed to be the victim of a shark attack.
Captain Kaukau Corrie said they watched helplessly as fellow diver, Henry Usimewa, 19, struggled and fought off an unseen creature before he was dragged beneath the waves.
Mr Corrie said when they rushed to his aid less than half a minute later, Mr Usimewa was nowhere to be seen.
“Around 9.30am we spotted him surface about 15 metres from the boat,” said Capt Corrie. “I can still hear his screams as he fought off something that pulled him under. It was terrifying.
“He was wearing his diving jacket but was pulled clean from it.
“We looked whole day and whole of Tuesday but we couldn’t find him except for his diving gear and sack of sucuwalu.
“We saw that his regulator hose had been bitten off. We are horrified and scared to dive in this area.”
The search for Mr Usimewa is expected to be called off today.
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A 23 ft shark spotted near a Christchurch beach in New Zealand forced lifesavers to clear the water on one of the busiest days of the year.
Life saving manager Dougal Holmes said South Brighton Beach was cleared after police reported a shark sighting near Waimairi Beach at 2pm yesterday and signs were put up to warn beachgoers.
He said the beach clearance was a precautionary measure only, as shark attacks were extremely rare.
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Waters off Ho’okipa Beach Park were closed for two hours yesterday after a shark sighting on the north shore of Maui.
The shark was estimated to be a 12-foot tiger shark, and it was spotted at 11:15 a.m. about 150 yards from the surf break.
Ho’okipa, a popular surfing spot, was closed from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. for one mile both north and south of the surfing reef. The beach park remained open.
Warning signs were posted in the area, and no injuries were reported.
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