(ABOVE PHOTO) File image taken off Kauhola Point in Halaula in 2012. These are the waters where a surfer was reportedly bitten by a 12 to 15 foot tiger shark on Friday.

NEWS BRIEF

• A 34-year-old Kailua-Kona woman was attacked by a shark while surfing at Halaula Lighthouse in North Kohala.
• Police report the shark bit into the board and began to tow the victim – who was attached to the board by a leash – out to sea. A fellow surfer paddled out to help, even hitting the shark before it swam away.
• The Department of Land and Natural Resources has closed the beach and posted shark warning signs.

PRIMARY SOURCE

A 34-year-old Kailua-Kona woman was attacked by a shark while surfing at Halaula Lighthouse in North Kohala.

At 11:12 a.m. Friday (October 31), police received a report that the victim was en route to North Hawaiʻi Community Hospital with injuries to two fingers.

Police determined that the woman had been surfing with a friend when the friend saw her board lift out of the water with her on it. The friend saw what he described as a 12- to 15-foot tiger shark with the board in its mouth. The shark then began to tow the board out to sea, dragging the woman, who was attached to it with a surfing leash. As the male friend paddled toward her, the shark let go of the surfboard. After the friend hit the shark, it swam away.

The woman and her friend paddled to shore and went by private vehicle to North Hawaiʻi Community Hospital, where she is being treated for her injuries.

The Department of Land and Natural Resources has closed the beach and posted shark warning signs.Hawaii County Police Department media release on Oct. 31, 2014