'Aggressive' sharks deter helicopter rescue crew in Hawaii The rescue crew did not enter water to attempt to retrieve a body in light of the sharks
By Gary T. Kubota
The Honolulu Star-Bulletin
LANIAKEA, Hawaii — A helicopter fire rescue crew saw three sharks showing "aggressive" behavior near a body about 7:30 a.m. yesterday, city officials said.
The city Emergency Services Department said the shark warning at Chun's Reef and Laniakea will remain in effect until noon today unless conditions change.
The body was believed to be that of a 35-year-old man, originally from Beijing but living in Sunnyvale, Calif., who was visiting Hawaii with his wife.
He was surfing near shore at Laniakea on Tuesday afternoon when he apparently was taken out by currents into high waves before he lost his surfboard and disappeared, city ocean rescue officials said.
Searches by air and sea on Tuesday proved fruitless.
Early yesterday, a helicopter fire rescue crew saw three sharks near a body about 300 to 400 yards off Papailoa Point, city officials said.
Honolulu Fire Department spokesman Capt. Terry Seelig said the rescue crew did not enter the water to attempt to retrieve the body in light of the sharks.
"The body disappeared, and we haven't seen it since," Seelig said.
Ocean Safety Lt. John Hoogsteden said lifeguards on Tuesday saw the surfer a couple of hundred yards offshore on the Haleiwa side of Laniakea surf break.
Hoogsteden said between 4:15 and 4:45 p.m., the surfer was suddenly caught in a current and taken out about 400 yards, where the waves were bigger.
A lifeguard paddled out on a surfboard and saw waves crashing on the surfer.
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