A kayak fisherman using lures to attract baitfish off Maui was killed after he attracted a shark with his dangling right foot, Hawaii's Department of Land and Natural Resources says. A friend rushed to help after the shark bit the man's foot but the victim, identified as Washington state man Patrick Briney, 57, died upon reaching shore, reports the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. It is the 13th reported shark attack in Hawaii this year and the second off South Maui in less than four months—a 20-year-old German woman died after a shark bite in August.
There are normally around four shark attacks in the state every year, but there were a record 10 last year and officials aren't sure what's behind the rise. "We are not sure why these bites are occurring more frequently than normal, especially around Maui. That's why we are conducting a two-year study of shark behavior around Maui that may give us better insights," the DLNR's chairman says. "It is our hope and expectation that numbers of incidents will return to a more normal range in the near future." (More sharks stories.)
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