Kukio Beach in Hawaii was closed after a shark attack left a 25-year-old stand-up paddleboarder in critical condition on Saturday, The Daily Mail reported.
The incident took place about 150 yards offshore, while the unidentified man was paddling in the ocean with his father. The shark reportedly bumped him off the board and then attacked him when he fell into the water.
The attack occurred near an exclusive, white-sand resort area and, while Fox News reported there were no county lifeguards on duty, a private safety team was present to assist.
"Apparently they had heard a scream from the ocean and they took a four-man canoe out to find a male individual who had been bumped off his paddle board about 100-150 yards offshore," Fire Capt. Michael Grace said. "They recovered him from the ocean."
According to Big Island Now, bystanders treated him by applying multiple tourniquets to his right side, where he sustained multiple injuries to his hand and leg.
He was then airlifted to the North Hawaii Community Hospital, where he was scheduled to undergo surgery.
The beach was closed following the incident for observations, but was reopened Sunday at 12:25 p.m., Big Island Now noted.
State Department of Land and Natural Resources Dan Dennison said that beach closures were standard procedure in cases of shark attacks, explaining that closure signs warning visitors were displayed for a mile on either side of where the attack occurred, according to Time.
Reports of shark attacks are often followed by panic, fueling common misconceptions about sharks, which the World Wildlife Fund is campaigning to dispel.
The organization noted that there were only four shark-related human deaths in 2016 compared to around 100 million sharks killed annually by people and that many attacks occurred because sharks were hunting and mistook human for their prey.
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