HONOLULU, Dec. 22 (UPI) -- A tourist from San Diego lost part of his left hand during an attack by a tiger shark near a Hawaiian beach.
Jonathan Genant told the Honolulu Star-Bulletin he was swimming about 400 yards off a beach in South Maui when he saw the shark's mouth rising toward him.
"I heard a break, pretty much, and it was really crisp, you know, quick, very powerful," he said.
The shark's teeth tore away part of Genant's palm, his pinkie finger and the tip of his ring finger.
Authorities shut the beaches on Maui's south coast after the attack.
Genant said he thought he had been attacked by a great white shark. But he later learned that tiger sharks are also large and had been seen in the area.
Randy Honebrink of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources said the attacking shark is unlikely to be found.
"Sharks move around so much that whatever shark did that is probably long gone anyway," he said.
