Incidents List

This list and the accompanying graphics do not include encounters in which a shark does not actually bite a person or board (e.g. person grazed by a shark), nor incidents classified by the International Shark Attack File as boat attacks, scavenge, or doubtful. A few incidents were possible shark bites, but shark involvement was not confirmed, and are noted as such.

All shark lengths are estimates. Type of shark is named only if established by evidence and/or witnesses. “Requiem shark” is used here to indicate a member of the family Carcharhinidae that cannot be identified with certainty, but tiger shark can be excluded. Examples of requiem sharks other than tiger sharks include gray reef, Galapagos, blacktip, blacktip reef, whitetip reef, and sandbar.

Incidents are added to this list after the Division of Aquatic Resources has completed its own investigation.

Learn more about close encounters between people and sharks.

Notes:
Provoked incidents are defined by the International Shark Attack File as occurring “when a human initiates physical contact with a shark, e.g. a diver bit after grabbing a shark, a fisher bit while removing a shark from a net, and attacks on spearfishers and those feeding sharks.” Incidents resulting from fishing activity are generally considered provoked. Sudden activity next to a shark, such as falling off a surfboard, may also result in an incident being classified as provoked.

Unprovoked incidents are those “where an attack on a live human by a shark occurs in its natural habitat without human provocation of the shark. Incidents involving…shark-inflicted scavenge damage to already dead humans (most often drowning victims), attacks on boats, and provoked incidents occurring in or out of the water are not considered unprovoked attacks.”

An incident at Lahilahi, Mākaha, O‘ahu, on July 25, 2008 was initially reported as a shark bite. However, the wound characteristics were determined to be inconsistent with a shark bite, based on analysis by the International Shark Attack File.

An incident at Hā‘ena, Kaua‘i, on November 25, 1995 was misdiagnosed as a shark bite. The wound was initially attributed to a cookiecutter shark, but a tooth fragment recovered from the victim was determined not to have come from a shark, based on information from the International Shark Attack File.

For incidents prior to 1995, see Balazs, G.H. “Annotated list of shark attack cases in the Hawaiian Islands 1779-1996”.