Shark Attack Survivor Punched Predator as Water Turned Red

A shark attack survivor has revealed that he punched the predator as it bit him and the water turned red.

Mike Morita, 58, had been surfing in the Kewalos Basin in Honolulu, just before 7 a.m. on April 9 when the 8-foot tiger shark bit his right foot, which later had to be amputated.

Morita recounted the attack to the Associated Press, saying that he had been lying on his surfboard in crystal clear waters when the shark attacked. He told the news outlet that he immediately knew it was a shark and started fighting the shark by punching it.

"The water was red—with my blood," Morita said.

Morita said he began praying for the shark to let go of his leg as the bite became deeper. The surfer wrapped his arms around the shark, and as his hand passed its gills, it let go.

Other surfers near Morita saved the man's life by creating a makeshift tourniquet with their surfboard leashes, which they tied around his injured right leg to prevent more bleeding.

"I cannot believe how much courage my friends had," he said.

He was immediately rushed to hospital, where he is still recovering. After losing his right foot, he hopes that no further amputation up to his knee is needed.

Tiger sharks are one of the "Big Three" shark species responsible for most shark attacks on humans, alongside great whites and bull sharks. They have a reputation for being more aggressive than most other species but do not actively hunt humans.

Shark expert Carl Meyer, of the Hawai'i Institute of Marine Biology, told Newsweek: "In Hawaii, large tiger sharks are routinely present in waters where people surf, snorkel and swim but they rarely interact with humans. The rare occasions where tiger sharks bite ocean users likely stem from the shark's natural instinct to explore novel objects floating at the surface as potential prey. These incidents are not cases of 'mistaken identity' but instead represent normal exploratory behavior by a large predator with a very diverse diet."

This incident is not the first shark attack to occur in Hawaii in recent months, although attacks generally remain very rare.

Morita's attack marks the fourth one to occur in Hawaii this year.

Hawaii has some of the highest shark attack numbers in the United States, coming second to Florida. According to the International Shark Attack File, there have been 187 confirmed unprovoked shark attacks in Hawaii since records began in 1837.

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