Surfers who had been out off Cove Park Friday morning said they sighted a shark roaming the area, causing the crowd to take a break from the water.
No one was injured and, despite one report that the shark was feeding on a turtle, there was no evidence of that.
Maui County Ocean Safety Officer Brad Quinto was dispatched to patrol the area on a personal water craft, but reported no sighting of the shark or any turtle.
While the surfers cleared the water on their own, the beach around Cove Park and the adjacent Kalama Park was never closed.
Russell Sparks of the state Division of Aquatic Resources said officials would usually post signs and warn beachgoers for about two hours after the last shark sighting if the sighting is confirmed by state or county officials, and if the presence of a shark raises public-safety concerns.
A paddler with the Wailea Canoe Club, who would only give his name as Lono, took a canoe out to investigate and said a medium-sized shark, about 6-feet long, has been harassing a large turtle that appears to be making a home off Cove Park. “We saw the shark bugging the turtle again,” he said. “We have a big turtle that lives out here. It’s the same turtle and shark going at it. The shark was just messing around with that same turtle.”
Lokelani Intermediate School student Christopher Begin, 12, paddled in to sound the alarm on shore and then other people began yelling for the surfers still in the ocean to exit the water. He said when he first spotted the shark it was about 30 feet away.