Hawai‘i County fire officials have halted their search for a body that was spotted in the waters off Hawi on Hawai‘i Island today.
The body was initially reported floating about 30 yards from shore from a steep cliff in North Kohala, a half-mile northwest to the end of Lokahi Road.
Hawai‘i County fire officials say a chopper from the Waiakea Rescue Station arrived on scene and observed what appeared to be a “large tiger shark circling the body.”
Rescuers made various attempts to retrieve the body with a Billy Pugh net, but they were ultimately unable to do so.
“In the process of putting a Fire Rescue Specialist in the Billy Pugh net to recover the body, a bystander reported that a shark had submerged the body and it was no longer visible,” the county fire department said in a news release.
Aerial searches were conducted for a short time after until they were called off this afternoon.