KILAUEA — Bruce Orth, 51, got into a fight yesterday.
Judging by his absence of injuries, it appears he won.
Orth pounded away on the head of what he said was a six-to-eight-foot tiger shark yesterday morning in Kalihiwai Bay, after the shark bit into his favorite surfboard.
He was surfing with five friends near the point in Kalihiwai at about 7:45 a.m., when the shark surfaced about four feet in front of him, and grabbed hold of his favorite board.
“I was just sitting there,” said Orth, a few hours after the attack, on his organic farm in Kilauea. “I feel pretty lucky, I have to admit. I feel pretty blessed by God. The shark went right by my foot to get to the board.”
The shark grabbed hold of his board and tried to pull it underwater, Orth said. But Orth wasn’t ready to part with his eight-foot, two-inch Terry Chung surfboard.
“I gave him a couple of good whacks. I was pounding on his head with my fist,” pushing him away, and the shark let go, Orth said.
Calling to his friends, Orth paddled for shore, and the rest of the surfers quickly followed.
Orth said the water was clear and the waves were about 4 feet, or about 8-foot faces.
“There were some good ones coming in. I was catching a lot of waves. It was a good day,” he added.
He said the attack occurred as he was paddling out after catching a wave. He was about 50 feet in front of the rock pile, on the easterly point of the bay, and two other surfers were farther out than he was.
“Sharks don’t scare me. It’s not my first incident with a shark,” but his closest call, Orth added.
“I’ll probably go out (and surf) tomorrow (today, Wednesday, March 17), if the waves are good,” the long-time surfer said yesterday. “Shark attacks worldwide are so few in number, that one encounter is (statistically) one for my lifetime. I got a free ticket, God-willing.
“Sharks don’t scare me. I’m so much more scared riding my bike on Kuhio Highway than surfing,” Orth added. “Sharks were there first. They’re out there all the time.
“I’m just happy to have my hands,” said Orth, who is also a bike mechanic and musician.
The shark left an 11-inch diameter semi-circle of teeth marks on the outside of his board, about a foot from the nose. The board could be fixed, Orth said, but he’ll probably put it up on a wall somewhere.
He added jokingly that Terry Chung, who shaped his board, was out surfing with him yesterday, and was hopefully going to “put his name on top of the list” for a new one.
After reaching the beach, Orth and his surfing party regrouped, called county authorities to report the incident, waited for lifeguards and firefighters to arrive, gave their statements, then went to eat pancakes.
Another friend who surfed Kalihiwai yesterday morning with Orth, Wayne Smith, picked up the breakfast tab.
“It’s just the price you pay for surfing,” Orth added, speaking of the shark attack and not the breakfast bill.
Kaua‘i Fire Department Ocean Safety Bureau personnel posted “shark sighted” signs on the beach shortly after the incident, county spokesperson Kaui Tanaka said.
Residents and visitors should stay out of the ocean around Kalihiwai until otherwise informed, she added.
Staff Writer Tom Finnegan may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or tfinnegan@pulitzer.net.
