WAILUKU, Maui — The ocean off the Four Seasons Resort Wailea was too choppy and murky for snorkeling Monday afternoon, so California visitor Aaron Finley took a relaxing swim about 30 yards from shore.

Finley, 32, said he was floating on his back and thinking, "It's so nice to be out here all by myself in the ocean, alone."

Except he wasn't alone. Without warning, a shark chomped into his left leg and just as suddenly disappeared into the deep.

Finley yesterday described the sensation as "a hard bump." Speaking from his bed at Maui Memorial Medical Center, he said: "It hit my leg really hard and I turned and saw this big gray thing turn and swim away."

The West Hollywood man didn't get a good look at the shark and was unable to guess its size or species.

After the attack, two miles of Wailea shoreline were closed about 3:30 p.m. Monday and were reopened at noon yesterday after public safety officials reported no additional shark sightings.

Monday's shark attack was the sixth in Hawai'i this year. A previous shark-bite case on Maui occurred May 7, when a woman was bitten while snorkeling at Keawakapu Beach. Three other incidents were reported this year off O'ahu and one off Kaua'i.

Four of the six cases resulted in leg injuries, and two involved bites to surfboards.

On average, there are three to five shark attacks annually in the Islands. By comparison, Florida reported 23 cases in 2006, and South Carolina and Oregon reported three each, according to the International Shark Attack File at the Florida Museum of Natural History. Hawai'i had four shark incidents last year.

Hawai'i shark expert John Naughton said Finley's experience "sounds like a very classic 'bite-and-test.' It's just a way that these sharks have of testing something they see on the surface. They bite and release when they suddenly realize it's not what they thought it was."

Without more information, it's hard to say what kind of shark bit the California man, Naughton said.

"Generally, when we have something hitting prey the size of human, it's a tiger shark," he said. "Tigers are apex predators but it could have been one of seven or eight species of reef sharks."

SHARKS ARE NORMAL

Naughton said tiger sharks are evenly distributed throughout the Hawaiian Islands, and there is no indication they are more prevalent in South Maui than anywhere else. However, the Kihei-Wailea-Makena coastline is host to a string of reefs that provide habitat to fish and sea turtles. The same abundance of sealife that attracts snorkelers also attracts sharks, he said.

"These things just happen. It's nothing to be concerned about. Sharks are part of a healthy eco-system," Naughton said. "Swimmers should use a little discretion when the water is dirty."

Being alone also may make swimmers more susceptible to shark attacks, he said. A group of people thrashing around in the water might scare off sharks. "They realize it's something different, it's not turtles or a school of fish," Naughton said.

Shark experts say that while shark attacks sometimes occur in clusters, they remain largely random events, occurring off windward and leeward coasts, in murky water and clear, at different times of the day and in all seasons.

NO INCREASE IN ATTACKS

Russell Sparks of the state Division of Aquatic Resources said that despite heightened awareness about shark incidents in Hawai'i, there has been no substantial increase in shark attacks in recent years. If there have been more shark sightings, it's likely because there are more people at the beach and "more eyes" scanning the water, he said.

Statistics from the Division of Aquatic Resources indicate a slight increase in risk during the months of October through December, perhaps because of rainy weather that washes dead pigs, freshwater fish and other debris into the ocean, attracting scavenging tiger sharks to areas also frequented by surfers.

High winter surf also stirs up the ocean bottom, creating the kind of murky conditions that can lead sharks to mistake humans for their usual prey of seals and sea turtles.

But Naughton said there are not enough cases to make the rise in late-year attacks statistically significant.

Finley said he agrees the chances of becoming the victim of a shark attack are slight, and he is looking forward to hitting the beach again soon.

"I don't think it will happen twice. I didn't think it would happen once," he said.

Finley, a music industry sound engineer, said he didn't realize he had been injured until he began backstroking toward shore and lifted his leg to the surface. The shark left a half-moon gash on both sides of his left calf and on his thigh above the knee.

Finley waited until he was in shallow water before calling for help. "There's nothing quite as embarrassing as being out in the middle of the ocean and having to yell for help," he said.

Two resort workers helped carry him onto the sand.

Maui surgeon Dr. Peter Galpin said the bite wound on Finley's calf is particularly deep and nicked the bone, although there was little tissue loss. Galpin has treated eight previous shark attack victims and said Finley's injury was typical of "catch-and-release" shark behavior.

"If this shark had wanted him, it would have had him," he said.

Finley arrived on Maui on Friday and is expected to return home at the end of the week after additional surgery today.

Reach Christie Wilson at cwilson@honoluluadvertiser.com.