Man, 39, Dies After 'Shark Encounter' While Surfing in Hawaii: 'Living Nightmare,' Says Family

Mar. 15, 2025

Jason “Jay” Carter.Photo:Jay Carter/Facebook

Jay Carter/Facebook

A surfer died after a “shark encounter” on the north shore of Hawaii over the weekend, authorities said.

Jason “Jay” Carter, 39, of Haiku, was surfing in Paia Bay when the incident occurred on Saturday morning,according to the county of Maui.

Carter was then transported to Maui Memorial Medical Center where he later died from his injuries, officials said.

Witnesses described the condition of the water that day as “murky” as they recalled the terrifying moment when the man encountered the shark.

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“The shark just came up next to him and there’s maybe one guy in between us and the shark just started biting him and pull [sic] him down and then I just was paddling in trying to call 911," Ikaia Kapisi toldHawaii News Now.

Another eyewitness told NBC Newsthat the shark was as big as a pickup truck.

“The dorsal fin was almost as big as his [Carter’s] body, the height of it was almost as high as his head sitting on the board,” the witness told the outlet.

Family members and friends are now left to mourn Carter’s death.

“It is a living nightmare,” cousin Gillian CartertoldGood Morning America. “Whether you had a lifetime with him or five minutes, you felt like a changed person because of his beautiful spirit."

The incident was the eighth shark attack of 2023 in Hawaii, and the first fatal one,according to the Department of Land and Natural Resources shark incident database.

source: people.com