A 39-year-old surfer was killed in a shark attack at a popular surf and swimming beach in Hawaii, local police said.

Jason Carter, from Haiku, was killed on Saturday after being brought back to shore by rescuers at a beach off the Hana Highway in Paia, on the island of Maui.

In a statement, Maui police said:

“Once onshore, life-saving measures were performed by first responder personnel until medic personnel arrived to transport the male to the Maui Memorial medical centre for further treatment. The 39-year-old male from Haiku later succumbed to his injuries and died.”

The man was identified as Jason Carter by local media.

Before relocating to Hawaii, Carter worked several seasons at ski resorts in Oregon and Colorado, his Facebook profile showed. He was remembered by friends on social media as an accomplished outdoorsman, the New York Post reports.

“A legend was lost yesterday, doing what he loved!” one reportedly wrote.

Baldwin Beach Park and Baby Beach, near the scene of Carter’s alleged shark encounter, were closed following the incident, the Honolulu Star Advertiser reported.

Shark attacks often stir up media interest but are rare. There were about 57 shark bites across the world in 2022 – the US state of Florida being the most common site of such incidents, the Guardian reports.

Sixteen shark bites occurred in Florida, while most other shark attacks were in the rest of the US and Australia, according to the University of Florida’s international shark attack file.