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Hawaii Shark Encounters/Hana Bull

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Hawaii Fishing News

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Apr 26, 1995, 3:00:00 AM4/26/95

<HEAD>
<title>Encounters With Hawaii's Maneaters</title>
</HEAD>
<H1>by Chuck Johnston, Tommy Kaniho and Mark Collins:
researched by Clay Ching and Mike Collins</H1>
In the December 1992 issue of HAWAII FISHING NEWS, we printed the
following story which is a series of short stories compiled from
phone conversations and letters to our office in Honolulu.
Most were generated in response to several fatal and non-fatal
shark attacks that occurred in 1992. The purpose of printing them then
and our posting them here for you is to allow you to be the judge
of how safe or dangerous Hawaii's waters are.
Our first incident was reported in The Maui News. A fisherman
and his girlfriend were terrified by a "great white" while bottom
fishing off the island of Maui. The fisherman was very experienced.
It was midday, and he was anchored over his favorite opakapaka (pink
snapper) hole. They were in 50 to 60 fathoms of water. What the
fisherman identified as a great white suddenly appeared beside the
boat. The shark made several close passes and gave the couple the
weird feeling it was contemplating how to get them. Terrified, they
huddled out of sight by the steering console, hoping that if the
shark couldn't see them it would lose interest and go away.
The shark, reportedly over 20 feet long, actually hit the boat
in its effort to get at its occupants. After huddling for what
seemed like forever, the fisherman got up his nerve to lift anchor
and head for home. Terrifying, but true!
Yet another Maui bottom fisherman related this story to Clayton
Ching of Molokai of a 20-foot tiger shark that makes similar
appearances at his favorite bottom fishing ground. The fisherman
gives the shark one of his large snapper each time he sees it,
and each time the shark has been content with the single offering
and has left the area. The fisherman said that he has never had the
shark take a fish off his line. He did say, however, that one day he
was fishing with a friend and they had caught a number of fish. When
the large shark appeared, they got to talking, he recalled, and they
forgot to give the shark a fish. The shark, he said, became impatient
and roughly bumped the boat's side with its flank. That time we gave
it two fish!" he exclaimed.
But wait! You havenıt heard the half of it yet.


A Molokai bottom fisherman had a similar encounter to that of the
Maui fisherman and his girlfriend, 10 miles from the first encounter,
while anchored in 45 fathoms and fishing alone, as he often does.
It happened some time after midnight, probably at 2 a.m. He recalled,
"I had just dozed off with only one line down when I felt a different
rocking sensation of the boat and woke to find my line wrapped around
the anchor." There was no wind, and the tide had quit running. He
untangled the line from the anchor rope and rebaited. He also put out
a second line. Suddenly, about 15 feet away in the edge of the glow
of his fishing light, a big fin appeared.
He recalled, "It did not blow like a whale or a dolphin, so I was
sure it was a shark."
Like many bottom fishermen, he had bridled his boat sideways to the
anchor to give more spread to his baits. He noticed that the boat
was beginning to move.
As the boat started moving and jerking sideways through the water,
he quickly reeled in his two bottom fishing rigs. By this time he had
seen both the fin and the tail of the shark in the moonlit night. He
glanced at his depth recorder and saw that he was in 80 fathoms of
water. Something had dislodged his anchor and was pulling him at
trolling speed out to sea. He thought, "Maybe a submarine," but then
it stopped and shook the boat like a cork in the still, calm night.
He, like the couple, had an eerie feeling that this thing has
contemplating what to do next.
He cut the bridle so he was being towed bow-first through the
night. It had been at least 20 minutes. He gave one last thought
to the possibility of trying to catch the shark, which at this moment
had him caught. He decided he best not try. He leaned over the
windshield of his 19-foot fishing boat, cut the straining rope and
headed home, certain that he had had an encounter with the 20-foot
great white spotted 10 days earlier just 10 miles away.

Here it is in Tommy Kanihoıs own words.

<H2>November 4, 1992
Two Divers Encounter Sharks
Off Sandy Beach, Oahu</H2>
"On Wednesday, November 4, my friend Gordon Olayvar and I decided
to do some spearfishing. We met at the blowhole at 8:45 a.m., and the
water looked so good that we decided to try our luck down the road.
We were in the water by 9 a.m., swimming against the current toward
Alan Davis.
Within 15 minutes, our stringer was showing the results of a fairly
good dive. At 9:30 a.m., we ventured farther outside to see what the
grounds were like. The place looked ideal and was only 35 feet deep.
We picked up a few he'e (octopus) before I saw a big spiny lobster.
I called Gordon over and asked him to keep an eye out for me while
I went down to retrieve the lobster. After three dives I was able to
grab the lobster and pull it out of a small cave. The lobster was a
big one, and it took me a minute to put it on the stringer. As I
pushed the floater away, I noticed something large along the bottom,
and so did Gordon!
It was a shark, all right, and we were trying to figure out what
kind of shark it was. I felt that the shark was either a gray reef
or Galapagos. The female appeared to be 8 feet in length. I say it
was a female because of the scratches along its fins, scratches that
usually occur during mating. We kept a close eye on the shark, and
she headed away from us. We glanced at the beach and realized that
we were about 450 yards out. I told Gordon that we'd have to make
an effort to watch for the shark, and wouldn't you know! She came
right back, even closer to us than before. Gordon swam right at the
shark in the hope of scaring it away. 
The shark wasn't phased, and when I looked to my left I knew why.
A larger shark approached, and I assumed that it was her mate.
The new arrival seemed to measure close to 9 feet. Gordon and I
got closer together as the sharks started to circle. The sharks were
tightening their circle and moving in close. We had our spearguns
aimed and ready in case they got any closer. In a split second they
broke their circle and moved about 20 feet away. We decided to head
in to shore, but not without the sharks moving in front of us, to
our side and even next to the floater at times. About 100 yards from
shore, Gordon stopped me and said, 'Tommy, there's one more, and it's
bigger!' I knew we were almost safely ashore. Gordon stopped me again
and said, 'It's a tiger!' I looked around and saw the stripes on a
shark that was easily 10 feet long. The tiger shark actually kept
its distance, but the other two became even bolder. We were surprised
that our catch hadn't been devoured yet.
Gordon and I reached a shallow reef that extended from shore. It
was only knee-deep, and I tried to bring the floater in quickly. One
shark made an attempt at the floater but missed. It swam on the reef
and turned back to sea. All three sharks stayed in the area with their
fins extended above the water.
Gordon ran down to the beach, and with the help of two young ladies
, was able to get some surfers in the area out of the water. A couple
of surfers were able to see the sharks for themselves. At 11:30 a.m.,
we filed a report with the city and county lifeguards and Jim Howe.
We've encountered sharks before and have been left with the peace
of mind to dive another day. We love the ocean and realize the dangers
involved in doing what we enjoy most. In general, I'm not for the
killing of sharks, but I do believe that study and research can
benefit both man and sharks alike. In the meantime, if you decide to
enter the water, you may want to keep an eye out for your partner and
'you know who.'"
Tommy went on to say that despite his close encounter off Sandy
Beach, he still is not in favor of indeterminate elimination of large
sharks but would rather see additional research into the problem-a
strange attitude for someone who easily could have become a shark's
next meal. Not many shark attack victims who have lived to tell of
their ordeal have voiced similar feelings of compassion for the
attacker.


Yet another encounter occurred recently. An insurance agent from
Honolulu was diving off Lau Point, Molokai, when he had a very close
call with a 12-foot tiger shark. Reportedly he was diving at his
familiar lobster hole in 50 to 60 feet of water. According to the
diver, he always sees sharks when diving off Lau, but this day it
was different. The 12-footer became very "fresh" (his word to
describe the shark's behavior). He fortunately sensed the
aggressiveness in time to get back to his boat. Just as he was
getting himself out of the water, the shark bit his fin completely
in two. At first, he said, he was angry because the shark had ruined
a $50 pair of fins; but, as he headed the boat for home, he realized
he was lucky to have his leg.

We saved the most incredible, or should I say credible, story
of all for last. For those who still have any doubts about these
reported incidents, here's Mark Collin's accounts.

<H3>October 12, 1992
The Battle For the Hana Bull</H3>
October 9, 1992, was one of those glassy, variable days. Capt.
Marc Minkler, crew member Moki Bergau and passenger Dr. Phillip Adams,
a guest at the Hotel Hana-Maui who was visiting from Houston, Texas,
had the PACIFIC SAFARI out on a shakedown cruise.
We had just bought the PACIFIC SAFARI, a 38-foot Wilson with glass
panels on the bottom. It was built for sightseeing tours and research
work around Kauai prior to Hurricane Iniki. The vessel is now used to
operate a charter business out of Hana Bay (Hana Hou Charters) to
subsidize our fishing business.
Capt. Marc was working the 100-fathom ledge down the coast about
7 miles south of Hana and about 21/2-miles offshore when the crew
spotted what appeared to be a large log or net floating off In the
distance.
What happened next was one of the most extraordinary events that
either Capt. Marc or Moki had ever witnessed in all their years at
sea.
As Capt. Marc approached the large object, they realized it was
a bull swimming toward the Big Island. As they got closer, Capt.
Marc figured he'd get a rope around the animal and lead it back
to shore. But as they pulled up next to the bull, they realized
it already had company with other plans.
There were three large tiger sharks that appeared to be in
the 12- to 14-foot range swimming below the bull, whose right
front hoof was missing and who had a small bite out of its
hindquarter. As Capt. Marc and Moki were contemplating getting the
rope around the bull's head, three more tiger sharks showed up, and
all were larger than the first three.
The accompanying photographs show some of the scenes witnessed by
Capt. Marc, Moki and Dr. Adams during the feeding frenzy that
followed. The photo of the bull with its head still visible was
taken just prior to the largest shark decapitating the bull and
swallowing its entire head in one gulp, an unforgettable sight for
those who witnessed it. After about 10 minutes, about 1,000 lbs of
the bull had been devoured. Capt. Marc and Moki thought they would
try to get a rope around the remaining carcass and take a meal away
from the sharks instead of vice versa. 
As the PACIFIC SAFARI backed down, the sharks backed off and Moki
was able to get a rope around what was left of the bull. But the
two biggest sharks then moved in aggressively to take the remainder
of the bull. Capt. Marc moved the PACIFIC SAFARI off about 20 feet.

For an awesome finale, the largest shark took the remaining
500-lb piece of of the bull in its jaws and swam under the boat,
as Capt. Marc, Moki and Dr. Adams watched the entire scene through
the boat's viewing panels.
After word of the incident got around Hana, resident Henry Rost,
who had raised the bull, said that the animal was a large one in
the 1,500- to 2,000-lb range. He figured that the bull must have
slipped down the Pali (steep mountain slope). Unable to get back up
and with no fresh water available, it must have taken its last
option and headed out to sea.
Dr. Adams called us the next day to thank us for taking him on
an unforgettable fishing trip. He summed it up by saying, 'That was
the best cow killing I've ever seen.'
We would like to thank Dr. Adams for taking the photos and sending
them to us after his return home."
What you've just read are true encounters. HAWAII FISHING NEWS is
not suggesting a shark eradication effort, nor are we suggesting
nothing be done to eliminate the presence of large man-eating sharks
in Hawaii's nearshore waters. Our purpose is to inform our readers
who use Hawaii's ocean resource for food, work or recreation what
at this moment in time lies beneath the surface so they can be more
aware and thus better prepared for an encounter.
. . . Chuck

<H4>Shark Fact</H4>
Despite the belief that the current number of large tiger sharks
in Hawaii is due to a marked increase in sea turtles in island
waters, no evidence of turtles was found in the stomachs of sharks
caught during recent shark hunts.

HAWAII FISHING NEWS published the above article with color photos
of the school of big tiger sharks devouring the Hana bull. The paper
quickly sold out and is no longer available from our office at PO Box
25413, Honolulu, Hawaii 96825. Phone (808) 395-4499. Fax (808) 396-FISH.
Email fish...@pixi.com.
We're a monthly snail-mail publication (tabloid newspaper format), and
have been here in the islands for 18 years. I will be sharing more
stories and information with you in the years to come.

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