Sharky out here
I was staying in the North Shore last week and some of the guys that lived at the surf break ‘walls’ told me about a shark attack a couple weeks ago. Walls breaks far offshore so there’s a decent paddle out. I guess a guy got a shark tangled in his leash and then his board got bit but he got away ok. I heard it was a big tiger shark but can’t confirm. That kept me from paddling that far out while I was there.
Ok…fast forward to today. I was out with a friend this morning at 6 am in Waikiki. It was flat and cold but we decided to paddle from Kaimana beach over to Canoe’s in Waikiki. We stopped at Publics for a bit but it was shallow and flat so we kept on going. When we got back to Kaimana a number of OC-1 canoe guys were talking about a huge (they said 12′ +) tiger shark that was violently killing something and it went up on its tail like a killer whale does at Sea World.
Now I’ve heard of the big tiger that cruises that area but I’ve never seen it before and not sure if this one is the same one. Anyway, looks like there may be more encounters because the fishing season opened in Waikiki this year. It’s only open every other year so there were a lot of spear divers and fishing pole lines in the water. That means there’s a lot of ‘bait’ in the water so do your best not to get confused with it.
Evan,
Last time I was in the islands I stayed with friends at Walls. We surfed it every day. One day as we were getting ready to paddle out, a woman was coming in and she said she sighted a big tiger, and that was it for her. My friend just said, yeah, they’re out there. And we paddled out and surfed for a couple hours. I stayed a week and never saw a shark or any other fish. Sharks…they’re where ever they want to be…whatever. Here in NorCal it’s Great Whites. Yeah, they’re out there.
Yup…like they say, you may see one or two in your lifetime but they see you every time you’re out.
What’s funny is that a friend of mine often sees sharks when we’re out kiting. We kite together a lot and I’ve never seen one out there. That being said, I’m never looking for them either. The only big one I’ve ever seen was a 6-8 foot tiger cruising by with its dorsal fin above water at keehi. I was standing on the shore. Best place to be when a shark is around.
Yup, it is not unsual to hear these stories. I live right down the road from “walls”. I have surfed the wave for many years and just started to SUP it a few weeks ago.
Because of the disstance it is kind of a freaky place to surf, but it also keeps the crowds down.
Everyone knows it is Tiger/Mako (and many others) territory but personally I have never actually seen one there. Although i have seen them at Goat island and Black point.
The bottom line is that it IS their home. So proceed with caution and hope the one you do see is your “Amaukua”….lol
More people eat sharks than sharks eat people.