Sharks at Kaneohe sandbar - video!

[LikaNui]

AMAZING video of a school of sharks at the sandbar today!!! The story -- and two minutes of video -- are at this link (http://www.khnl.com/global/story.asp?s=8485341) on KHNL's website.
I just saw it on KFVE News At 9, and it'll be the lead story (or very close to it) on KHNL news at 10 in about 40 minutes. Surely will be on their morning show as well.
AMAZING. And watch the idiots standing in knee-deep water just a few feet away from the frenzied sharks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh. My. GAWD. :eek:

[hifotog]

Im sorry....but I also saw that amatuer video, and in my most humble opinion, I must say NO WONDER there are shark attacks around the US. These real "akamai" people simply taunt and tease them....they are lucky that the sharks didnt take a defensive mode and go AFTER that buggah...NOW whos laughing:cool::mad:....same goes for the turtles at Laniakea....they simply wanna mellow out and relax...look at all them tourists going close BEYOND the restricted zone just to take a pix and humuliate the turtles...auwe! :mad:

[turtlegirl]

I watched it too, and WoW! It was amazing. I'm not sure how I would have reacted had it been me on that sandbar!

[Jim75]

Definitely looked risky. I imagine a 9' shark could take a leg completely off. Even a small shark could give you a serious bite. And if one of them bit you and the others smelled the blood there might be nothing left but bones.:eek:

Things I've read say that Black Tip Reef Sharks aren't typically aggressive. I saw a pic from Hawaii that a guy took on a web site at pretty close range, maybe 6 or 7 feet away.

In the movie Into the Blue (with Jessica Alba :p), they are swimming with some sharks in the Bahamas and the New England lawyer gets excited and wants out of the water. The local guy laughs at him and says they're a certain kind of shark and there's nothing to be worried about. Is it possible those guys were familiar with those type of sharks at Kaneohe?

Also, it said it was a school made up of a few different kinds of sharks. I wonder if that's common, or what it was about.

[Bob P]

I've seen sharks while scuba diving on a few occasions and barracuda on plenty more. They're ALWAYS something you should take seriously & treat with respect - they're dangerous animals. Sure, Black-tips are less agressive then Tigers or Bulls, but they've still got nasty, sharp pointy teeth - to quote Tim the Sorcerer - and a brain the size of a walnut. They're all about instinctual behavior and you DON'T know what's going to trigger that. Sharks = splashing with a wounded fish and a wounded fish = dinner so the safest thing to do is LEAVE THEM ALONE!

Gah, that stuff bugs me. Sad thing is that group's far from being all tourists.

[TATTRAT]

That guy is a dumbass, imo. No respect for that animal and what it is capable of.

[LikaNui]

Nothing in either of today's newspapers. I'm quite curious to find out what kind(s) of sharks they were.

[DiverDown808]

Those were Hammerhead sharks

They're not very aggressive and have small mouths, but still.....if a 9 foot long wild animal comes around, you really shouldn't just sit there and smile, especially if you're standing between the animal and open ocean. Or maybe the best thing do do was to stand there motionless until they decided to leave. Who knows

But man, what a great sight to see. I wish I was there to see it personally. From a boat, of course :p

DD

[Pomai]

Those were Hammerhead sharks

They're not very aggressive and have small mouths, but still.....if a 9 foot long wild animal comes around, you really shouldn't just sit there and smileYup. Contrary to what that shark expert says, I think they were all hammerheads, which are the most common species in Kaneohe Bay; with that really big one with the dorsal fin sticking out being the "mama". You can tell by the dorsal fin shape that that big one was a hammerhead (http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/staticfiles/NGS/Shared/StaticFiles/animals/images/1024/hammerhead-shark.jpg).

If a tiger shark were present, it would have been much more likely to attack one of those >brilliant< bystanders.

Shark news always gets sensationalized in the media, and this amazing, very unique video of human/shark interaction, along with "Hawaii" will likely be shown on news stations and sites worldwide in the next few days as they find out about it.

[Composite 2992]

Put these guys into a pen full of very large, agitated dogs and let's see if the reaction is the same.

[christa]

it looks like he just stood there? jeez i would have done the same thing. no splashing, no running, just standing there repeating to myself "I'm invisible. I'm invisible. I'm invisible."

[LikaNui]

HEADS UP -- catch the KGMB news at 10 tonight (40 minutes from now). A friend of mine was fishing offshore today and came across a huge dead whale, serving as dinner for a whole bunch of sharks. He says some of them were Great Whites, and he's got a ton of experience so I guess I'll have to believe him. He claims the dead whale was 60' long. Seemed more like 40' to me, but.
He shot about 40 minutes of video, and gave it to a friend of his at KGMB. I saw some of the footage, and WOW! I was out on my boat today too, and now I know why he sounded so excited when he called me on the VHF radio as he was filming this.
Very very light wind today, so the ocean was as flat as the proverbial pancake, making the footage of the sharks really easy to see.
Sorry I didn't post this earlier, but I just got home. If you miss it tonight at 10, I imagine KGMB will have it on their website in the morning.

[LikaNui]

I don't know if the footage aired last night, since I dozed off just before the 10pm news came on... but the new shark footage was the lead story on the 5pm news tonight!
I imagine it will also be the lead story again at 10pm, and I'd guess they'll also show it on their morning show.
Nothing on the KGMB website yet.

[LikaNui]

Okay, it's on KGMB's website at this link (http://kgmb9.com/main/content/view/7779/40/) now.

[alohacandy]

Thanks for the link! That guy who had a close encounter out on the Leeward side was darn lucky that he was so observant.
I went kayaking out to the Mokulua's this week...glad I didn't spot any or I would have freaked! :eek:

[acousticlady]

Very cool. Nature at its finest - or is that fiercest? Your friend looks familiar - does he spend time on Maui?

[LikaNui]

I'd guess they'll also show it on their morning show. Yep, they did.

I went kayaking out to the Mokulua's this week...glad I didn't spot any or I would have freaked! :eek: Well, if you'd paddled another 10 miles offshore you would've!

Very cool. Nature at its finest - or is that fiercest? Both.

Your friend looks familiar - does he spend time on Maui? Not often. Occasional fishing charters who want to go there. Maybe once a year. Mostly he goes to Molokai a lot as an escort boat for the various paddling races across the channel.

[LikaNui]

Reviving this thread to see if anyone else has noticed the increase in shark sightings on all our islands in the past couple of months. Seems like there's something in the news every few days recently!
Just moments ago I heard that paramedics were heading to a shark bite victim near Crouching Lion Inn, in Kahana Bay. Should be an update on the 6pm news.
:eek:

[LikaNui]

Just moments ago I heard that paramedics were heading to a shark bite victim near Crouching Lion Inn, in Kahana Bay. Should be an update on the 6pm news.
:eek: Okay, here (http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080909/BREAKING01/80909080) is the Breaking News story:
A 40-year-old male surfer suffered injuries to his right leg today in a shark attack at Ka'a'awa near the Crouching Lion restaurant.
The attack was reported at 5:01 p.m.
The man fought off the shark and paddled to shore with assistance from a surfing companion. Firefighters administered medical aid to the victim on shore before turning him over to Emergency Medical Services personnel, said HFD spokesman Capt. Robert Main.
City Emergency Services Department spokesman Bryan Cheplic said the man was taken to the hospital in serious condition.
The man reportedly had a 15-inch open wound on his right leg and a smaller wound to the hamstring area of the same leg. He also had in juries to his fingers from fighting off the shark.
Ocean Safety personnel went out to clear the water of surfers and warning signs have been posted although the area is an unguarded beach, Cheplic said. Officials plan to reassess the situation tomorrow morning.

[Kalalau]

I get into so much trouble for saying this, but it would be very fine with me if all the man eating shark species in the world, along with stingrays, were made extinct. I'd even put money up for it.

[turtlegirl]

Wow!! I feel so awful for that poor surfer. Lucky for him he had a friend nearby to help.

What's wrong with the sharks lately!? Did anyone else see this article (http://starbulletin.com/2008/09/07/news/story04.html)? Apparently over the weekend Kailua Beach was closed from Castles down to the boat ramp because of shark sightings. While I was on the big island, I noticed a few beaches that also had shark warning signs.

Scary!

[Composite 2992]

I get into so much trouble for saying this, but it would be very fine with me if all the man eating shark species in the world, along with stingrays, were made extinct. I'd even put money up for it.

An eradication attempt was made where large sharks were taken out in large numbers after someone died while swimming in murky water in Maui.

What happened next was unexpected: A decrease in the number of reef fish.

Getting rid of the largest predators increased the smaller predators, which then increased the pressure on the lower rung of the food chain.

[Ron Whitfield]

I certainly have no problem with sharks. I stay out of their territory these day's.

Their food sources have been nearly depleated, so they're going after whatever looks like potential food.

Years ago, while at my perch at the turn from TCL to Kahana Bay, the foot of The Sleeping Giant, I watched a huge shark repeatedly lunge out of the surface at something along the reef line. A wow! moment.

Many years ago, a friend brought in a 15' tiger tangled in his net outside of Kahana Bay.

They've always been in our waters, just out of sight, but now they are coming in.

[salmoned]

I get into so much trouble for saying this, but it would be very fine with me if all the man eating shark species in the world, along with stingrays, were made extinct. I'd even put money up for it.

I agree, every man who eats sharks or stingrays should be made extinct, next question?

[Kalalau]

Save the sharks! Save cancer! I don't see any difference. Sorry.

I am a hypocrite on this, I know it. I get bent out of shape at the thought of Palin shooting defenseless animals from an airplane, out in the open, with no place to hide. Yet I have had minor brushes with sharks, circled twice by small sharks that were checking me out. If it comes down to a question of whether I have the right to continue existing or a shark has the right to a nip, I win every time, so does any human. Almost any human.

[Vanguard]

An eradication attempt was made where large sharks were taken out in large numbers after someone died while swimming in murky water in Maui.

What happened next was unexpected: A decrease in the number of reef fish.

Getting rid of the largest predators increased the smaller predators, which then increased the pressure on the lower rung of the food chain.

Principal Skinner: Well, I was wrong. The lizards are a godsend.

Lisa Simpson: But isn’t that a bit short-sighted? What happens when we’re overrun by lizards?

Skinner: No problem. We simply release wave after wave of Chinese needle snakes. They’ll wipe out the lizards.

Lisa: But aren’t the snakes even worse?

Skinner: Yes, but we’re prepared for that. We’ve lined up a fabulous type of gorilla that thrives on snake meat.

Lisa: But then we’re stuck with gorillas!

Skinner: No, that’s the beautiful part. When wintertime rolls around, the gorillas simply freeze to death.

[salmoned]

Kalalau, no need to apologize, most of us are ignorant in some areas. A shark is an independent being with a natural, evolved existence quite similar to your own, with an equivalent claim to it's ecological niche. Cancer is an independent being's own cells misbehaving to the being's detriment. No being, no cancer. Cancer has not and cannot evolve beyond the individual being in which it arises, as there is no mechanism of transferal to other independent beings. There's no possibility of driving cancer to extinction unless we drive all beings capable of acquiring cancer to extinction. As for sharks and other species, there is not only the possibility, but the current trend, of driving them to extinction, which necessarily leads to a decreased range of adaptation for our biosphere, leading to a greater likelihood of biological collapse(s).

[Likeke]

Wow.. that is really an eye-opener.. I would freak out if I see that :eek:

[Composite 2992]

Anyone hear the little factoid that sharks don't get cancer?

BTW, I was diving at Kaena and circling a small white-tipped reef shark the other weekend while testing out a video camera.

Live and let live.