"Ah! What delicious-looking crabs you have here!"

So said the visitor to Ke Awa Lau o Puʻuloa – but he wasn’t speaking of crustaceans, he was speaking of the fishermen he saw as “fat crabs”, that is, a dainty morsel.

He was Mikololou, a man-eating shark from the Kaʻū district on the Island of Hawaiʻi.

He was part of a large company of sharks who came to visit from Hawaiʻi, Maui and Molokaʻi. Most of these had human relatives and were not desirous of eating human flesh, but among them were some who disregarded the relationship, and learned to like them.

The sharks had planned to make a circuit of the islands and perhaps later to visit Kahiki.  They stopped at Puʻuloa (Pearl Harbor.)

Kaʻahupahau, hearing those words, knew at once that some of the strangers were man-eaters.  Guardians of the area, she and her brother Kahiʻuka went into action to protect the fishermen.

But Kaʻahupahau could not distinguish between the good and the bad sharks; she then she changed into the form of a great net and hemmed in her visitors while the fishermen who answered her signal came to destroy them.

Her brother Kahiʻuka struck at intruders with his tail, one side of which was larger than the other; the fishermen hauled in the nets to shore and Mikololou was cast upon the shore with the evil doers, where they were left to die of the intense heat.

All but Mikololou were soon dead; though his body died his head lived on and as the fishermen passed to and from their work, his eyes followed them and tears rolled down his face. At last his tongue fell out. Some children playing nearby found it. They picked it up and cast it into the sea.

Now Mikololou’s spirit had passed out of his head into his tongue and as soon as he felt the water again he became a whole shark. With a triumphant flop of his tail, he headed for home to join his friends again. When Kaʻahupahau saw him, it was too late to prevent his departure.

"Mikololou lived through his tongue," or, as the Hawaiians say, "I ola o Mikololou i ka alelo." This saying implies that however much trouble one may have, there is always a way of escape.

Kaʻahupahau lived in an underwater cave in Honouliuli lagoon (West Loch.) Kahiʻuka lived in an underwater cave off Mokuʻumeʻume (Ford Island) near Keanapuaʻa Point at the entrance of East Loch

Kaʻahupahau may mean "Well-cared for Feather Cloak" (the feather cloak was a symbol of royalty). Kahiʻuka means "Smiting Tail"; his shark tail was used to strike at enemy sharks; he also used his tail to strike fishermen as a warning that unfriendly sharks had entered Puʻuloa.

Such guardian sharks, which inhabited the coastlines of all the islands, were benevolent gods who were cared for and worshiped by the people and who aided fishermen, protected the life of the seas, and drove off man-eating sharks.

Pukui notes Kaʻahupahau in ʻŌlelo Noʻeau: Hawaiian Proverbs and Poetical Sayings, No. 105: "Alahula o Puʻuloa, he alahele na Kaʻahupahau": "Everywhere in Puʻuloa is the trail of Kaʻahupahau. Said of a person who goes everywhere, looking, peering, seeing all, or of a person familiar with every nook and corner of a place." Kaʻahupahau was noted for traveling about, vigilantly guarding her domain against man-eating invaders.

Puʻuloa also was home to Komoawa, (or Kamoawa,) a large shark who was Kaʻahupahau’s watcher.  His cave, called Keaaliʻi, was at the entrance of Puʻuloa.  (Thrum, Hawaii-edu)  Kualiʻi guards the entrance to Pearl Harbor, while the home of Kaʻahupahau is deeper into Honouliuli lagoon.

Years later, the US Navy, having acquired Pearl Harbor, was working to expand the facilities.  This included dredging the channel, adding a coal station and construction of a drydock.

"The dredging of the Pearl Harbor channel was begun long before the drydock was more than desultorily talked of - in 1900.  It took many years to deepen, straighten and widen the channel into the lochs sufficiently for a man of war to enter. But the work progressed steadily if slowly, and on December 14, 1911, the cruiser California steamed from Honolulu to the entrance to Pearl Harbor, and then, turning her gray nose inward, proceeded majestically through the still tortuous channel and dropped her anchor off the dry dock site."  (Hawaiian Gazette, November 24, 1916)

The drydock was to be the "Largest In (the) World - Less than a decade will have elapsed between the beginning of the great work and its completion. And when the Pearl Harbor drydock is finished it will be the largest and the finest in the world, capable of accommodating any vessel now built or building, or that probably ever will be built by the United States."  (Hawaiian Gazette, November 24, 1916)

But, during construction, disaster occurred.  "Much progress had at that time been made on the construction of the drydock, and success seemed assured. But the contractors had been having trouble with the bed of the drydock … it suddenly blew up with a tremendous explosion. No lives were lost, although there were several narrow escapes. But the work of years had been wrecked … pressure had forced the bottom of the drydock up until it literally burst (on February 17, 1913.")  (Hawaiian Gazette, November 24, 1916)

"For a time it was feared that the entire project might have to be abandoned. But Uncle Sam's engineers refused to be defeated by natural forces, and finally, after long experiment, mean were found for anchoring the bottom of the drydock.  Admiral Harris was one of the board that came to Hawaii to investigate the causes for the explosion and try to find a way of preventing future disasters of similar nature."  (Hawaiian Gazette, November 24, 1916)

They cannot say they were not forewarned.  “While at work three Hawaiian fishermen come to where we were working, one of whom was aged, who asked me what we were doing there. ‘Digging a hole 50 feet deep’ was the reply. He then told me to move away from there; and when asked why, he said, ‘These places are tabu; they belong to shark god, name Kaʻahupahau.’”  (Richards (a worker on the drydock project,) Navy-mil)

“The old man was watching my men working, and talking to them. Again he came over to me with tears in his eyes and asked me to quit digging ‘til my boss came. "I told him, I can't do that." They stayed there several hours, then he said to me that, ‘You people will be punished severely.’” (Richards, Navy-mil)

"Several years ago, some will remember, when work started on the Pearl Harbor naval dry dock, some of the Hawaiians said the location chosen would disturb a "shark god" who would be affronted and they prophesied dire disasters. The work was started and there came a collapse. The forecasters of trouble were prophets. Changes were made in plans and locations."  (Maui News, June 9, 1922)

Merely a coincidence?  Some think not.

One of the workers on the project noted, “As we went along pumping the water out of the dock, we pumped out five feet and cleaned the side and plastered and corked all the leak, 15 to 20 days and then pumped till we got to the bottom which was full of mud and in the middle of the dock where I went through a cave of nine feet diameter. Mr. Hartman, assistant boss, found a backbone of a big shark, 14' 4" long. I came by where they were working when Mr. Hartman said to me, ‘You certainly got the shark. Here it is.’”  (Richards, Navy-mil)

(The Story of Mikololou is from Wiggins, Beckwith)

The image shows Pearl Harbor Dry Dock #1, after the February 1913 explosion In addition, I have added other related images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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Billy Weaver

December 13, 1958 – 8-months before Hawaiʻi became a state ... it was described as a typical trade wind, Windward Oʻahu day; the sky was clear; the water was a little rough with whitecaps and there were good-sized waves.

Six friends, ages 9 to 15, were doing what kids do, then and now; they had paddled and rowed out to the Mokulua Islands to surf and play in the water.

Along with an 8-foot boat, they had three surfboards and three air mattresses.  The boys kept together; never was one more than 75 - 100-feet from the others.

Then, disaster struck.

Billy, 15-year old son of Spencecliff restaurants partner Clifton Weaver, was on an air mattress and missed catching a wave.  Then, the rest of the boys noticed he was clinging to the mat, apparently in difficulty.

They heard a cry for help.

Seeing blood in the water, they swam over and tried to rescue Billy – they saw he had lost a leg.

Then, one of the boys cried out ‘Shark,’ seeing it surface 30-feet away.

Fearing their small boat would swamp in the surf, they rowed to shore to get help.

About an hour-and-a-half after the attack, the Fire rescue squad was on the scene.  Other boats joined in the search.  Finally a helicopter crew from the Marine Base spotted the body on the reef.

A local resident dove down and recovered the body.  Efforts to revive him failed; Billy died from loss of blood, drowning, shock or a combination of the three.

The shark was estimated to be over 15-feet long; they believe it was a tiger shark.  It was seen still cruising in the area.

The next day, the Territory and local residents set out to capture the shark.  Bounties were offered.  Lines of hooks were set in the water where the attack occurred.  Overhead pilots spotted two schools of sharks in nearby Kailua Bay.

Over the next couple of days, more hooks were set and three tiger sharks and two sand sharks were caught.

In response to the fatal attack, the Billy Weaver Shark Research and Control Program was initiated.  Starting April 1, 1959, 595-sharks were caught off Oʻahu during the remainder of the year; 71 were tiger sharks.

Kenny Young, my father, was the fund drive chairman for the Billy Weaver Shark Control Fund (Hawaiʻi's first shark control program.)  They accepted donations, and to raise additional money teeth from the hunted sharks were put on chains and sold as necklaces.

In the old days, folks used to catch and kill sharks.  The accepted attitude was, “the only good shark is a dead shark.”

In an attempt to relieve public fears and to reduce the risk of shark attack, the state government of Hawaiʻi spent over $300,000 on shark control programs between 1959 and 1976. Six control programs of various intensity resulted in the killing of 4,668-sharks.

Subsequent evaluation of the 1959-1976 efforts noted, “Shark control programs do not appear to have had measurable effects on the rate of shark attacks in Hawaiian waters.  Implementation of large-scale control programs in the future in Hawaiʻi may not be appropriate.”  (Wetherbee, 1994)

At the turn of the century, my grandfather and his brothers (Young Brothers) used to have various jobs in Honolulu Harbor; one was taking paying customers out to harpoon sharks off-shore.  My great-uncle, William, wrote books about his adventures shark hunting.

I remember Kohala shark “hunts” on the Big Island where a donated steer carcass was tied between points in a cove and “hunters,” on surrounding cliffs using high-powered rifles, shot at sharks feeding off the carcass.

Times have changed.

We have learned that tiger sharks (the ones most implicated in attacks on humans) don’t simply dwell in small coastal territories, but are instead extremely wide-ranging.

They are opportunistic predators and typically move on soon after arriving in an area, because the element of surprise is quickly lost and potential prey become wary and difficult to catch.

We know more now and recognize that sharks are an important part of the marine ecosystem.  Sharks are often the “apex” or top of the food chain predators in their ecosystems because they have few natural predators.

As top predators, sharks help to manage healthy ocean ecosystems.  Sharks feed on the animals below them in the food chain, helping to regulate and maintain the balance of marine ecosystems; limiting the populations of their prey, in turn affects the prey species of those animals, and so on.

To some, sharks are ʻaumakua (ancestral spirits that take possession of living creatures) that make appearances to express parental concern for the living, bringing warnings of impending danger, comfort in times of stress or sorrow or in other ways being helpful.  (Kane)

Sad and Tragic, yes - we continue to have shark attacks.  However, many believe it is typically mistaken identity – the sharks mistake surfers and floaters as turtles or seals.   (Remember, we are visitors to their realm in the ocean.)

I still vividly recall Halloween morning, 2003, when DLNR’s shark expert came to my office to brief me on the shark attack on Bethany Hamilton on Kaua‘i.  It was a somber day at DLNR.  Unlike the old days, there was no “hunt” called for.   Other incidents and attacks continue to occur.

"The number of shark attacks has nothing to do with how many sharks are in the water and everything to do with how many people are in the water," said Kim Holland, University of Hawaiʻi shark researcher and Shark Task Force member. (Honolulu Advertiser, following the Hamilton attack)

John Naughton, a National Marine Fisheries Service biologist, said previous efforts to remove large predatory sharks saw the proliferation of smaller ones, which harassed fishermen and their catches.

"It's an archaic way to manage the resource.  It's like the turn of the century, when they shot wolves. It doesn't make sense anymore."  (Honolulu Advertiser, November, 2003)  (Lots of information here is from Tester.)

The image shows the Mokulua Islands, looking back into Lanikai and Kailua.  In addition, I have added other related images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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Manō Kihikihi

They are easy to identify … and their name tells you what to look for (their body and head shape resemble a hammer, when viewed from above (or below.))

Marine organisms generate an electric field around their body; some believe the shape of the hammerhead's head allows electro-receptive organs in the animal to have increased sensory abilities - a beneficial quality when searching for prey.

In addition, the head shape may aid in their movements, providing lift or possibly a smaller turning radius.

Since sharks are ‘apex predators’ at the top of their food chain, they may influence the population structure of species lower in that food chain.

The sharks are found in warm and tropical waters, worldwide from 46° north to 36° south.  They can be found down to depths of over 1,600 feet, but is most often found above 80-feet.  During the day they are more often found close to shore and at night they hunt further offshore.

The scalloped hammerhead, one of the most commonly seen hammerhead sharks in Hawaiʻi, generally reaches between 5 to 10-feet in length - adults are usually found in the open ocean, often around seamounts or outer reef slopes.

Most fish hatch from eggs outside the females' bodies, but hammerheads, as well as other sharks, are born alive - the shark babies are called 'pups.'  As the pups grow, they spread out, forming schools that feed on the bottom at night.  At maturity, the young sharks head offshore.  (Scott)

Kāneʻohe Bay, Oahu, Hawaii, is a pupping and nursery ground for the scalloped hammerhead shark and hammerhead shark pups are the most abundant top-level predator in the bay.  (Lowe)

Females travel to shallow, protected waters in the spring and summer months to give birth.

Between April and October, adult hammerhead sharks enter Kāneʻohe Bay, deliver 15 to 30-pups about 20-inches long, mate and then leave.  (Scott)

It is estimated that as many as 5,000-10,000-shark pups are born in Kāneʻohe Bay each year and that the pups remain in the bay only 3-4 months after being born.  They eat small fish and crustaceans.

Young hammerheads graze along the bay floors, mostly at night. As the youngsters grow, they gradually move to the mouths of the bay and eventually join their relatives in the deep water.  (Scott)

Adults occur singly, in pairs, and in small schools while young scalloped hammerhead sharks live in large schools.  It is thought that male and female scalloped hammerheads may segregate during certain times of their life history.  (ufl-edu)

Hammerheads are among the majority of sharks whose attacks on people, if they happen at all, are defensive in nature. Almost all sharks will show an aggressive display if cornered, as will most animals.  (pbs)

Though hammerheads are not usually aggressive, they should be considered potentially dangerous.

The image shows a hammerhead shark.   In addition, I have added other images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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