redrover
Guest
West Hawaii Today : Local This was from the first of Feb. I keep looking for some comment but my computer was giving me grief and anyway I see nothing still. I got the awe and amazement/heebie jeebies when I saw the paper.
Great White sighting
- Thread starter redrover
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Hi, how are you?? I have to log in.... you know that is several in the last few months. I was over at kuhio (sp) and they were all saying they just saw one down there and the mammal..something scientists got pictures.
OP
redrover
Guest
That's what the article was saying, recent off Oahu. Maybe I'll try and get fancy with the new whiz bang contraptions and see if I can get the other photo from the paper on. Pretty gosh danged clear and close photo. The Jack's club dive theme last week was SHARKS, a little joking alluding to the paper mentioned. I voted for Whale Shark. Nada BTW.
OP
redrover
Guest
A 14-food great white shark approached a boat off the leeward coast of North Kohala Monday. - Courtesy Of Todd Buczyna
An unusual sighting
Great white spotted off north Kohala
by Kim Eaton
West Hawaii Today
keaton@westhawaiitoday.com
Wednesday, February 1, 2006 9:15 AM HST
Out on the water conducting whale research, the last thing Todd Buczyna expected to see was a 14-foot great white shark.
About a mile off the coast of leeward North Kohala, Buczyna was among several volunteers with the Hawaii Marine Mammal Consortium who noticed a light coloration in the water about 2 p.m. Monday.
"At first we thought it might be a baby whale, or even a tiger shark," Buczyna said.
The shark stayed about 15 feet away from the volunteer's 17-foot boat, and just under the water's surface.
Buczyna put his camera under the water and began taking pictures. After the shark moved further away, Buczyna put on a dive mask and stuck his head in the water.
"She was real docile. Probably investigating us as much as we were investigating her," he said. "She just swam by and dove off into the deep blue. It was pretty exciting. I'm still excited about it."
Nick Whitney, a doctoral student at the University of Hawaii's Department of Zoology and a shark researcher, confirmed it was a great white after reviewing photographs.
Buczyna has spent several days per week for the past four years working on boats, and he has never seen a large shark, let alone a great white.
"It was beautiful," he said. "One of the most amazing things I've ever seen in the water. I think the excitement overtook all other emotions."
This is the second reported sighting of a great white in Hawaii's waters in the last month. In late December there was another spotting about three miles off Oahu's North Shore of an estimated 17-foot female great white. Whitney confirmed Monday's sighting was also of a female, but not the same one seen off Oahu. The previous great white had clear large spots on her left side, which this new one did not appear to have. He could not confirm the exact size by looking at the photograph, but Buczyna estimated her to be about 14-feet long, and Whitney said she did appear to be a "rather girthy female." While great white shark sightings in Hawaii are not new, two confirmed sightings in a month is surprising, Whitney said.
"We don't know exactly how often they do appear, because usually when people claim to see them, there is no evidence," Whitney said. "When you see large sharks in the water, it's hard to tell the difference between the great white and the tiger shark, which is what is typically seen in Hawaii."
Dr. Bill Walsh of the state Division of Aquatic Resources said there are probably more great whites here than people realize, but that there have only been about a dozen confirmed sightings in the last 150 years.
Great whites prefer cooler water temperatures, so it could be they are staying in deeper water and further off shore, in which case there would not be many sightings, Whitney said.
The sharks are typically spotted off the coast central California, South Africa, the East Coast and Australia. Walsh said a tagged great white was recently tracked from California to Kahoolawe, and the predators seem to travel to Hawaii during the same months as humpback whales.
Jim Rizzuto, a local fishing expert and author, said there is usually one reported sighting per year on the Big Island, but those sightings aren't confirmed with actual photographs or video.
"The people who usually do the sightings know what a great white shark looks like, like commercial fishermen," Rizzuto said. "I'd trust them if they said they saw a great white."
Great whites have been reported up to 21 feet long, and they eat sea lions, dolphins, seals, large fish and other sharks.
"Just their size alone gives them the potential to be dangerous," Whitney said. "You definitely want to keep your eye on it. And stay calm."
But typically when sharks have been spotted in Hawaii, no aggressive behavior is shown, and the shark and human go their separate ways, he said.
An unusual sighting
Great white spotted off north Kohala
by Kim Eaton
West Hawaii Today
keaton@westhawaiitoday.com
Wednesday, February 1, 2006 9:15 AM HST
Out on the water conducting whale research, the last thing Todd Buczyna expected to see was a 14-foot great white shark.
About a mile off the coast of leeward North Kohala, Buczyna was among several volunteers with the Hawaii Marine Mammal Consortium who noticed a light coloration in the water about 2 p.m. Monday.
"At first we thought it might be a baby whale, or even a tiger shark," Buczyna said.
The shark stayed about 15 feet away from the volunteer's 17-foot boat, and just under the water's surface.
Buczyna put his camera under the water and began taking pictures. After the shark moved further away, Buczyna put on a dive mask and stuck his head in the water.
"She was real docile. Probably investigating us as much as we were investigating her," he said. "She just swam by and dove off into the deep blue. It was pretty exciting. I'm still excited about it."
Nick Whitney, a doctoral student at the University of Hawaii's Department of Zoology and a shark researcher, confirmed it was a great white after reviewing photographs.
Buczyna has spent several days per week for the past four years working on boats, and he has never seen a large shark, let alone a great white.
"It was beautiful," he said. "One of the most amazing things I've ever seen in the water. I think the excitement overtook all other emotions."
This is the second reported sighting of a great white in Hawaii's waters in the last month. In late December there was another spotting about three miles off Oahu's North Shore of an estimated 17-foot female great white. Whitney confirmed Monday's sighting was also of a female, but not the same one seen off Oahu. The previous great white had clear large spots on her left side, which this new one did not appear to have. He could not confirm the exact size by looking at the photograph, but Buczyna estimated her to be about 14-feet long, and Whitney said she did appear to be a "rather girthy female." While great white shark sightings in Hawaii are not new, two confirmed sightings in a month is surprising, Whitney said.
"We don't know exactly how often they do appear, because usually when people claim to see them, there is no evidence," Whitney said. "When you see large sharks in the water, it's hard to tell the difference between the great white and the tiger shark, which is what is typically seen in Hawaii."
Dr. Bill Walsh of the state Division of Aquatic Resources said there are probably more great whites here than people realize, but that there have only been about a dozen confirmed sightings in the last 150 years.
Great whites prefer cooler water temperatures, so it could be they are staying in deeper water and further off shore, in which case there would not be many sightings, Whitney said.
The sharks are typically spotted off the coast central California, South Africa, the East Coast and Australia. Walsh said a tagged great white was recently tracked from California to Kahoolawe, and the predators seem to travel to Hawaii during the same months as humpback whales.
Jim Rizzuto, a local fishing expert and author, said there is usually one reported sighting per year on the Big Island, but those sightings aren't confirmed with actual photographs or video.
"The people who usually do the sightings know what a great white shark looks like, like commercial fishermen," Rizzuto said. "I'd trust them if they said they saw a great white."
Great whites have been reported up to 21 feet long, and they eat sea lions, dolphins, seals, large fish and other sharks.
"Just their size alone gives them the potential to be dangerous," Whitney said. "You definitely want to keep your eye on it. And stay calm."
But typically when sharks have been spotted in Hawaii, no aggressive behavior is shown, and the shark and human go their separate ways, he said.
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