Great Whites are in Hawaii!!!

[robbcayman]

Just watched a program on the discovery program channel that shows "proof" that great whites are coming back to hawaiian waters. This is not one rogue shark but many sharks are returing due to rising seal & dophin populations.

Does this scare any hawaiian divers at all?? Thanks

 

[steveinathens]

Last Wednesday ( December 28, 2005 ) , cage divers off the north shore of Oahu were visited by a 20 foot white shark. There was a brief article about it in the Maui newspaper. It was a shark dive operation that runs out of Haleiwa Harbor.

In January of 2005 a white shark was reported at Molokini off Maui.

Doesn't scare me at all, in fact, I'm headed to Molo in the morning...

 

[robbcayman]

Last Wednesday ( December 28, 2005 ) , cage divers off the north shore of Oahu were visited by a 20 foot white shark. There was a brief article about it in the Maui newspaper. It was a shark dive operation that runs out of Haleiwa Harbor.

In January of 2005 a white shark was reported at Molokini off Maui.

Doesn't scare me at all, in fact, I'm headed to Molo in the morning...

Wow, you're a brave fella. It appears within the last few years quite a few white sharks have found their way back to Hawaii. You'd think the the water would be too warm but in January I guess the waters a bit cooler.

 

[friscuba]

A friend who was freediving with his wife about 4 years back off Kona Paradise said he saw the back 15' or so of a very big shark next to his wife. He thought it was a whale shark, she said it had a pointy snout with a white underside. They got out of the water.

He made some inquiries and a biologist said that Hawaii's always been in the range but they've been rare since the seals were decimated. the coming back theory wouldn't surprise me.

I've heard that fishermen off South Point on the Big Island have been reporting sitings of them for years.

 

[ch0ppersrule]

Doesn't bother me. There are plenty of Tigers out here anyways. Most of my dives are closer to the shore, even though they have spotted a GW closer to the Mahi (Nov/Dec 2004). I will probably see a Tiger before I get to see a GW. After 2 years of diving I have yet to see anything but a whitetip (in Hawaii).

Melissa

 

[sea nmf]

It doesn't bother me either. The captain of the boat on Wednesday got out of the cage and swam with the GW. There are stills and video to prove this. I saw the photos along with the article in the paper. Pretty awesome!

I've only seen white tips as well.

 

[robbcayman]

No offense but a 12 foot tiger wouldn't scare me as bad as a 20 ft great white. Just the idea that a huge preadator could be lurking beneath me is a tad frightening.

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

Whitey isn't nearly as agressive as those Tigers.

 

[ch0ppersrule]

I don't dive where a great white could come up from underneath me. I stay within 12 inches of the bottom. The Tigers are pretty quiet themselves. Before I changed my mouthpiece I had bitten through and had the small rubber tab in my mouth then when I got on the boat everyone was watching something on the surface. Yes, it was a tiger feeding on a bird. We watched it for a while. Thank goodness I didn't see it while underwater or I would have swallowed the rubber piece. That shark was feeding no more than 10 ft from where I was just diving. Maybe the Tigers scare me more because we don't have many GW's here.

Melissa

 

[sea nmf]

The scientists indicate that the Tiger (even at "only" 12') is more agressive than the GW. Seeing either one would shoot me full of adrenaline but I'm more likely to see a Tiger than a GW, even if they are coming back to Hawaii.