Archive of Spotlight Feature Articles

Recent Encounters with Great White Sharks in Hawai‘ian Waters

NOAA-supported researchers using deep-sea submersibles were surprised twice by the great whites

By Christopher Kelley and Terry Kerby

Hawai‘i Undersea Research Laboratory at the University of Hawai‘i, NOAA's Undersea Research Program Center for Hawai‘i and the Western Pacific

Figure 1. Pacific Ocean. Red lines indicate known white shark habitat. (larger image)

Human encounters with great white sharks or great whites (Carcharodon carcharias) are relatively uncommon, which is fortunate for those who enjoy ocean sports, but not so fortunate for researchers trying to obtain information about the biology of this species. It's well-known that C. carcharias inhabits oceans around the world, preferring temperate latitudes. In the Pacific Ocean, most occurrences of great white sharks have been recorded on the oceans western (i.e., Southern Australia to Japan) and eastern boundaries (i.e., the west coast of North America from Mexico to Alaska) [Figure 1].

Occurrences of great whites in the Hawai‘ian Islands are believed to be rare. Though a number of encounters have been reported, many were likely sightings of mako sharks (Isurus sp.), which are similar in appearance to their larger and more notorious relative. Between 1926 and 1985, a period of almost 60 years, only eight great white shark sightings were confirmed (i.e., supported by specimens or photographs) in Hawai‘ian waters (Taylor, 1985).

Figure2. The Hawai‘ian Islands. The numbers indicate the approximate locations of the recent shark sightings. (larger image)

Since 1985, three additional sightings have been confirmed [Figure 2], all of which occurred over the past three years. Surprisingly, the first two took place in deep water during NURP-supported research missions by the Hawai‘i Undersea Research Laboratory (HURL), NOAA's Undersea Research Program Center for Hawai‘i and the Western Pacific.

This articles details the three great white shark sightings since 1985. As part of HURL's science media and deep sea submersible teams, we (the authors) were directly involved in two of these sightings. The third great white shark encounter, made by recreational divers, occurred in shallow water.

The Three Recent Sightings

The first encounter occurred on October 28, 2002 [Figure 3] , at Penguin Bank, a well known fishing area off the island of Molokai. A research team led by Robert Moffitt of NOAA Fisheries was there onboard HURL's Pisces IV submersible to investigate the habitat of Hawai‘ian bottomfish, an active fishery that has seen declining catches since the 1980s.

As pilot Chuck Holloway maneuvered the Pisces IV along the 350 m (1150 ft) contour, a large shark moved suddenly and quickly toward the sub, bumping into a video camera and knocking loose its mounted laser scale. Fortunately, the camera itself was undamaged and recorded a close-up of the creature's nose, eye, and side as it flashed by. Suspecting it may have been a great white shark, we distributed still frames of the encounter to several shark experts who concurred with our identification.

The second encounter took place on October 4, 2004 [Figures 4a and 4b] , while HURL's Pisces V submersible conducted dives to study precious corals, a group of deep-sea corals consisting of black, pink, gold, and bamboo corals used in the jewelry trade. This time Terry Kerby was piloting the submersible and had just landed the sub at a depth of 446 m (1463 ft) near the island of Oahu.

Figures 4a and 4b. Second Encounter off Oahu, October 4, 2004. These images show the female shark from different angles. The second image provides a view of her distended abdomen, which may be an indication she was pregnant. Photo credits: HURL

The study's lead investigator, Amy Baco-Taylor, and BBC cameraman Tom Fritz had just settled into position to begin observations when Kerby caught a glimpse of something large approaching the sub. The animal then turned sideways, presenting the unmistakable profile of a great white shark before passing right in front of the sub and swimming slowly away. Kerby estimated its length at 13 ft and could clearly see it was a female with an extremely large girth.

The third encounter took place on January 4, 2005 [Figure 5] , and unlike the previous two, occurred in shallow water. Blesi Varney, a guide for B&B Scuba, took a group of four recreational divers to dive off the Maui coast at Molokini Island. While three of the divers surfaced, Varney and Jon Chakerian took a final tour of the reef to look for interesting subjects to photograph.

Varney and Chakerian were at a depth of 39 ft near a ledge that dropped off to 60 ft when they saw a shark 40 ft away from them rising slowly from below. At first they thought it was going to swim away, so Chakerian quickly took some pictures. Then, suddenly, the shark turned and started coming straight at them. Both the divers hugged the bottom as the shark passed 15 ft directly over their heads, paused briefly, then turned and slowly swam away. Varney was unable to identify its sex, but noted its substantial size. Chakerian's photographs verified the shark as a great white and identified a distinct scar near the shark's gills, suggesting it was not the shark encountered in Oahu.

New Insights

The recent sightings in Hawai‘ian waters have provided new insights into the behavior of great whites in this region of the Pacific, including: (1) confirming that both male and female sharks are present in Hawai‘ian waters and that both appear to make dives that are deep; (2) increasing the documented depth range of white sharks to 446 m in Hawai‘ian waters; and (3) identifying the possibility of pregnant sharks in the area based on the girth and distended abdomen of the female shark observed during the second encounter according to shark expert Tim Tricas. Worldwide, only a small number of pregnant females have been observed or collected, mostly near Japan and California.

New Questions

The shark encounters have raised a number of questions, such as:

1. What were they doing in the deep waters of Hawai‘i when most of their preferred prey (seals, porpoises, whales) occur near continental coasts? These were big sharks that, according to some researchers, should already have made the switch to feeding on seals and other large prey.

2. Figure 6: Pisces IV, a deep-diving submersible. Photo credit: HURL

   HURL conducts from 50 to 100 submersible dives per year [Figure 6] throughout the Hawai‘ian archipelago. Was it just extraordinary luck to have two encounters with great white sharks or are there more of these sharks in Hawai‘i than we realize?
3. Do some great white sharks inhabit Hawai‘ian waters permanently or is it simply a truck stop on some great white shark trans-oceanic highway? If these sharks were originally from North America's west coast (the eastern boundary of the Pacific Ocean), they would of had to swim thousands of miles to reach Hawai‘ian waters, a hypothesis supported by a recent study published in the January 3, 2005 issue of the journal Nature. The study revealed that four of six sharks tagged in California in 1999 and 2000 had not simply moved up and down the coast as expected, but rather headed west, straight out into the middle of the Pacific Ocean (Boustany et al., 2002). One swam 2800 miles to reach Hawai‘i, where he spent 4 months off the island of Kahoolawe. He was again observed off the coast of California in November 2002.

These intriguing questions can only be answered subsequent to further investigation. On future HURL missions, we plan to keep our eyes open for great white sharks. We hope these encounters will further contribute to an understanding of this mysterious, awesome creature.

Note: Video footage of the 2002 white shark encounter at Penguin Bank and of the satellite tagging and tracking study can be seen on "Jaws of the Pacific", a Discovery Channel special now out on DVD.

Boustany, A.M., S.F. Davis, P. Pyle, S.D. Anderson, B.J. Le Boeuf, & B.A. Block. 2002. Expanded niche for white sharks. Nature. 415-35-36.

Taylor, L. 1985. White sharks in Hawai'i: historical and contemporary records. Mem. South. Calif. Acad. Sci. 9:41-48.

[3/7/05]

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