This entry was posted on Sunday, November 23rd, 2008 at 6:56 pm and is filed under Adventure Cruises, Information, Sites, Snorkeling, Snuba. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Photo Courtesy fishbase.org/MPais
Ancient Hawaiian folklore has many stories on the manô, a very powerful god. There are stories of a manô kanaka, man born from a woman villager who fell in love and had an affair with a shark god. Many stories tell of sharks leading paddling canoes to and from the Hawaiian Islands to Tahiti, Samoa, and others. This shark is told sometimes to be the great white, tiger, and the oceanic whitetip. Another tells of a shark, which would place its head on the canoe side to be fed. The Hawaiian stories are fabulous, fun, and also historic. The chants were the only way the Hawaiian people had to keep their history intact.
The oceanic whitetip is a fabulous animal to see in the wild. Although this author has worked on the water for over 13 years, I have yet to see one in Hawaiian waters, but would welcome the visit. According to Dr. Randall, this specie grows to 396 centimeters (12.5 feet) and can weigh in at 167.4 kilograms (369 pounds). They are a robust shark with a huge, rounded 1st dorsal fin and long, wide-tipped pectoral fins, all with a white tip. Their backs are usually bronze tinted dark gray, sometimes bluish or brown, and their bellies showing the lighter countershading that many marine animals are known for. As this picture shows, they are usually accompanied by pilot fish or remoras. One amazing little fact is this specie of shark has been witnessed ’sniffing’ the air above the ocean’s surface seeking out rotting carcasses. WOW!
This animal is suspect of many attacks on man and is considered fearless, making it very dangerous. Jacques Cousteau once said that when filming in the water, if this shark became present all were to leave the water for the safety of the boat. During the war when downed planes and sinking ships were in the waters of the Pacific, it is believed that this shark was the one most responsible for attacking the men at sea. The tiger shark was also blamed. The oceanic is a cosmopolitan shark and is considered to be highly migratory. This puts this specie in great danger and susceptible to the shark finning industry. They have very low resilience, says Dr. Randall, and it takes 14 years before sexual maturity. After being pregnant for over 1 year the mother shark delivers 1 to 15 pups. There is no way of knowing how many survive. They are believed to live to about 22 years old. So, what’s for lunch, if you’re a oceanic? Quite a variety, says research. They eat bony fish, stingrays, seabirds, tuna, mahi mahi, squid, sea turtles, mammalian carrion, and garbage. Unfortunately, there is plenty of garbage dumped into our oceans.
Will we ever get to see one while snorkeling or diving in Maui waters? Highly unlikely, which saddens me. A true marine life lover, I welcome any of our unusual marine life, including one of the most important animals in the ecosystem. So, let’s go out and see what we can find. I’m always ready for a marine adventure!
