Pete Thomas Outdoors

After Hawaii's first fatal shark attack since 2004, what's next?

By Pete Thomas

News item: Jana Lutteropp, the 20-year-old German tourist whose right arm was severed by a shark while she was snorkeling off Maui on Aug. 14, died Wednesday in a local hospital.

Lutteropp (pictured at right, via her blog) becomes the first person to die as a result of a shark bite in Hawaii since 2004, and only the second since 1992.

But there have been eight attacks in Hawaiian waters this year, the most recent involving a 16-year-old boy who was bitten Monday on both legs while surfing on the Big Island.

This is the second year in a row in which the number of Hawaii shark attacks is well above the yearly average of three or four (there were 10 in 2012). Understandably, this has generated concern.

Reaction: What's next? Hawaii is trying to prevent hysteria from settling in, as it did in the early 90s, when private citizens and the state reacted to a spate of tiger shark attacks by killing at least 50 tiger sharks–mostly on Oahu.

An important question now is whether Hawaii will conduct another culling effort, in a different era in which sharks are recognized as being vitally important to the marine ecosystem, and killing them is no longer politically correct.

But human safety is important, too.

The Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources on Wednesday issued a statement expressing sadness of the passing of Jana Lutteropp, while adding: "As an island state, we are aware that we are all visitors in the natural environment that surrounds us, and that unfortunate incidents such as this one can occur. We are committed to furthering research efforts that will help guide effective management actions in the interest of safety."
 
The statement was issued a day after Hawaii announced plans to conduct a two-year study of tiger shark movements around Maui, where most of the attacks this year have occurred. Hawaii acknowledged that it doesn't know as much as it should about the movements of tiger sharks, which are large predators and presumed culprits in most of the serious attacks.

This seems similar to what Hawaii said after four confirmed attacks in 1992, one of them fatal, and a probable fifth attack on a bodyboarder who disappeared and was presumed dead. Then, the epicenter was Oahu.

The state killed fewer than 20 tiger sharks, but a grassroots effort, mostly on Oahu's North Shore, killed at least 30. The number might have been much higher.

The "Jaws" hysteria syndrome had fully set in.

"You have more and more people in the water and a huge shark population growing at geometric proportions," James Jones, a Honolulu surfer, told me back then. "We know there are more sharks, more people and more attacks--the facts are indisputable. As far as I'm concerned, to hell with the visitor industry. I don't think that all the sharks in the ocean are worth one human life."

The massive shark hunt seemed to have worked, or it was coincidental that the attacks abated. Nobody can say for sure. (Tiger sharks have a life span of about 25 years. They reach reproductive maturity at about 10 years and can produce between 40 and 80 pups.)

Hawaii hasn't said yet whether culling tiger sharks off Maui or elsewhere is being considered. Twenty or 30 years ago, that effort might already be underway.

Some Hawaii residents might recall what happened in 1958. Billy Weaver, the 15-year-old son of a wealthy businessman, was floating on an air mattress off Lanikai, Oahu, when a shark bit off his leg in front of a horrified crowd.

When his body was recovered two hours later, a tiger shark estimated at 15 to 20 feet was seen nearby.

According to reports, Weaver's father offered a bounty of $100 for every tiger shark 10 feet or larger. Sharks could be seen hanging from gas station rafters.

The state effort alone was responsible for killing 697 sharks, only 87 of which were tigers. Smaller control efforts were made in 1967, 1968, 1972 and 1976. 

In 1993, in the wake of the 1992 shark attacks and a scare that continued well into the following year, I traveled to Oahu and wrote a Page 1 story for the Los Angeles Times. It appeared under the headline, "Hawaii in the Jaws of a Dilemma."

Whether that's the case again is debatable. This doesn't have that 'Jaws' feel yet. But if more blood is spilled anytime soon, the state probably will be pressured into issuing more than mere statements.
 

Pete Cabrinha's shark encounter captured via kite-cam

 

In an era in which just about every athletic pursuit is videotaped with a mountable camera, little goes unnoticed.

In other words, it's getting so a shark can't sneak up on a person without being caught on video.

In this case that person is legendary windsurfer/kiteboarder Pete Cabrinha (top left), whose little-publicized encounter last month with a fairly large shark was captured by a camera mounted atop the kite of a companion kiteboarder.

Said Cabrinha, via email: "I ran across this shark ( almost literally) during a session at Kanaha. I was pretty surprised at how this sizeable shark was cruising in shallow waters between all the kite activity. I followed it for a bit to see what it was up to.

"It was randomly cruising the reef in all directions. My friend Guillermo came by and I told him to do a fly by with his go pro. He had seen a similar sized one a week earlier."

(Related: Watch as surfer/freediver Mark Healey loses a fish to a Galapagos shark on the beach.)

Both can be seen pointing at the shark as they pass the predator, during a session off Maui, where there have been five attacks by sharks on humans this year. The most recent occurred Wednesday off Palauea Beach.

Surfers greeted by albino southern right whale calf off Chile

 

A rare albino southern right whale calf and its mother were videotaped in coastal waters off Chile this week by professional big-wave surfer Ramon Navarro and his companions.

"It was just too amazing. For years I had dreamed about experiencing something like this, and I was lucky enough to live it right in front of my house," Navarro says in the ITN video (posted above).

Right whale populations were severely depleted during the whaling era. They are the rarest of the large whales, so sightings are considered special.

They range throughout southern hemisphere waters at low latitudes. Worldwide, the southern right whale population is estimated to be just over 7,000. About 2,600 whales spend the winter season off Argentina.

Chile is north of their typical winter range.

It's not known whether the calf spotted by Navarro and other surfers is a true albino. Southern right whales can measure to 55 feet and weigh up to 60 tons.

They're baleen whales that feed predominantly on zooplankton.

Navarro was named as one of the 2012 adventurers of the year by National Geograpohic, based on a giant wave he conquered off the Fijian Island of Tavarua.

--A version of this post also appears on GrindTv Outdoor

Aerial stunt by John John Florence biggest in pro surfing?

 

There's no official stat for biggest aerial maneuver on the pro surfing tour. But the towering 360 performed Tuesday by John John Florence in Bali was being described by some as the biggest-ever, and it scored a perfect 10.

Florence, the 2012 ASP Rookie of the Year, pulled off the remarkable stunt during the opening round of the Oakley Pro Bali, which is in progress at Keramas on Bali, Indonesia.

Making it more remarkable is that Florence recently suffered a severe ankle injury, while performing another aerial, and missed the first three competitions on the ASP World Championship Tour.

The Oakley Pro is the fifth of 10 events on the 2013 WTC schedule. Florence, with his first-round triumph, advanced directly into the third round.

 --Hat tip to GrindTv

Kelly Slater scores rare 'perfect 20,' wins Volcom Fiji Pro

Kelly Slater, who is old enough to be the father of several of his fellow competitors on the ASP World Championship Tour, has won the Volcom Fiji Pro and reclaimed the ratings lead.

Consider that Slater is 41, in a sport in which competitors often surf multiple heats per day and contend with incredibly powerful surf in each heat.

The phenom from Florida beat another aging veteran, 31-year-old Mick Fanning, in the final in six- to eight-foot surf Wednesday morning at Cloudbreak.

The victory, Slater's 53rd on the WCT, vaulted him from No. 4 to the top spot in the race for a world title. The Fiji Pro was the fourth of 10 WCT competitions on the 2013 schedule.

Afterward, Slater dedicated the triumph to his brother and his brother's wife, and their new child, Van.

"He told me that if I missed the birth of his son, that I’d better win, so this is for you," Slater said. "I want to say hi to everyone at home. What can I say, what a day."

The highlight for Slater, who may forever go unmatched on the WCT with 11 world titles, was scoring two perfect 10 scores in his quarterfinal heat against Sebastian Zeitz. (See video, via GrindTV.com.)

That gave Slater a "perfect 20" for the heat (surfers use their two best scores in each heat). The feat has been accomplished only four times in the history of the ASP, twice by Slater. (Five if you count Shane Beschen, who scored a perfect 30 in 1996, when three scores were used each heat.)

"The waves are the stars today," Slater said. "When they come, they’re unbelievable.The second 10 that I got, Seabass (Zietz) maybe could have got it, but he was a little deep. It just hit that inside and ran....

"When waves are this good, I don’t discount it happening a few times in this event because the waves are there, you just have to stand up on them. Theoretically, I could have had three 10s yesterday, the waves were just that good. It’s a special thing if you can get a 10 in a heat, so I’m really stoked."

Slater beat John John Florence, 20, in the semifinals. His victory over Australia's Fanning was by a score of 19.80 to 15.87.

--Photo of Kelly Slater tucking into a Cloudbreak barrel is courtesy of ASP/Robertson

Surf photographer Camila Neves suffers spine injury as boat is nearly swamped at Teahupoo

Recent large swells at Teahupoo in Tahiti produced scores of spectacular wipeouts, but the worst--and saddest--involved a Brazilian photographer on a boat that was nearly swamped by a giant wave. Camila Neves, who can be seen in the middle of the green boat in the accompanying video, tumbled backward and slammed into the bottom of the vessel when it became vertical as its captain tried to motor over the building swell.

 

I emailed Neves on Monday and received a response, from someone else, saying that she remained hospitalized in Papaeete with three broken vertebras. Her accident presumably happened after the epic May 15 swell.

The incident received very little publicity and the Google-translated Tahiti Infos story, which claimed the accompanying footage as exclusive, is jumbled and difficult to understand.

It did, however, quote Stephané Bernardin, who captured the accident footage from a different boat.

Bernardin said: "We were at the end of the bowl with a boat next to us who almost got eaten by the wave…. I've seen similar episodes on the [Internet], but there live was the first time. Impressive."

Some in the big-wave surfing industry might have anticipated an accident like this, because Teahupoo is circus-like during a big swell. Photo boats and jetskis jockey for prime angles to shoot face-to-face with gargantuan barrels.

Below is a photo taken by Neves before the accident, during the May 15 swell. It shows Alain Riou in front of a cavernous Teahupoo barrell. Here's hoping Neves will recover and get back to shooting reasonably soon.

Dana Point surfer, 14, rides waves every day for two years

Meg Roh will go surfing before school on Friday morning, as she always does, but this day will be extra-special because it'll mark a major milestone.

The 14-year-old from Dana Point, Calif., will have surfed every single day for two full years.

That's 730 consecutive days of riding waves, regardless of conditions and how poorly she might have felt. Four waves a day, minimum.

"After two years, my goal is 1,000 days and maybe three years… you never know," she said Thursday, via email.

Perhaps as impressive is that the eighth-grader from Ladera Ranch Middle School has maintained a 4.0 grade average throughout the two-year span, and recently earned a California scholar-athlete award.

It's worth noting that the Guinness World Record for consecutive days surfed belongs to Northern California's Dale Webster, who according to Guinness passed his 10,407th day in February of 2004.

That is simply phenomenal.

But Meg is a teenage girl saddled with school work and other obligations associated with being a teenage girl. She wakes up at 5 a.m. each weekday morning and goes surfing, like clockwork, before being driven to school by her stepfather, Sam Hann.

"Rain or shine she paddles out," Sam said. "Even when she was sick she wouldn't let her mom take her temperature until after she got back from surfing, in fear her mom would not let her go surfing."

When she reached her one-year milestone, Dennis Kemp, who shapes Meg's boards, told the Orange County Register: "For a girl that young to have that kind of dedication and fortitude, to come out here every day—good, bad, whatever—it’s phenomenal. There’s a champ in that little body there just waiting to bust out."

Meg does not have many surfing friends at school, but hope that will change when she enters high school.

"My first goal is to participate on a high-school surf team," she said. "Then I would love to go to a college on the beach and surf for their team. One day, I want to be a world champion."

When Meg's not surfing with Sam Hann, she surfs with her mom, Sue Hann, or her sister, Claire.

"She's such a quiet humbling soul and tries to not make a big deal about anything," Sue Hann said. "But this year was challenging for her because she did get sick with a fever and still paddled out when the conditions were stormy big and ugly and not one person out.... Needless to say she is dedicated!"

Meg loves to ride a longboard but also surfs a shortboard, and her favorite spot is San Onofre. "Because there's always a wave you can surf there," she said.

Asked whether she's concerned about someday growing tired of the routine, she responded: "I'm definitely not worried about burning out on the sport. There's always something new you can learn or another place to travel [to] and surf. For me, everyday is a new experience."

After responding to a series of questions, she added: "I also wanted to give a big thanks to my parents for supporting me in everything that I do, and for the countless rides to the beach and school." 

--Pete Thomas

--Photos are courtesy of Sue and Sam Hann

--Note: A similar post appears on GrindTv Lifestyle

Manhattan Beach surfer spots great white shark in wave

Eric Martin was about to paddle out for a morning surf in Manhattan Beach on Wednesday when a large set rolled in, and in the face of one of the waves was a 7-foot great white shark (not pictured).

"The water was only shoulder deep and its head was down like it was riding the wave," said Martin, co-director of the Roundhouse Marine Studies Lab and Aquarium, at the end of the Manhattan Beach Pier. "At first all I saw was its head and snout, and it was like time stood still."

Martin knew it was a shark but looked around for dolphins or dolphin blows for several minutes. There were no dolphins in the area. (Martin did not have a camera with him, and the white shark photo accompanying this post is generic.)

Then Martin, who teaches aquarium visitors that juvenile white sharks feed on fish and small sharks and not people, paddled out and caught some waves.

"But I was consistently looking around and below me," he said.

Southern California coastal waters are a nursery grounds for juvenile white sharks--those measuring to about 10 feet--and sightings are sure to increase now that summer-like weather is here and more people are going to the beach.

Piers are great vantage points and Martin said there have been five "reliable" sightings of white sharks during the past three weeks at Manhattan Beach Pier.

All of the sightings involved a shark measuring about seven feet.

Martin has tried to photograph the shark, which at times has been very close to the pier and nearby surfers, but it has remained too far beneath the surface.

The shark he spotted Wednesday, at about 8 a.m., was about 70 yards north of the pier.

--Related story: Dana Point surfer, 14, rides waves every day for two years

Body of surfer recovered with possible shark bites at Pacific Beach; case is somewhat mysterious

The body of a 42-year-old surfer recovered by lifeguards early Thursday at Pacific Beach had wounds consistent with a shark attack.

However, if there were shark bites on the body, they could have been inflicted after the man had drowned.

The case is somewhat mysterious.

The surfer, a local, was reported missing by his fiancee late Wednesday. 

According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, a lifeguard saw the surfer at about 7:30 p.m. from his tower about a half-mile away. He did not seem to be in distress.

At about the same time a 911 call was placed by a person on the beach concerned about the surfer, who was several hundred yards offshore.

A multi-agency search was unsuccessful but a person walking along the beach at 3:30 a.m. Thursday found the unclothed body. The body was later recovered but the identity of the surfer has not been revealed pending notification of the next of kin.

Before the body was recovered, lifeguard Lt. John Everhart said, a surfboard was found with a wetsuit attached to it, also several hundred yards offshore.

Everhart told the Los Angeles Times that initial evidence suggests that the man had drowned before a shark attack occurred.

"There are a lot of unknowns," he said.

Wedding plans in works for celebrity surfer Bethany Hamilton

The big news in surfing this week has nothing to do with riding waves and everything to do with wedding bells.

Bethany Hamilton, the celebrity athlete whose life story was made into the 2011 feature film, "Soul Surfer," has found her soul mate and the two plan to get married this summer.

As reported Monday by GrindTv.com, the Hamilton family did not announce the engagement. But Bethany and Adam (no last name provided) used her Facebook page and website to reveal the happy news.

Bethany, 23, who 10 years ago lost her left arm to a shark while surfing near her home on Kauai, posted on Facebook: "One year ago today, I met an amazing man, now we will spend the rest of our lives together and I'm so excited! I love you Adam!"

The two met met through Bethany's church on Kauai. A date has not been set but Becky Hamilton, Bethany's sister and personal assistant, said the two plan to be married this summer.

"I know Adam and I are right for each other and that God has us together for Him," Bethany wrote. "Neither of us is perfect, but in my eyes Adam is just right and I'm thankful to have someone so perfectly perfect to share life with as one."

Adam also posted his sentiments on Bethany's website.

"Right away I could tell she was pretty cool (I mean she jumped a 40-foot cliff into the ocean with me!)," he wrote. "She's down to earth, and I could tell she understood my heart for the Lord and others; I saw her heart as well.

"After hanging out several more times, I felt in my heart that I would like to pursue a relationship with her. On the beautiful Na Pali coast I told Bethany what was on my heart and asked if it was OK to pursue a meaningful closer relationship with her. On accident she said, 'I do!' Haha with a quick, 'I mean yes!' "

The wedding ceremony will be held on Kauai.

--Top image shows Bethany Hamilton with her husband-to-be. Second image shows Hamilton surfing at the Mentawai Islands. Courtesy of Noah Hamilton