The Strange Dietary Preferences of Oceanic Whitetip Sharks

We went out earlier than usual today because we were up at an ungodly hour. I went in to work at SeaPics.com for a while before going out. Amazingly, my employee, Christine, was already in the office at 5:45 a.m. Yes folks, I have some seriously dedicated employees! There weren't many trailers down at the marina, which is usually a sign that the fishing's bad. No worries for us, because when the fishing's bad, we're taking photos. Likewise, when there's nothing to photograph, we're fishing, so we're always occupied.

We did our usual rounds of going out to the FADs (Fish Aggregation Devices), but there wasn't much happening. Masa put out all kinds of trolling lures, but we had no luck. Because we were out earlier than usual, we had a nice view of Hualalai (see picture of Hualalai volcanic mountain, 2,523m/8,271ft above sea level, last historical eruption in 1800-1801, off Kona Coast, Big Island, Hawaii, Pacific Ocean), which is often clouded over a little later in the day. There were no whales or dolphins to photograph, so we took some scenic shots of the mountain.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Big Island, Hualalai is one of the 5 volcanoes that make up this island. It's not as well-known as Mauna Kea, the highest point in the Pacific, or Mauna Loa, the most massive mountain in the world, or the active vocano, Kilauea, all of which are also on the Big Island, but it's the dominant geographical feature of Kailua Kona, where we live. Hualalai is dormant, but will no doubt erupt again at some point in the future. It last erupted in 1801, and they say it erupts in a 200-year cycle, which means ... well, let's think about fishing.

We headed south, trolling for wahoo, Pacific kingfish or ono, Acanthocybium solandri. We traveled at high speed of about 8 to 12 knotts, which is best for ono fishing, and with all the right gear out. We found ourselves in a small parade of fishing boats doing the same thing: going out to the 150 to 250 ft. depth, called "Ono Lane", then following the drop-off in a southerly direction. We did this from about 7:30 to noon. There was no action on our lines, so were taking pictures of the nothing that surrounded us. The Kona coast doesn't have the dramatic cliffs of the Hamakua Coast on the north side of the island, so pictures of this area aren't very marketable. We got some scenic photos that could make background shots for a magazine spread or pamphlet. We also got some shots of the waves crashing on the 20 ft volcanic rock cliffs when we passed by the tip of Kealakekua Bay.

Having gotten up so early on this beautiful, calm day, I was sleepy, so I slept on the deck for a while. Masa told me later that C buoy was as dead as it could be for fishing. When I woke up, he was driving the boat down to UU buoy, which is near Kona Paradise subdivision. Finally we saw some activity. There were about 5 fishing boats working at the buoy and many birds flying overhead.

We saw a small pod of short-finned pilot whales, Globicephala macrorhynchus, nearby, maybe 9 or 10, logging. As expected, there were some oceanic whitetip shark, Carcharhinus longimanus, milling around with them. Masa wanted to get in the water for some photos. He entered the water quietly and found himself fairly close to the large bull pilot whale that was relaxing there. These bulls can be unpredictable, and Masa didn't want to get close enough to disturb it. They floated around in the water there together for about 10 minutes or so, just eyeing each other. While Masa was attempting to photograph one of the oceanic whitetip sharks coming his way, he saw one of the pilot whales poop 50 feet below, which sent the oceanic whitetips into a minor frenzy. Three of the four sharks immediately sensed the huge, free meal and rocketed into the cloud of poop, eating it. This behavior explains why they hang with the pilot whales, but it makes you wonder why they don't spend more time checking out the delectable diver in their midst. I guess whale poop is tastier, which is lucky for Masa.

Masa got back in the boat and we continued fishing. Right there at UU buoy, he got a 20 lb yellowfin tunas, Thunnus albacares, on a jig. He bled it over the side, which is what Masa does to ensure tasty sashimi. This brought those whitetips barreling over to the boat. With all that blood in the water, Masa jumps in for some pictures! Unfortunately, the whitetips didn't approach Masa close enough for the picture he wanted, of several in the same shot. Masa finally came back on the boat to try for another tuna.

Right away, he got a tuna, but with the blood in the water, those whitetips didn't let Masa enjoy it for long. They latched onto that tuna, churning up the water, and tore it apart. Now we know why the whitetips are nice to Masa; he feeds them tuna!

We headed south for a while and ran into a pod of friendly pantropical spotted dolphins, Stenella attenuata. They hung with us a bit, but the light was poor, so it wasn't a great photo op.

Now we were at B buoy, which is really far out from Kona for a small boat. The B buoy is located about 5 miles offshore of an old fishing village, Miloli`i. We quickly got another tuna, 15-20 lbs, then another. These fish are great for sushi, but for the moment, we were fascinated by the small cookiecutter shark, Isistius brasiliensis, scar that decorated the side of one of them. For those of you unfamiliar with this species, a cookiecutter shark is a small (20 inch) shark that latches onto dolphins, whales and large fish with a suction action. It then twists its body in a violent motion and slices off a hunk of flesh, leaving a single circular scar of 2 to 4 inches in diameter, depending on the size of the shark. The victims generally have no long term effects from this, but live the rest of their lives with that nice, round tattoo.

On our third strike, we knew a shark was in the area. The tuna was being reeled in at a predictable pace, when suddenly, in a burst of strength, it just took off, as it tried to avoid the shark. No luck for the fish or for us, as the large shark grabbed the tuna and settled in for a short game of tug-of-war. The shark was thrashing around and cut the tuna in two; all we pulled up was the head. You'd think Masa would be disappointed to lose the tuna, but he seemed pleased that he didn't lose his jig. However, with sharks in the area, we knew we'd lose any tuna we'd catch, so we headed back to UU.

There we caught a small great barracuda, Sphyraena barracuda. Barracudas are beautiful fish, but not good for eating because of the danger of ciguatera, a reef toxin prevalent among predatory fish that inhabit tropical reefs. It's rare to catch a barracuda so far out, as they generally stick near the reefs where they feed. As we took some photos, it thrashed about and cut the line with its sharp teeth, and plunged back into the water. Chalk up another one for the fish.

For our efforts this day, we had little to speak of in the way of photographs. On the other hand, we caught several tunas and managed to land 4 intact. Great sushi tonight! And for those of you who follow this blog, we are pleased to say that Sugar, my Tibetan spaniel, did really well on the boat today; no sea sickness at all!

Drifting with an Oceanic Whitetip Shark

We started out today at VV buoy (FAD - Fish Aggregation Device) where the current was really ripping. There wasn't much going on there fishing-wise, so we concentrated on photography. We took some photos of the buoy, which was tilted over diagonally by the current. At SeaPics.com, we sometimes get photo requests for ocean currents, which is a tough topic to illustrate. Today, though, we got some decent shots of water currents around the buoy, along with the brown boobies, Sula leucogaster, resting on it.

After hanging around there for a bit, we spotted an oceanic whitetip shark, Carcharhinus longimanus, approaching the boat. Marine wildlife photographer, Masa Ushioda, was eager to get some shots of this one, so despite the strong ocean current, he jumped in at the up current of the buoy as the shark stationed at the down current. Predictably, he drifted fast away from the boat, buoy and the shark without getting off much of a shot. I took the boat down to pick him up, and we went back to the up current of the buoy to try again. We ended up repeating this exercise about 10 or 12 times until Masa got physically exhausted, trying to get off a shot of that shark right.

The current was still pulling hard, and there was a lot of fishing line tangled on the buoy chain, stretched out horizontally by the pull of the current. Masa was a bit worried about getting tangled up in that stuff while consentrating on the shark in the viewfinder. Most days, when there's no current, the lines just dangle straight down, unnoticed, but today it was a diver trap.

By now, the oceanic whitetip had accumulated some juvenile amberjacks, a nice rainbow runner and a pilot fish. These fish are sometimes seen together with oceanic whitetips, and shots of them in a group are colorful and very marketable. Despite the current and the dangerous fishing lines, we kept at it. Masa urged me to take a turn in the water on the grounds that I needed to witness this puppy face to face for my blog. I eventually got in, carrying a small bat with me, just in case...you know.

Oceanic whitetips are large pelagic sharks and known to be aggressive. They like to approach fishing boats and pilfer whatever fish are being reeled in. When a diver's in the water, they'll come right up to bump their nose with whatever, or take a nibble of whatever limb is being offered up. I was hoping this one, a female, wasn't in a mood for contact. As it turned out, she stayed about 12 to 15 feet away, which suited me just fine. We checked each other out for a while and drifted apart.

I got out of the water, and Masa tried his luck again. We repeated our game of hide-and-seek with the shark, but the current never did cooperate, and we called it a day, with just some so-so pics of her. Too bad; that oceanic whitetip lost her chance to be a cover girl for SeaPics.com.

As we left the area, we saw some small skipjack tunas, Katsuwonus pelamis, jumping out of the water. Boobies were flying all around us, attracted by the baitfish schooling there. A dog on a nearby boat was barking its head off, which made us laugh.

From there we went to C buoy. A small pod of short-finned pilot whales, Globicephala macrorhynchus, probably juveniles, was out there, just a little too far away for any decent shots. We noticed a great frigate bird, Fregata minor, circling, which is usually a good sign for fishing. As expected, there were some pantropical spotted dolphins, Stenella attenuata, leaping. We got some great pics of airborne dolphins. They jumped so high, it was sometimes hard to keep the horizontal line in the shot. There were also some big yellowfin tunas, Thunnus albacares, out there, and I got off a nice shot of a leaping tuna. I say it jump once and held ready for the second jump, which I got. Nice work, me! After a good afternoon of dolphin photography, we took off for home. Some baby dolphins followed us and rolled around and around in our boat's wake.

By now, a huge dark cloud had descended on us. We wanted to reach port before it really started pouring, but just then we spotted a beaked whale breaking the surface! We cut the engine, and miraculously, that whale metamorphosized into a large drifting log. Incredible, the things that happen at sea. Despite the impending rain, we decided to fish the log. Driftwood tends to accumulate small fish, and before long, it's a complete environment. We had time to catch a small wahoo, Pacific kingfish or ono, Acanthocybium solandri, by jigging under the log, and then headed back to the Keauhou Bay marina. We were drenched from the rain, but I had no time to change or even dry off, as it was my turn to carpool for my daughter's gymnastics group. No time to help Masa clean out the boat either; maybe next week!

The Mahi Mahi Were Jumping!

We got a late start on this overcast day, and headed out to the VV FAD (Fish Aggregation Device) near Keauhou. We checked out what the other boats were fishing there, but it turned out to only be small aku or skipjack tuna,Katsuwonus pelamis, not to our liking. From there we headed out to C buoy, trolling with 4 rods as we went.

Three miles offshore of Kealakekua Bay (where the famous Captain Cook met his maker) we came across a nice pod of short-finned pilot whales, Globicephala macrorhynchus, heading in the opposite direction. This was not unusual, as we often see dolphins, beaked whales, pilot whales and more in this area. On this day, however, we knew the BBC was filming on the Big Island about oceanic whitetip sharks, Carcharhinus longimanus, which often accompany pilot whales, so we called our contact, marine photographer Doug Perrine, to identify the whales' location. No word yet if we actually aided the BBC effort.

We continued south and had no luck trolling. Then the ocean, which had been a bit rough, suddenly went flat, like glass. For a while we didn't see any boats around us, but after we passed C buoy, we spotted several fishing boats ahead of us. We knew something was going on there. As we approached, we started to see pantropical spotted dolphins, Stenella attenuata, leaping high up in the air. It was a large pod of dolphins, and they were head slapping, tail slapping, mothers and calves alike, putting on a real show. They were excited, it seemed, about the school of bait fish right below! Just then, a humongous yellowfin tuna, Thunnus albacares, popped out of the water, right in front of us! If we were going to catch anything today, this was the spot!

Masa, who usually has a good sense of how to position the boat for fishing, tried a maneuver. He went to position us in front of the dolphin pod, as spotted dolphins and yellowfin tuna often travel and hunt together, and that would put the tuna heading in our direction. The move didn't work, though, and the pod went the other way. The dolphins were moving with the bait fish, and apparently those bait fish were avoiding all fishing boats, dolphins and tuna down below.

The direction of the pod was very unpredictable. Although we weren't quite in the right spot, Masa dropped a jig down deep hoping for a mega-bite from a huge yellowfin tuna. However, as the jig decended, the pod of dolphins moved farther away from us, and we quickly understood there would be no chance for a tuna. We tried several times to predict the direction of the school, but we finally got tired and drifted away from them. The pod of dolphins was now way off in the distance, and as Masa reeled in his jig from the deep, he spotted something following it. Then we saw them - about 7 or 8 mahi mahi, Coryphaena hippurus, trying to bite Masa's jig under the boat!

Mahi mahi, as you probably know, are great eating and popular in all the restaurants. They're also known as dorado or dolphinfish. The latter name has fallen out of favor in restaurants, as people (in the West anyway) are not eager to eat anything called "dolphin." Mahi mahi (the Hawaiian name) are fish, and have no connection to dolphins, except for their high leaps in the air.

As Masa had been using a huge jig for monster yellowfin tunas, he switched to a much smaller one for mahi mahi. As he cranked his reel, a mahi hit his lure. Yes, fish on! Hana Pa`a! Unfortunately, immediately after the hook-up, the mahi shook his head hard and got away. Other mahis hit the lure a few times, but they didn't get hooked up for some reason. Soon they started losing interest in jigs.

Masa started throwing real bait into the water and got out every rod he had in the boat - about 10 or 12, and put on an assortment of lures. The mahi mahi kept circling, but no bites. After a while, Masa threw out a hook with some bait and caught a hagi (a spotted triggerfish; a junkfish for fishing). He kept it on the line as a decoy to keep the mahi mahi interested. He then got out his new chum box full of last week's fish guts. Masa keeps the previous catch frozen for just this purpose, and he tossed it in. Unfortunately, the knot untied and Masa's brand new ChumPro box slipped into the blue. See ya, $29.99!

After about 2 hours of watching the mahi mahi swim races around the boat, we finally hooked one on a baited line! It leapt out of the water about 10 times, and got as high as 8 ft out of the water. Several times it jumped up and landed on its side with a big slap! When we got it in, it was over 3 ft long and about 15-20 lbs, a beautiful yellowish-green with blue speckles. Masa was so happy, as we'd been out all day. About an hour later, we caught another by jigging.

After we reeled in the second one, all the mahi mahi disappeared, like they'd suddenly got the idea we didn't have their best interests at heart. Masa released the poor hagi (he was ok!) and phoned his wife to tell her we were heading home. Then just as we got underway, all the mahi mahi came back for one more lap around the boat. Oh well, we'll see them next time!

On the way back, we passed VV buoy again, the one we started at this morning. There were two guys out there fishing from their jet skis, with their coolers of beer on the back. It was like Easy Rider out there, three miles into the ocea.