Six baby hammerhead sharks discovered on Kailua Beach

By Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Windward O'ahu Writer

KAILUA — Six baby hammerhead sharks were discovered on Kailua Beach recently, reminding swimmers that they share the ocean with predators.

Kailua lifeguard Tony Ho discovered the hammerhead pups. He said the sharks were 6 to 12 inches long and looked like they had just been born.

They were on the shore when he reported for work the morning of Aug. 8. The sharks were probably dead when they washed ashore. But fishermen have been known to hook sharks in Kailua Bay.

The discovery of the pups in Kailua Bay is not considered unusual during birthing season, which generally runs from May through July.

Shark expert Gerald Crow, acting curator for the Waikiki Aquarium, said female hammerheads typically leave their natural deep-water habitat to give birth in bays around O'ahu from May to July. The bays, including Kane'ohe, Waimea, Pearl Harbor and Waikiki, offer safer environments for the babies, which must fend for themselves after birth, he said.

"Other mother sharks will eat the young, so it's not completely safe. But it gives them a better chance," said Crow, co-author of the book "Sharks & Rays of Hawai'i."

Hammerheads are not aggressive and tend to stay away from humans. Hammerheads are fairly common in Kailua Bay, but are rarely sighted, said Ho.

"You never hear of anyone being bit by one," said Ho. "People see them, but that's all you do is see them."

"Is there a possibility of getting bit by one?" Ho asked. "Yeah, about as much as getting hit by a car on the street back here."

Normal birth length for a hammerhead is 16 to 20 inches, and a litter runs from 15 to 31 pups, said Crow.

The size of the pups discovered in Kailua suggest a premature birth that could have been brought on by stress when a pregnant mother is caught, Crow said.

He also said the pups could have been caught in a gill net, died and washed to shore.

People seldom see hammerheads or other types of sharks, although Crow said there are thousands of them in Kane'ohe Bay. They hide in murky water and mud flats.

If fishermen do catch a shark on a hook, it should be released into the water and not killed or left to die, he said.

"The sharks have a role in the ecosystem, and the hammerhead shark doesn't bother people very much," he said.

"They're not a real threat to people."

Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com or 234-5266.