Residents say shark swam up to Diamond Head shore

By Karen Blakeman
Advertiser Staff Writer

Residents of the Gold Coast in Diamond Head reported a seeing a shark yesterday during the early evening. Fire officials investigated but the shark left on its own.

"I was swimming and I came up the silver ladder," said Bill Haig, condominium resident at the Diamond Head Ambassador. "And I turned around and looked down and there was this shark. It was about five or six feet long."

Capt. Richard Soo of the Honolulu Fire Department said other residents reported the shark's length at up to 10 feet. The creature came to shore at about 5 p.m. and swam back into the open ocean about 45 minutes later.

Sightings of sharks along the coastlines, especially where highrises offer good views of the water, are common in the early mornings and evenings, Soo said.

"They're just following the fish in," the HFD spokesman said. "They aren't looking for people or anything. It's just their cycle."

Haig said he had noticed fish innards had been left floating in the water by fishermen who'd traveled through earlier. He suspected the odor attracted the shark.

The shark's size was difficult to estimate through the water, Haig said, but by the time he started calling friends on the Mainland to tell them about his close call the animal had become much, much larger.

"It was about 40 feet," he said last night.

Reach Karen Blakeman at 535-2430 or at kblakeman@honoluluadvertiser.com.