Updated at 11:46 a.m., Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Search for alleged shark near Waikiki comes up empty
Advertiser Staff
State and county authorities could not confirm whether a surfer really saw a shark just offshore of the Army Museum at Fort DeRussy Beach this morning.A surfer told police that he saw an 11-foot-long shark swimming 75 yards off the beach around 7:30 a.m. today.
City lifeguards do not operate in the area, which is handled instead by the nearby Hale Koa Hotel, but they did check the waters "for peace of mind" and found nothing, said Bryan Cheplic, spokesman for the Honolulu Emergency Services Department.
Jeff Walters, acting shark response coordinator for the Department of Land and Natural Resources, said the state would not be posting any warning signs on the beach. He hoped to send someone above the coastline in a helicopter or to a high vantage point in a hotel sometime this afternoon for a better inspection of the area.
