WAIMEA — A severely injured sea turtle on Pakala Beach was a likely victim of a shark attack.
WAIMEA — A severely injured sea turtle on Pakala Beach was a likely victim of a shark attack.
Rick Shaw was surfing at Pakala on Wednesday morning when he spotted what he thought may have been a 6- to 7-foot shark about 50 feet away.
“I saw something that kind of looked like a fin or a tail,” said Shaw. “I caught a wave and went all the way into shore.”
Returning to the beach, he found a sea turtle washed up with a large chunk taken out of its shell and its insides trailing behind it.
“Every day that you’re in the water you know that there are sharks out there,” said Shaw. “It’s a little bit sobering when you actually see the results of it.”
Shaw said he had seen a shark of a similar size at Pakala Beach on Saturday as well, this one only 20 feet away.
The Department of Land and Natural Resources could not confirm whether they had taken action on the shark sighting by press time Wednesday. But Kaua‘i County representatives confirmed that the DLNR had borrowed shark sighting signs from their Ocean Safety Bureau.
I was at Pakala in September and saw a shark 10 feet away from me. I caught the next wave in. This shark may have been 10 ft. long. It’s scary because this is my favorite surf spot.