Tom Carroll, a visitor from St. Paul, Minn., visited his sister in Anahola last week to take in what he expected to find in Hawai‘i— sunny days, beach treks and mountain views.
On Tuesday, Carroll received a bonus — the discovery of what he believes was the corpse of a 10-foot tiger shark on a beach in Aliomanu Bay.
Residents who were with him when the discovery was made identified the shark as such.
” This is the highpoint of my trip,” said Carroll, who was visiting his sister, Barbara Carroll, a part-time resident of Anahola. ” We have sharks (in aquariums) in Minnesota. But they are only five feet long. This is the first time I have ever been up close (to a shark in the open).”
Kaua‘i County officials had been made aware of the find, but the shark remained on the beach at noon Wednesday, “stinking,” Carroll said.
With some local residents and a woman visitor from Oregon, Carroll came across the dead shark around 4 p.m.
“It was on the beach and got pulled out, and when I went out, 30 yards on the reef, I pulled it back,” Carroll said.
The current and waves moved in a way so that he was not certain the shark was dead, Carroll said.
He also was concerned about other predators, such as other sharks, who might be looking for an easy meal – the dead shark, and possibly attacking him.
During the evening, currents apparently took the shark back to the sea, but it washed ashore again in about the same area Wednesday morning.
The visitor from Oregon called Kaua‘i County officials, who told her, Carroll said, that efforts would be made to properly dispose of the dead shark.
A representative for the county said that county officials were aware of the discovery and that the matter had been referred to the state Department of Land and Natural Resources office on Kaua‘i.
Carroll was told by local residents that a snorkeler had seen the shark in waters off Anahola on Monday, swimming in a docile manner.
Staff writer Lester Chang can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) and mailto:lchang@pulitzer.net
