NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION Several sharks killed a baby whale 700 yards off Maui. They were eating the calf in 90 feet of water, and parts of it were drifting to shore. People were cautioned to stay out of the water.

Humpback calf’s demise
makes unsafe Maui waters

Sharks devoured the calf, and
officials will see if the area is safe

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By Gary T. Kubota
gkubota@starbulletin.com

LAHAINA >> State ocean enforcement officials plan to determine whether it is safe to go back into the ocean off Kaanapali today, after a number of sharks killed a baby humpback whale 700 yards offshore.

State enforcement officials warned the public yesterday to stay out of the water.

The sharks were feeding on the calf in 90 feet of water, and some parts of the whale were drifting to shore yesterday, increasing the likelihood of ocean predators remaining in the coastal area.

Kaanapali visitor Marc Owens-Kurtz said he noticed the calf swimming in a circle about 100 yards from the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort about 6:45 a.m. yesterday, without a mother whale.

He called Pacific Whale Foundation officials who notified authorities, including federal officials in charge of assisting whales in distress.

Owens-Kurtz said about a half-hour later, he saw a shark grab the tail or fin of the calf.

"It was bleeding ... quite profusely," he said.

David Mattila, an official with the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary, said by the time state and federal officials arrived at about 7:30 a.m., the whale's pectoral fin and half of its tail were missing.

"There were probably bites on the underside, but we couldn't see a lot," he said.

Mattila said that by 9:30 a.m., sharks pulled the calf below water, and it never resurfaced. He said the calf appeared to be a newborn, about 10 to 12 feet long and 2,000 pounds. He said there appeared to be no evidence of human interference contributing to the death.

Officials have collected samples of the calf for genetic matching. They want to know if the calf attacked yesterday was the same one seen swimming alone a couple of days ago, Mattila said.

Timothy Bryan, the foundation's director of naturalists, said the incident appears to mark the second known death of a humpback whale calf this year in Maui waters.

He said a dead calf with a deformed spine was towed to waters off the Lahaina pali.

"There's always going to be a certain percentage of the young that's not going to survive," Bryan said.

"It's hard to watch but it's nature at work."