Cue the "Jaws" Theme Song...

Da-duh...

I was out in the water with Nic and a few other boogie boarders for our favorite Friday night hobbie at Brennecke's. The waves were huge and far-between, so I only had one good ride.

Da-duh...

We saw a group of three divers coming into shore. I heard one joke about a shark. He pretended to go under water, like he was being attacked. (Much like Brady's rendition here.)

Da-duh...

I, of course, assumed they were kidding. Nic wasn't so sure. He had heard some conversation that I did not, and thought they were serious. You don't have to tell me twice, so I booked it into shore.

Da-duh, da-duh, da-duh...

The divers beat me onto shore, so I approached them and asked if they were kidding. They said no. I figured they didn't hear me--three times. So, I continued to rephrase my question, until they finally answered me with a, "Yes, a shark is out in the water, and followed us in. It attacked our fish twice, one of them right there," pointing to a place in the water very near where we had just been.

Da-duh, DA-DUH, DA-DUH, DA-DUH...

I asked them if we should alert the other three boogie boarders, but they said they figured the shark was long-gone. It was only after the fish on their line, and the fish was now out of the water. I ran up the beach to fill Brady in.

....AHHHHHHHHHHH!

Within seconds of telling Brady, the shark popped up, just ten feet from shore! What a rush, seeing those two fins and realizing that I had been in the water not minutes before. It was dusk (i.e. feeding time), and the shark was after fish. I thought I looked like a pretty colorful fish in my suit.

The whole beach waved in the three boogie boarders, one who decided to stay in the water anyway for a few minutes (and later freaked out when she found out the news). We were all on the lookout for another sighting, but Brady and I didn't see it again.

On the way home, Brady told me that he had so much adrenaline, and was ready to hand off Zach and dive in to get the other swimmers. That made me really nervous, so we looked up information on Grey Reef Sharks, the one that we spotted.

• They are very common in Hawaii, particularly our island.


• They are especially common in the evening.


• Sharks like places that go from shallow to deep water. (That fits the description of Brennecke's last night perfectly.)


• They will rarely bite humans. However, Tiger sharks will.


• You have a one-in-a-million chance of dying from a shark bite. The odds are much better for getting a bite, though.


• Scientists do not know why sharks bite humans. There are plenty of theories, but no solid answers.


• If a shark approaches you, it is best to act limp. No sudden movements.


• If he bites, punch him anywhere in the face. (Brady claims if a shark tried to bite him, it would not pierce through his skin.)


• If another swimmer is attacked, you should go help. They are more likely to die of loss of blood and shock than constant biting. So, yeah, Brady should go after the swimmers if someone is screaming. He would likely be left alone.

Here are a few pictures of the fish the shark went after twice. He basically ate everything but the eyes. ("Old Man and the Sea," anyone?) The fish is a Parrot Fish, and is seriously beautiful!

Needless to say, the whole thing was an adventure. We are still reeling from the experience. We are really glad it wasn't just hanging out at our beach--it was after the fish on a line. That makes it a whole lot more likely that we will continue our Friday night tradition.