Chapter 18 The Task Force #2
research in the islands centered on reef sharks and tiger sharks. The majority of people living in the islands probably didn’t
even know white sharks frequented their waters. When she was done with that, she launched into shark breeding patterns and
how with white sharks, it can be thirty years until they reach maturity, and then they only give birth every few years.
“What I can’t stress enough is that the role of these animals is critical to the entire ocean ecosystem. Sharks are great
equalizers. And it doesn’t take killing too many to upset their population for decades to come. Plus, evidence points to one
animal causing the incidents, so a widespread hunt will have too much collateral damage while most likely not yielding the
culprit, who is probably on her way back to the West Coast. My position, and that of my colleagues, is a hard no to any shark
hunt, organized or—”
The older fireman cut in. “Girl, why does any of this matter? This shark, that shark. Bottom line, people are dying on our watch.”
“Let her finish,” Woody said.
“Organized or unorganized was what I was going to say. That’s it.”
Woody gave her a nod. The rest of the men, though, remained quiet. Even Luke.
“Any questions for the young lady?” Mayor Lum finally said.
Young lady? What a dickwad.
Sawyer held up a hand. “What about catch and release? Anything other than a giant white shark is let go. That way we’d ensure
people feel safe enough to swim around here and enter the race, but we’re not upsetting any natural balance.”
She shook her head. “You still run the risk of badly injuring the sharks. There are all kinds of things to consider. The stress
alone can sometimes kill them or leave them maimed with dislocated jaws. Leaving the hook in their mouths is cruel and can
lead to infection and eventually death.”
Woody jumped in, “Like the doc said, the shark in question is probably long gone, and what, you gonna go out there and just
catch any kine shark? Waste of time. We hardly got any beaches over here, not too many people in the water like up north or
in Kona. We need to just accept that when we go in the water we might meet a shark, and move on, no offense to any of the
victims.”
Minnow could feel the red spreading across Sam Callahan’s cheeks. She avoided looking his way. Whoever had invited him had
not been thinking clearly.
“So we know how you two feel about this. Let’s hear from the rest. How about Ocean Safety, what is your recommendation?” Lum
asked.
“When we see sharks, we put the signs up, and beyond that it’s the individual’s choice to go out,” said Johnny Angel, a bearded
man with tattoos up both arms. “In the case of the roughwater swim, we can beef up our escorts and do some scouting ahead
of time. But I tend to agree with Dr. Gray—a shark hunt is wrong.”
Minnow wanted to reach out and hug him. She was feeling like maybe things were going to go her way until Tommy Warren folded his arms on his chest and said in a slow, booming voice, “You know, the community is outraged, people are dying and we have a killer shark on the loose. Calls to our office of shark sightings have gone through the roof. We all know that Hank did not just drown out there and now you have a fin to prove it. The only way to nip this in the bud, especially now with national eyes on us, is to do a targeted hunt between Keahole Point and Kiholo. I have experienced guys lined up ready to go, and I don’t think some chick from the mainland should be rolling in here and telling us what to do. ”
He caught her eyeing him and gave her a cold, hard stare. Minnow glanced down at the table in front of her, uncomfortable.
The district rep agreed with him. “My office is getting calls too. Hundreds of them. People want action. And this isn’t just
a matter of catching sharks; this is a matter of assuaging the fears of every single person on the mainland and around the
world who is watching the news and shitting their pants. Even if the press is blowing it out of proportion, if we don’t do
something, all those happy tourists are going to take their dollars elsewhere.”
What was wrong with these people? Had they not heard anything she said?
“Always about money, isn’t it? Let those people stay home. Those sharks are our ‘aumakua and we stand by them,” Woody said.
“You bet it’s about money,” Sawyer said. “How else do we feed our families? Not everyone had the luxury to grow up fishing
and has a beach house. Nothing personal, because you know I have deep respect for you, Woody, but that’s the reality here.”
Representative Richmond folded his small, smooth hands in front of him. “Maybe your job doesn’t depend on them. Or wait, does
it? How many jobs have you taken at the Mauna Kea or Mauna Lani, Mr. Kaupiko?”
Woody’s jaw tightened. “None of your business.”
Suddenly Sam Callahan spoke up. “You would put the lives of a few sharks over people? I doubt you would feel that way if it had been your son, Mr. Kaupiko, with all due respect.”
“My heart goes out to you, it does. But catching sharks is not gonna bring your boy back, and like the doc and the lifeguards
say, shark hunts don’t prevent shark attacks.”
Sam began to tremble, then stood up. “If you’ll excuse me, this is too much for me.”
They all just sat there, and Minnow felt like she had to say something, as inadequate as it may be. “I’m so sorry, Mr. Callahan. We all are.”
Once Sam was gone, Dave Morrow gave his two cents. “Not going to lie, we want to see this beast caught before the race. My
phone has been ringing off the hook from entrants asking when the last date they can withdraw is. Talking about money, this
race is a huge boost to your economy. This year we had 800 people signed up, but now we’re down to 424. Do you know how many
hotel rooms and rental cars that equates to? Because for every person in the race, they often bring family and friends. I’d
hate to see one rogue shark ruin this forever.”
Minnow fumed. “Sharks don’t go rogue. That’s a myth created by Hollywood.”
Luke’s leg started bouncing up and down. Minnow could feel it against her chair. It seemed like he wanted to say something,
but he didn’t.
They continued back and forth, the conversations growing more heated with each round. The mayor, DLWA, the fire chief, Sawyer
and Dave Morrow were strongly in favor of a hunt, while Ocean Safety, Minnow and Nalu and Woody were not. Dragon the cop had
no opinion one way or the other. He said he was purely there because of procedure. Neither side seemed to be able to convince
the other. In all of this, Luke Greenwood did not breathe a word.
In the end Mayor Lum said, “Well, we covered a lot of ground. I think we have plenty to chew on. Right now we may not have our answer, but let’s all think long and hard on what we’ve learned tonight, and I will reach out to each of you individually once I’ve made my decision.
Meantime, keep me posted on any updates—sightings, new findings, incidents, large or small. ”
Again, Minnow got the sense this was all for show. The mayor had already made up his mind but wanted to appease the scientists
and the Hawaiians, make them feel like they had a voice.
Sawyer took off his straw hat and wiped his forehead. “Mahalo, Mayor and all of you. Dinner is on me if any of you want to stay. Just mosey on over to the Saltwater Bar.”
“I’m down,” Nalu said to Minnow.
She was famished, and the idea of a five-star meal made her mouth water. “Let me see what Woody wants to do.”
“I can drive you back if you want to stay.”
She turned around to look for Luke, but apparently he’d already left and was nowhere in sight. Woody had his back to them
and was staring out at the ocean and a yellow sliver of moon.
“You want to stay and grab a bite?” she asked.
He shook his head. “I have to get up early and head to Waimea for a job, and Anna wants to see me. But I’ll be back in a day
or two. You stay. The food here is ?ono and I’m not going to be good company,” he said, not even looking her way.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“Are you?”
Her heart was full of lead. “No. That was shit. Why have shark experts if you aren’t going to listen to anything they say?
I have a bad feeling about what’s coming.”
“We’ll talk when I get back. I’ll leave my dive light for you behind the log, just in case,” he said.
“In case what?”
“In case your plans change.”
And then he was gone.