Sharks on the air

A shark moves through the tunnels off the coast of Makua Beach on Kaua‘i. Image courtesy of Terry Lilley.

Sharks are getting more air time on NatGeo Go Wild and some of the footage in the newest episode set to premier Sunday was shot by Terry Lilley of Kaua‘i. Lilley says he’ll be on camera, too, talking about “accidental shark bites and how best to avoid the problem.”

While the details are still secret, the focus of the episode will be on tiger shark attacks on surfers and snorkelers. Representatives with National Geographic didn’t return requests for comments on the show, slated for 8 p.m.

“My goal is to point out that these big sharks do not eat people and they only bite people when we are in the way of their food,” Lilley said. “I did not preview the show, so I hope they represent my love for sharks and the truth about Hawaiian sharks.”

Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB) scientists who are studying shark-human encounters say the reason why sharks bite people is still a mystery. “The truth is that nobody knows why sharks in Hawai‘i bite humans,” said Kim Holland, researcher and one of HIMB’s principal investigators on the long-term movement patterns of tiger sharks in Hawai‘i. Holland and other scientists with HIMB are quick to point out shark attacks are extremely rare when you take all the factors into account.

Read more about it in The Garden Island. Also, track tagged sharks at the Hawai’i Tiger Shark Tracking website provided by the Pacific Islands Ocean Observing System (PacIOOS).