Meet Kevin, the barracuda we see often as any shark

Photo by Tyler Flott @beach_ty

Hawai‘i hosts two species of barracuda: the great barracuda or kaku (Sphyraena barracuda) and Heller’s barracuda or kawelea (Sphyraena helleri). Kaku can grow to about six feet long and 100 pounds. Kawelea are active at night, forming schools near the reef during the day. This smaller species grows to about two feet long.

According to a 1997 entry of the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s Ocean Watch column by Susan Scott, Barracuda eat both large and small fish, striking with lightning bursts of speed. Unlike some fish predators, barracuda can’t expand their mouths to swallow large fish whole. To eat big prey, barracuda slash them to pieces with remarkably sharp teeth. A large barracuda can cut a mature parrotfish in two pieces with a single bite.

“The one time I did see a barracuda catch a fish, it happened with such swiftness that I couldn’t make out any of the details,” Scott writes. “A little fish was there; the barracuda jerked; the little fish was gone.” 

A kaku has frequented the One Ocean dive site for over a decade so, like many sharks we have come to know, he has been given a name—fondly referred to by guests and captains as Kevin. Over the years, Kevin has become a fan favorite, rivaling even some of our famous sharks. Each time Kevin is mentioned on social media, guests’ comments reminisce on times they saw the barracuda among a school of Galapagos or sandbar sharks. 

According to the Star-Advertiser, kaku are active during the day and camouflage to catch fish. Juvenile kaku typically shelter in reefs and harbors. While adults are sometimes spotted in these types of places as well, they head offshore to hunt in the open ocean when they grow too big to fit. 

Barracuda, like sharks, can appear menacing to the inexperienced. Should the average diver be afraid of barracuda? 

“Like sharks, the answer is usually no,” Scott writes. “Of the twenty-two barracuda species found throughout the world, the great barracuda is the only one known to attack humans. The risk of being bitten by this fish, however, appears extremely low.”

Between 1873 and 1963, there have been only nineteen confirmed cases of barracuda attacks globally, the column reports. Four of these took place in Hawai‘i.

Also like sharks, most theorize that barracuda attacks only occur by mistake. Barracuda may view the flash of jewelry or camera equipment as a silvery fish. In most cases, barracuda keep their distance from people. 

Kevin is no exception. While he is sometimes affectionately called a grump from his demeanor and lack of playfulness, he tends to linger on his own among the sharks and people. 

Photo by Tyler Flott @beach_ty

Kevin was named after One Ocean’s Captain Kevin Chadick some fifteen years ago, so unfortunately the story behind it has been lost to lore. While this timeframe makes up the whole of a barracuda’s lifespan, it’s possible “Kevin” is multi-generational, or (at the risk of spoiling a Santa Claus-esque myth) perhaps even a moniker of any kaku who hangs out in our waters. 

Photo by Tyler Flott @beach_ty

Whatever the case, if you happen to see a lone barracuda among the flurry of sharks at our dive site, make sure and give a warm aloha.  

All About Shark Senses

Sharks have developed their senses over millions of years to become the apex predators that they are today.

Their vision is actually about the same as humans! However, they see in monochromatic vision, which means they see colors on a greyscale. Any colors that are high in contrast such as yellow, orange, and white stick out to them.

This is the reason that we dive with dark colored gear (grey, black, blue, red, green). For example, if you wear an all black wetsuit and a white glove, a shark would see that as two separate entities and be more likely to come in close to check out the glove hand. By wearing dark colored gear, we’re lessening the likelihood that a shark would feel the need to get close to check something out.

If you wear a bright color on your body, the shark can still tell that you are a larger organism, and would be less likely to approach. We try to eliminate bright colors on extremities, but on the body, different colors are not as important.

GoPro poles are another item we often have to swap out for guests before dives. Many people have the bright “yum yum yellow” GoPro pole, so we swap it out with a black one. Since the shark can detect the GoPro using its ampullae of Lorenzini and can see the bright pole, it would be likely to come in and take a closer look.

The Ampullae of Lorenzini are jelly filled pores on the top of the sharks head. These pores detect electrical impulses such as heartbeats, boat engines, muscle contractions, and electronic devices, such as the GoPro mentioned above. For this reason, we ask guests to take off smart watches before they enter the water. This is why we ask for GoPros to be on poles.

Sharks also have a great sense of smell. Many people think sharks are attracted to the smell of humans and human blood, but that’s not true! Sharks don’t associate the smell of humans or our blood with food, so you can swim while bleeding without having to worry!

Sharks also have great hearing. They can hear boats coming from a mile away and birds splashing on the surface from 300 yards away! This is why it’s so important to keep splashing to a minimum when you are swimming in the ocean. Splashing mimics injured prey which could attract a curious shark.

If you want to learn more about sharks’ senses, check out Ocean Ramsey’s book, What You Should Know About Sharks.

The Shark 'Aumakua

The ‘aumakua, a guardian spirit watching over families and individuals, has been understood in Hawaiian families since time immemorial. In Pacific Studies from American Anthropologist published in 1917, Maria Beckwith writes that the ‘aumakua has no form. 

“It comes in the shape of a wish into the mother,” she records. “When she is in trouble she prays and the object comes before her. After the one dearly loved passes away, he is worshiped, the dead one’s spirit is fed with ‘awa (the intoxicating drink of the Hawaiian). Or if a child comes before its time, unformed, lifeless, such a child is thrown away. The spirit comes back. The mother is then unlike herself—the face is the same but the thought is changed.” 

The spirit appears and acts as not itself but in the character of the spirit whose medium it takes. To strengthen the ‘aumakua, families offered prayer, food, and drink.

Logically any creature, plant, or object could become an ‘aumakua, Beckwith writes, but there are certain ones regarded as god bodies. On the coast, for example, sharks are often the objects selected for veneration. 

Typically a shark ‘aumakua’s presence is felt in good fortune. They can provide luck to a fisherman or prevent him from drowning. Generally, they provide counsel.

Kalama Keaulana has managed the One Ocean Diving property for over a decade. His ‘aumakua is a tiger shark, he said. 

“I don’t believe in coincidence, so to speak,” he said, “but yeah it was coincidental.” 

Growing up, Kalama heard stories of his ‘aumakua from his grandparents, uncles, and aunties on camping trips and family gatherings, he said. It was a way of understanding their lineage. 

“We are watermen. We’re descendants of King Kamehameha and the god of the sea, Kanaloa,” he said. “We come from that line of the sharks, and being that the tiger shark was the biggest shark in the Hawaiian Islands that was seen.” 

Photo by Tyler Flott @beach_ty

Beckwith shares a story she recorded of two brothers called Puhi collectively, whose family also had a shark ‘aumakua. 

“When the Puhi go fishing, the shark appears,” she writes. “The ‘aumakua obeys the voice of man; name the kind of fish you want and it will bring it. The men give it some of the first catch, then it disappears, and they always come back with full nets. Only when the shark appears do they have luck (hence they recognize the god’s intervention). Sometimes the ‘aumakua tells them beforehand in a ream that it has gathered the fish together. Besides this, the Puhi family can never be drowned. If there is a storm and the boat capsizes, the shark appears and the man rides on its back.” 

Puhi found their ‘aumakua the night they had to bury a miscarried child, Beckwith writes. The spirit came to them in a dream saying the child belonged in the ocean.

Identifying one’s ‘aumakua is obvious, she writes. “When the mother goes in to bathe, the shark will come and jump at the breast as if to suckle; thus she know it is her child, for it does this to no one else.”

At the time Beckwith recorded these stories, they were not commonly shared, she acknowledges. The concept of the ‘aumakua, like much else in Ancient Hawaiian belief, was sacred. 

This is not so true anymore, Kalama said. In many cases it is a Hawaiian-led effort to share this information. 

“It became sacred because it was repressed,” he said. “If you say an animal was going extinct, our language was going extinct. Forcefully. But we have to as a people keep it alive through our stories. They would speak stories in English but tell us the names in Hawaiian. ‘This person is Kanaloa. He was the god of the sea. He would always turn into the tiger shark. That’s the representative of King Kamehameha. He was the one who helped King Kamehameha cross the ocean so he could conquer Hawai’i.’” 

Kalama can feel his ‘aumakua in the way tiger sharks behave toward him, he said. Many, it seems, come up and introduce themselves. 

Photo by Tyler Flott @beach_ty

“These guys, they come in real light, barely even coming toward you. They come right by and give you a little look on the side, and they turn and go away. They’re saying ‘hey, what’s up?’ And they turn and go. That’s how you know they have a connection,” he said. “You can tell they can feel a person’s vibe, and that’s how you know that these guys are very spiritual animals.” 

Photo by Tyler Flott @beach_ty

Kalama has never sensed any aggression from a tiger shark, he said.

“You should have some type of concern, because although they are not monsters they can be dangerous, so if you don’t know what you’re doing you can get hurt,” he said. “But as for me, I don’t feel no concern. No fear. I just feel tranquility when I’m in the water with them. I feel like I’m in a spiritual world. And I feel that I connect with them, that they understand me and I understand them.”