Paddles with sharks

I was nudged by a shark on my sunrise paddle out of Puako a couple of weeks ago.

Luckily I wasnʻt dangling my feet over the side as I sometimes do when I want to slow down and watch the clouds go by. 

It happened just like in the comic strips. I was about 2 miles out from shore, alone, as usual, and heading north in slightly choppy seas, on a flooding tide,  to Hale o Kapuni, the submerged heiau (temple) which contains a shark shrine.

A triangle fin, black tipped with white below,  surfaced on the ocean side of me, from the north. This triangle made a bit of turbulence in the water, drawing my attention, then headed straight for me until it bumped the kayak up front towards the prow turning me through 180 degrees, to point back towards the shore and Puako small boat harbour. 

When the fin first appeared, I lifted my paddle to chest height and froze. I didnʻt even reach for my camera. I guess I was breathing. 

After bumping me, the shark swam in a full circle around the kayak as if making sure that I had got the message. I reached for my mantra, mentally, and settled into submission. The shark did that splashy thing again,  and glided off: a huge dark form in the clear water.

I headed back into shore, breathing long, slow and deep, just like I am trained to do in yoga. Obedience is sometimes all that is asked of us. I will paddle to Hale O Kapuni another day. I do love this wild piece of Kohala coastline, but am respectful of the local spirits, especially manō, the shark who makes this particular reef sacred.

I shared this sharky experience with my fav ancient Hawaiian whose response was that this was no ordinary shark, but Manō, an aumakua (ancestral spirit) with a message for me. Well actually his response was more detailed and complex, but that is the gist of it.

I spent about 24 hours after this feeling very spacy, disconnected from the material world, thinskinned and vulnerable. Until government shenanigans woke me and I drowned in the abject stupidity that is politics today.

There is a story about an old Puako couple who had a shark friend. Because that side of the island is dry, the taro didnʻt always grow so well leaving the old couple quite often without food. Their shark friend, however, ensured that they never went hungry: it would tip over boats which were  carrying food, then hide the cargo in caves. The shark would show the old couple where to find the hidden food and this is how they survived and flourished on this deserty stretch of coastline.

For seven years now, the major element on my ancestor shrine has been the Hale O Kupuni shark shrine hoʻokupa (offering) image.