Great White Puka Hunters

I know that some people kind of snicker when we tell them we spend a lot of time in Hawaii hunting for pukas. Don’t laugh. It’s a dangerous game, requiring alertness, concentration, quick decision making and, sometimes, fast feet. But first, what is a puka? It’s a little shell often with a hole in it (puka means “hole in Hawaiian).  The puka shell comes from a cone shell that, when alive, had a mollusk inside of it.  Eventually, the mollusk is  eaten or dies of natural causes.  When this happens, the cone shell is  tossed around by the strong ocean waves. For years the empty cone shell will be pounded in the surf and will eventually break apart. We find them in all stages of this breakdown. But what we are looking for is the top part of the shell where the snail originally slept or hibernated. This is the strongest part of the shell and lasts the longest. The shell grows in a spiral and the very center of the top of the cone is the weakest part. This is where the hole appears and makes it easy to string into a necklace or bracelet.
Pukas come in all tints: pink, white, green, blue, black and purple. Some are distressed from being on the beach too long. But we like the ones on Keiki Beach which is about a five minute drive from the house. Keiki Beach pukas have a shine like mother-of-pearl. Keiki is part of what is known as the Banzai Pipeline, one of the most famous surfing beaches in the world. Those big winter waves can sneak up on a puka hunter.
Via Surfer Magazine “(In) 1974 four North Shore beach ladies are strolling on the beach by Rockpile, just to the west of Pipeline, looking for puka shells. If they give any regard to the raging, 25-foot northwest swell exploding on the reef just offshore is unsure--no one ever gets the chance to ask them. Outside, a series of longer-interval swells run down and overtakes a shorter-period set, causing what oceanographers call a "super-set". This super-set pours over the reef and crashes onto the sand, a flexed arm of soup washing up behind the unsuspecting women, sweeping them off their feet and into the maelstrom of receding foam and fury. Witnesses look on helplessly as the four women are seized by the rip and through un-negotiable shorebreak are pounded down through Pipeline toward Ehukai. Here lifeguards and surfers finally reach the four and wrestle their lifeless bodies to shore. Tragically, none are revived...”
Linda keeps a sharp eye on those waves and lets me know if a big set is coming in. The power of the surf on a big wave day is awesome.
But on a typical day, the waves just lap in and refresh the shell piles, bring new ones and turning the old ones over.
Danger still lurks, however. This morning on our beach cruise Linda was sitting on the sand looking out at the waves when a big, blind Doberman, hearing her voice ran straight into her and knocked her over. She wasn’t hurt and he was embarrassed. Blind dogs. Just another thing for the great white hunters to be concerned about.

Comments

[Wyrd]

I like your little informative stories about this and that. NEAT!