An adult long-distance swimmer attempting to cross the 'Alenuihähä Channel between the Hawaiian islands of Hawai'i and Maui was twice bitten by a cookiecutter shark (Squaliformes, Dalatiidae, Isistius sp.). One of these bites presented as an open, round, concave wound typically observed in cookiecutter shark bites inflicted by members of this genus on a broad spectrum of large b iota such as marine mammals, elasmobranchs, and bony fishes. The open wound was debrided, subjected to negative pressure wound therapy, and a split thickness skin graft harvested from the left thigh. Postoperative recovery was complicated by delayed healing of the inferior portion of the graft, and cultures and biopsy were normal skin flora and normal tissue, respectively. At 6 months after the incident, the area appeared to be healing with a stable eschar, and by 9 months the wound was healed. Humans entering pelagic waters at twilight and nighttime hours in areas of Isistius sp. occurrence should do so knowing that cookiecutter sharks are a potential danger, particularly during periods of strong moonlight, in areas of man-made illumination, or in the presence of bioluminescent o rganisms.

The feasibility of long‐term acoustic monitoring of coral reef fish movements was evaluated by quantifying transmitter retention times for captive bluefin trevally Caranx melampygus and detection patterns of transmitter‐implanted free‐ranging bluefin trevally. Wax‐coated dummy transmitters (9 × 22 mm; 3.6 g) were surgically implanted into the gut cavity of four captive bluefin trevally. The fish retained the dummy transmitters for 17–22 months, but at the end of the study transintestinal expulsion was in progress in one individual. Five bluefin trevally captured at Honokohau, Hawaii, were surgically implanted with long‐life (1‐year) coded transmitters and released. Their movements were monitored with the use of 27 underwater receivers deployed along a 115‐km stretch of coastline. The five bluefin trevally were detected by the receivers over periods ranging from 1 to 173 d (mean, 60 d), and their movements spanned up to 10.2 km of coastline. Daily movements were consistent with those observed by previous short‐term active tracking studies and consisted of crepuscular migrations of 1–2 km between separate daytime and nighttime habitats. These data suggest that passive monitoring of bluefin trevally movements for periods of up to 22 months is theoretically possible and that transmitter expulsion is not necessarily the cause of shorter detection periods.

White sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) have been known in Hawaii (∼158 ∘ W, 22 ∘ N) since the time of ancient Hawaiians. We compiled sightings and records from 1926 to the present (4 females, 2 males, and 8 unknown sex; 3.3-4.5 m total length) and compared them with satellite tracking records (7 females, 9 males, and 6 unknown; 3.7-5.3 m total length). White sharks have been sighted in Hawaii throughout the year, whereas satellite tracking studies show individuals near the North American coast during fall and offshore during spring for the eastern North Pacific population (northern fall/spring). The mismatch of these datasets could hypothetically be consistent with fall-sighted individuals being sourced from a different population or part of a resident population. However, recently documented multiyear movements of North American sharks revealed that the annual nearshoreoffshore pattern does not hold for mature females, which ranged over larger areas and were offshore during the fall. We found that fall white shark sightings in Hawaii are predominantly of females, most likely visitors from the eastern North Pacific population. Misidentification of other species as white sharks frequently occurs by fishers and in the news media, and we suggest methods for discrimination of related species.