MAKENA  - An 8-foot-long Tiger Shark hauled in last Saturday morning at Po'olenalena Beach, also known as Chang’s Beach, may achieve a little extra notoriety since it showed up offshore just a few days after a large shark nipped at a woman snorkeling about a mile up the coast.

Still, the Kahului resident said he saw no reason not to return the shark to the sea. "There are thousands and thousands of sharks out there. I’ve returned them all, and I’ve never had any problems with sharks," he said. "I know they bite people, but that’s the ocean. That’s where they live, and people killing one or two sharks, that’s not going to do anything to stop them from biting. He said he had hooked up with a smaller shark at about 7 p.m. Friday as he set up for his overnight fishing trip and also released it.

"I’ve been fishing there for about 25 years. I’ve caught plenty of sharks, 20 or 30 over the years, and I’ve let them all go." If there was any issue at all, it was that he didn’t hook up with any Ulua, which was what he was after. But he said he’s previously caught an Ulua after first pulling in a shark, so he doesn’t think the sharks sniffing at his bait were keeping the Ulua at bay.

Once on shore, the swivel on the leader snapped, and after taking a few photographs, Baker said he and Jacob grabbed the shark’s tail and pulled it back to the edge of the shore where a wave lifted it. He estimated it was 8 feet long and weighed around 300 pounds. Once it was afloat, Baker said he kept a hold of its tail to keep it pointed into the shorebreak and eventually, it slid into water deep enough to swim out.

"Me and my son went for a swim after.