A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
Westervelt places Ka-ehu at Pearl Harbor and associates his wisdom and power with Kamohoaliʻi. Longing for Puna, he leaves with shark companions and encounters Pehu near Waikīkī. Pehu is waiting to seize a surfer, disguising his intention in conversation as catching a crab. Ka-ehu appears to agree to help, directing Pehu toward the reef while keeping his own group farther out.
When surfers approach on a wave, Ka-ehu’s companions move them aside and overturn Pehu, forcing the predator into a coral hole. People then kill the trapped shark. The story clearly separates protecting sharks from a dangerous attacker. It makes cooperation, gratitude and strategic deception more important than size; it should not be read as a practical assurance that sharks encountered by swimmers will provide protection.
Origins & earliest records
Ka-ehu appears in chapter VIII of Westervelt’s 1916 Legends of Old Honolulu. The selected spelling is kept here rather than silently expanding it into a longer name from an uninspected version. The chapter dates this retelling, not the beginning of Hawaiian shark-guardian traditions or their relationship with particular families. The linked witness is the second edition; its copyright page separately retains the earlier 1915 date.
Records & interpretation
The inspected episode supplies the yellow-shark identity, homesickness, planned diversion, rescue and punishment of Pehu. These are evidence of a public collected account distinguishing guardian and predator. They do not establish coordinated shark behaviour scientifically or verify the narrated attack as a historical event, even though named coastal places anchor the story.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Legends of Old Honolulu, VIII: A Shark Punished at Waikiki
Selected inspected passages; edited witness, not a comprehensive bibliography. Linked title page is dated 1916 and labels the book Second Edition; its copyright page also records 1915.
- 02
Legends of Old Honolulu (Mythology)
Second edition, Boston Ellis Press / London Constable,1916; work first published1915.
Family & connections
A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.
Located primary passages
Specific passages supporting details in this entry, grouped by their published witness.
Legends of Old Honolulu (Mythology)
Second edition, Boston Ellis Press / London Constable,1916; work first published1915.
- Ka-ehu is a little yellow shark of Pearl Harbor endowed with power and wisdom by Ka-moho-alii.
- Ka-ehu organizes fellow sharks to protect people from Pehu.
- The shark group diverts a surf-rider and forces Pehu into a coral hole.
Documents this credited English collected version, not a universal account of Hawaiian tradition. European terms such as crocodile are historical translator choices, not evidence of native fauna. Collector racial or cultural generalizations are not adopted.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Primary textLegends of Old Honolulu, VIII: A Shark Punished at WaikikiResearch access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
