There’s a reason that TV shows like “Wicked Tuna” and “The Deadliest Catch” have received such fanfare and have remained on television for as long as many can remember. Jobs at sea are dangerous and the ocean is vicious.
According to multiple sources, a resident of Captain Cook hooked a ginormous ahi tuna at five in the morning a few miles off the coast of Hōnaunau, Hawaii. Mark Knittle, after hooking the fish, reportedly knew that it was a behemoth the moment he felt the bite, telling his friend “the fish is huge.”
This is where disaster struck, as the friend says that Knittle was dragged into the water by the fish. The friend tried to grab the line or anything else that may help Knittle stay aboard but he was unsuccessful. Within what felt like just a few seconds, Knittle was underwater and dragged away from the boat, nowhere to be found.
Hawaii Deep Sea Fishing’s website offers exact measurement for how large these fish can get, saying, “Ahi is among the larger tuna species, ranging as high as 2.4 m (94 in) in length and 200 kg (440 lb) in weight.”
Hawaii County Fire Department assistant chief of operations Darwin Okinaka spoke about the difficulties finding Knittle in a press conference shared by the New York Post:
“Usually, our incidents like this are along the coastlines. This is a different situation because it’s out in the deep.”
“If there’s a fish that’s actually pulling him around, you don’t know where he could go.”
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Despite that quote seeming to insinuate that foul play could have been involved, Okinaka declined to comment when the New York Post reached out.
The Hawaiian branch of the Coast Guard released a statement on Twitter insuring residents and family that the search continues for the man:
UPDATE: The search for the missing fisherman off Honaunau, Big Island, continues.
The crew of the @uscg Cutter Oliver Berry and Hawaii County Fire Dept. are currently on scene conducting searches.
— USCG Hawaii Pacific (@USCGHawaiiPac) January 19, 2023
“UPDATE: The search for the missing fisherman off Honaunau, Big Island, continues.
The crew of the @uscgCutter Oliver Berry and Hawaii County Fire Dept. are currently on scene conducting searches.”
According to the most recent update however, that search has ended without the retrieval of Knittle:
The Hawaii Police Department released a statement on January 16 in which they announced that a search will begin for the man and continue for 72 hours:
“Hawai‘i Island police have launched a missing person investigation after a 63-year-old man went overboard while fishing on a boat off Hōnaunau on Sunday morning.
The missing man, identified as Mark Knittle of Captain Cook, is described as 5 feet 10 inches tall, 185 pounds, with curly brown hair with a white mustache and beard.”
They also added details on the specific plan to find Knittle, which include a continued search with aircraft and boats:
“Hawai‘i Fire Department and the Coast Guard personnel were called out and are conducting a continuous search for the next 72 hours.”