Hā'ena and Kē'ē beaches on the North Shore are closed to swimming today due to high surf conditions.

Ocean Safety officials also report that a shark was sighted in waters off Hā'ena Beach at about 9:30 a.m. this morning.

Lifeguards will remain at the Hā'ena and Kē'ē beach towers throughout the day to notify beachgoers of the closure.  However, the Kē'ē Beach tower will close at 4p.m. today due to the Kalihiwai Bridge closure this evening.

Both beaches will reopen as officials deem them safe for swimming, possibly as early as tomorrow.

Swimmers are advised to swim at guarded beaches in Po'ipū and Salt Pond today.

For up-to-date information about ocean conditions, please speak to a county lifeguard, log onto www.kauaiexplorer.com, or call the Ocean Safety Bureau at 241-4984.

Land crabs that were as big as a human hand once roamed Hawaii shores.

Check out these photos of a fossil claw of the newly described land crab species Geograpsus Severnsi found on Kauai.

According to scientists, these land crabs disappeared soon after the arrival of man about 1,000 years ago.

The crabs migrated between the ocean and the forests.

According to researchers, their disappearance may be the first documented extinction of a crab during humans' presence on the planet.

KAPA‘A — A six-foot blue shark beached herself Sunday on the shoreline fronting Pono Kai, giving birth to several pups and drawing a crowd of interested onlookers.