Hetland
Contributor
Met up with MrXRay and Recharge Saturday morning for a trip to the Gulf. Our plan was to scour the area South of Pensacola for Whale Sharks, and hopefully get a dive in with some photos and video. After searching for a few hours, we decided to do some snapper hunting on natural bottom. The theory was that I would solo the first dive, and XRay and Recharge would dive together on the second dive. This strategy was supposed to minimize shark interaction 
I had a great dive by myself. I spotted some nice triggers, and even got some video of an octopus. On the way back to the anchor line, and almost as an afterthought, I shot an 18" red snapper, stoning him with a shot in the brain pan. I got him on my stringer, and started my ascent. About 2 minutes into my safety stop, I noticed an angry shark charging me. His back was arched, fins down, mouth open, and he was shaking his booty like a BeeGee at Gibbs' family reunion. Truthfully, it was the last thing I expected on this particular dive. I had only shot one fish, and he was out like a light, no wiggling, almost no blood, and I had shot him just before my ascent, so it wasn't like I was trailing guts for an hour. I fumbled with my camera, and made some movements that I intended to be intimidating, but were probably pretty sad. I was genuinely surprised to find a golden-eyed shark up in my grill (yes, he was so close I could see his pupils and irises clearly). I think he was a dusky, and he looked 6ft max, probably five and a half. I suffered through the overwhelming compulsion to drop my fish, and made my way to the surface. I handed off my snapper to the boat, and tried to move closer in to the shark, who did not seem to have lost much interest, but had lost much of his initial aggression. I looked over my shoulder to make sure I had the boat down current, and that's when I noticed the weather was turning. I made my way to the boat, nervously watching for my buddy to return. I made it on board, and for the next hour or so we battled our way through a decent storm. Once we hit the pass, the weather cleared, and we headed for an inshore dive spot. XRay and Recharge splashed in there, but I'l let them do their own report on that spot.
Octopus, Grouper and Triggerfish on Vimeo
Requiem Shark on Vimeo
I had a great dive by myself. I spotted some nice triggers, and even got some video of an octopus. On the way back to the anchor line, and almost as an afterthought, I shot an 18" red snapper, stoning him with a shot in the brain pan. I got him on my stringer, and started my ascent. About 2 minutes into my safety stop, I noticed an angry shark charging me. His back was arched, fins down, mouth open, and he was shaking his booty like a BeeGee at Gibbs' family reunion. Truthfully, it was the last thing I expected on this particular dive. I had only shot one fish, and he was out like a light, no wiggling, almost no blood, and I had shot him just before my ascent, so it wasn't like I was trailing guts for an hour. I fumbled with my camera, and made some movements that I intended to be intimidating, but were probably pretty sad. I was genuinely surprised to find a golden-eyed shark up in my grill (yes, he was so close I could see his pupils and irises clearly). I think he was a dusky, and he looked 6ft max, probably five and a half. I suffered through the overwhelming compulsion to drop my fish, and made my way to the surface. I handed off my snapper to the boat, and tried to move closer in to the shark, who did not seem to have lost much interest, but had lost much of his initial aggression. I looked over my shoulder to make sure I had the boat down current, and that's when I noticed the weather was turning. I made my way to the boat, nervously watching for my buddy to return. I made it on board, and for the next hour or so we battled our way through a decent storm. Once we hit the pass, the weather cleared, and we headed for an inshore dive spot. XRay and Recharge splashed in there, but I'l let them do their own report on that spot.Octopus, Grouper and Triggerfish on Vimeo
Requiem Shark on Vimeo
