FL shark diving

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Does he do this without the active spearing or feeding frenzy? In other words, just a regular dive (or a photoraphy dedicated dive) and the sharks are present?

If so, I would definitely be interested.
 
I think it just depends who is on the boat. A lot of people who like to hunt go on his boat, so you're likely to be around a few spearos no matter when you go, if you stay with the group. As others mentioned, no flags are used, you just go up when you want with SMBs , so you're free to do what you want. A few of us went out with Randy a couple weeks ago. I don't know what the first two dive sites were but they were great for lobstering. Last dive we did tunnels and sharks were everywhere..a few of us had spearguns but didn't even see much worth shooting (I'm not one to shoot fish off of sharks anyway) .. Randy shot a fish with the intention of keeping it as far as I know, because it was on his stringer..sharks kept expressing interest in it. Eventually he gave it up.
 
It's interesting to me that FL residents (and others) will show outrage and fight amongst themselves over a topic about how to dive with sharks and what's acceptable decorum and what isn't, yet the commercial slaughter of the same sharks goes unchallenged and almost unnoticed.

Did you know that there are Florida residents finning in FL waters? There are longline operations and there are sport fish charters that kill sharks for fun.

There is a curio industry that sells shark jaws and baby hammerheads in jars in tourist shops all up and down the coast. They export their 'by catch' all around the world.

We let all this go on unchallenged whilst we argue about the correct way to dive with and observe sharks. Seems we have our priorities wrong.


Kudos to Randy for developing an interest in sharks and taking people to see them slice and well in their natural environment. Kudos to Dan Volker writing about it and other exciting marine encounters. Kudos to everyone out there on SB who loves the ocean and wants to tell people about the cool shark dives in FL.

Lets go diving, enjoy the sharks however you want as long ad you don't harm them and be vocal about the slaughter of millions of sharks for soup and wall trophies.
 
It's interesting to me that FL residents (and others) will show outrage and fight amongst themselves over a topic about how to dive with sharks and what's acceptable decorum and what isn't, yet the commercial slaughter of the same sharks goes unchallenged and almost unnoticed.

Did you know that there are Florida residents finning in FL waters? There are longline operations and there are sport fish charters that kill sharks for fun.

There is a curio industry that sells shark jaws and baby hammerheads in jars in tourist shops all up and down the coast. They export their 'by catch' all around the world.

We let all this go on unchallenged whilst we argue about the correct way to dive with and observe sharks. Seems we have our priorities wrong.


Kudos to Randy for developing an interest in sharks and taking people to see them slice and well in their natural environment. Kudos to Dan Volker writing about it and other exciting marine encounters. Kudos to everyone out there on SB who loves the ocean and wants to tell people about the cool shark dives in FL.

Lets go diving, enjoy the sharks however you want as long ad you don't harm them and be vocal about the slaughter of millions of sharks for soup and wall trophies.

What are you talking about? Shark finning in Florida waters? That is illegal.. How do you view that as unchallenged?
 
It's interesting to me that FL residents (and others) will show outrage and fight amongst themselves over a topic about how to dive with sharks and what's acceptable decorum and what isn't, yet the commercial slaughter of the same sharks goes unchallenged and almost unnoticed.

Did you know that there are Florida residents finning in FL waters? There are longline operations and there are sport fish charters that kill sharks for fun.

There is a curio industry that sells shark jaws and baby hammerheads in jars in tourist shops all up and down the coast. They export their 'by catch' all around the world.

We let all this go on unchallenged whilst we argue about the correct way to dive with and observe sharks. Seems we have our priorities wrong.


Kudos to Randy for developing an interest in sharks and taking people to see them slice and well in their natural environment. Kudos to Dan Volker writing about it and other exciting marine encounters. Kudos to everyone out there on SB who loves the ocean and wants to tell people about the cool shark dives in FL.

Lets go diving, enjoy the sharks however you want as long ad you don't harm them and be vocal about the slaughter of millions of sharks for soup and wall trophies.

You must be new to the table. For a long time the recreational fishing community has been very active in this area. You must know about there efforts.

We also know that Bullsharks are prevalent in areas on the east coast, that is until the commercial season opens and they disappear. The Tiger Shark and 3 types of Hammerhead sharks are now protected in Florida, thanks to the efforts of fisherman.

Mark the Shark has become a pariah in the fishing community, thanks to the recreational fisherman who loathe his tactics. Local press no longer offer him any coverage. Fishing shows don't film him anymore.

Right now during the spinner shark migration, there is a large and profitable "catch and release" industry. The recreational and professional anglers have long known this resourse is more valuable alive than dead.

Also please remember it is the recreational fishing community and not recreational divers that lead these conservation efforts through license fees and professional organizations. The diving community lags far behind in throwing money in to that pot.
 
So we should be thanking fisherman for creating a past time of taking people out to catch sharks, and then recognizing this would be economically non-viable in the future without drastically limiting takes....and then spending their own dollars on research to determine how many could be safely killed or caught each year.....And oh, wait---the fisherman did not actually choose this, the politicians used their money for this.....

All kidding aside, the sport fishing side may well have "contributed to" the ending of long lining and other commerical harvesting of sharks--but not for any intrest in preserving the trophic level the shark occupies--the contribution is more likely to be due to the sport fishing desire to have sharks for their own fishing, and wholesale slaugher by commercial take would destroy that.

Divers on the other hand, want zero killing of any sharks, because of the role we understand they play in the ecology.
As fisherman outnumber divers at probably 40 to one, or some other ridiculously high number, obviously they can represent a larger financial component--particularly when this is forced on them.
 
It wasn't long ago the prevalent thought was all sharks are evil and man killers. Hollywood did a great job advancing that agenda. In time education has changed the mindset.

Yes, it used to be common for fisherman to kill sharks... along with tarpon, sailfish, marlin and many other game fish species. You can only kill a fish once. You can catch and release over and over.

I do see divers spear fish of less desirable species only to let them rot on the dock. What's with divers killing AJ's and Barracuda? And that is not to mention the renegade divers who hunt wearing rebreathers or others who catch lobster with a tickle stick with a 6/0 hook snelled to it?

The majority of the conservation programs which protect wildlife, are brought about by fisherman and hunters who contribute huge sums of money and pay billions of dollars in taxes specific to their equipment to insure the resource is preserved (google wallop-breaux act).

Look at the artificial reef programs that divers enjoy. Who pays for them. Please tell us.
 
To help put this in perspective.....you show up at a marina like Sailfish.....Some fisherman is proudly displaying a 12 foot shark....the general public AND virtually every person there that enjoys fishing, will be ooohhing and aweing.... about the great catch, the great struggle, with the praise for the great hunter...I mean great fisherman...the guy that caught the DANGEROUS BEAST...And the more of a man-eater that it can appear to be, the more deadly, vicious and dangerous the shark is believed to be by the "crowd", the more they all enjoy this SPECTACLE... The more they all feel GOOD about this event, and the more likely they will tell some friend about how cool it was to see the MONSTER that was just caught by the great fisherman named so and so....

So here we have a huge group that really does need to understand that there are very different reasons going on for why Sharks need to be protected.
At least the divers are trying to showcase the shark as a large animal that is not a "man-eater", and one that can be safer to be close to than a Moose or a Deer, if you are not IGNORANT of the proper way to behave around one...and that most instances where a human was bitten, it was due to an ignorant behavior on the part of the human.

On the other hand, while it pains me deeply to admit ReckDiver could be right about something......as a group that has actually provded a needed change to decrease the number of sharks killed....the Fisherman have done much more than divers--they ( the politicians leveraging the money from fishing) have a far more effective "Lobby" than Divers do.
 
On the other hand, while it pains me deeply to admit ReckDiver could be right about something......as a group that has actually provded a needed change to decrease the number of sharks killed....the Fisherman have done much more than divers--they ( the politicians leveraging the money from fishing) have a far more effective "Lobby" than Divers do.

Wait a sec. I have to wait for the medics to stop the chest compressions before I can continue.

It is rare you will see a 12' shark hanging from sailfish marina anymore. The last one (a huge hammerhead) died boatside after the captain (a marine biologist) numerous attempts to revive the fish. Even with that, he took a lot of heat from the local fishing community.

Even the taxidermy industry is changing. Now a picture and measurements are all that is needed to create a mount. The fish no longer needs to be killed.

After the CCA and recreational fishing community with much help from Florida Sportsman Magazine, lobbied to successfully ban gillnets in S. Florida, inshore species populations have rebounded. Now there is emphasis on improving water quality. We are already benefiting from inshore programs. Offshore, Delray Beach has ceased releasing effluent from its sewage outfall pipes. It won't be until 2025 until they all are required to stop.

It's never going to be perfect, and there are a lot of different interests in the resource. I think it is time for the dive community to pay more than lip service. Maybe just as the fishing community is required to purchase a license which funds preservation of the resourse, the diving community should have the same.
 
Having dove with Emerald I must say I had a blast! If your a competent diver for the conditions and IMO NOT a cattle boat diver, Randy is your guy. Expect a challenge and he delivers. You want a "typical" charter boat experience? He will respectfully refer you to another operator. Seen him do it. One of my favorite quotes from Randy took place as we were unloading. A women approached him looking to hire him for a group charter. I overheard her ask "Some of my guest are concerned about seeing sharks?" Randy: " I promise you if they keep their eyes shut they won't see any".

He pulls no punches about his operation and nor should he. Those who dive with him as regulars understand the risks and the rewards. Doubt he would want it any other way.

To the point of Divers doing more than lip service... How many hours have line fishermen spent on the bottom cleaning up after others? I pick up trash almost every dive and have seen others as well.. More of a direct way of putting my money (would be tax dollars) to better use than government spending it. You can keep the politicians, BIG money and bureaucracy on the surface where it belongs.
 
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