7 Foot Bull Shark Attacks Diver Off Riviera Beach

[Joneill]

Looks like Kyle will be back in the water before too long
Shark attack survivor eager to get back in water

From the article:

"It might be in the back of my head that this can happen, but you can't really live your life like that," he said. "My friends all went out yesterday, and I was sorry I couldn't go."

Let's see.... chum to attract many hungry bull sharks, shoot cobia off of them (likely stressing the sharks as well) and then try to reel in bleeding fish in the presence of these agitated, hungry sharks? Seems like he was on the receiving end of a "bound to happen" result - was just a matter of time... Hard to feel sorry for him, but I do wish him the best in terms of recovery.

Also from the article:

"My mom tried telling me that this [spearfishing around sharks] is not a good idea. And I probably got a little too confident. I'll be more cautious now. But spearfishing is my life."

He should have listened to his mom - most moms are usually right

 

[kelemvor]

The statistics from the International Shark Attack File above reference unprovoked attacks. This is being called a provoked attack by the director of that same agency. From tekkydiver's link:

George Burgess, director of the International Shark Attack File, said shark bites involving spearfishing are classified as provoked attacks, since those fishing are creating the conditions that can become a feeding frenzy.

 

[mmmbelows]

Here's what happenedView attachment 371708

They run out of bandaids at the hospital? Just kidding.

My baseball coach in highschool would have told me to rub some dirt on it and run it off.

 

[CuzzA]

Best line from the article.

The shark bite to his biceps muscle destroyed a tattoo Senkowicz said he had inked after the death of a friend. The tattoo read, "Life's too short so love the one you got," a lyric from Sublime's "What I Got."

 

[drrich2]

To me, this is the key part of the article:

The afternoon began as usual, Senkowicz said. The four friends spread chum on the water, and he and two others jumped in to spear the cobia that follow sharks to feed on the predators' leftovers. He said there were as many as 30 sharks in the area. "The sharks are always there," he said.

This is what I was concerned they might be doing. They'd already put 4 in a boat, a shark had taken another, this guy speared one, and...well, the rest is history.

Richard.

 

[The Chairman]

Wow. I dove with a friend in the Gulf that fought a bull when it grabbed his freshly speared black grouper. I refused to make the second dive with the guy. This is just nutzoid.

 

[chillyinCanada]

If the sharks are always there why would they need to chum for them?

 

[CuzzA]

If the sharks are always there why would they need to chum for them?

They aren't chumming the sharks, they're chumming the cobia. And cobia and bull sharks stick together. The issue is they are free diving. So on a wreck that's 200 ft. deep they obviously can't dive down to the fish so they have to bring them up with chum. But with the fish, come the sharks.

Again, I'm all for spearfishing, it's the best, least impact on the environment way to harvest a fish, but I don't like the idea of chumming.

That bull likely has no fear of a diver. He just bit one and found out he was the boss.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Uh, the cobia are with the sharks to eat the sharks' leavings so I guess I'm just not able to see this from that perspective. Though I do follow you with regard to bringing up from depth.

 

[HalcyonDaze]

Uh, the cobia are with the sharks to eat the sharks' leavings so I guess I'm just not able to see this from that perspective. Though I do follow you with regard to bringing up from depth.

Exactly. The chum is to bring up the sharks and the cobia follow. Fairly common practice along that stretch of FL. Most cobia shooters I know hit them off of sharks or other big critters; not all of them use chum but they do seek out the bulls.