Bull Shark ate my DINNER!

[grassyknoll]

How would anyone know that this REALLY IS - the shark that is known to run the wrecks of Pompano? We can't just go killing sharks, everytime one steals a spearo's catch?!?

As you wouldn't shoot every bear that tips over a garbage can. But once the beahvior is aggressive and life threatenting you must take action. It would really require that the diver know about the natural behavior of the sharks before they indiscriminately start offing apex predators. This is akin to the former urbanite who moves out to the country and then begins shooting every coyote that eats the family cat, or trapping and killing racoons to keep them out of the garbage cans.

 

[HowardE]

It would really require that the diver know about the natural behavior of the sharks before they indiscriminately start offing apex predators.

Which is?

Not even experts who study sharks for their entire lifetime can answer that question. So how can someone on ScubaBoard?

 

[CBulla]

How would anyone know that this REALLY IS - the shark that is known to run the wrecks of Pompano? We can't just go killing sharks, everytime one steals a spearo's catch?!?

Duno.. someone would have to put a marker on him/her of some sort so positive ID can be made in different places to be sure...

Sharks are on the no spear list to... though i'm not sure if BS would be good to eat

@ Colin - Remember Muggsy is short

Yeah.. but she's spunky! Of course that doesn't mean she can guage measurement

 

[ONESPEED]

You people obviously never watched Sea Hunt when you were kids. :shakehead All you have to do is pull your regulator out of your mouth, hit the purge button and blow a bunch of bubbles in the sharks face. That scares the shark away and everyone wins, you still have your dinner and the shark swims away unharmed.

Please feel free to PM me if you have any further questions regarding the proper handling of aggressive sharks....

 

[HowardE]

Duno.. someone would have to put a marker on him/her of some sort so positive ID can be made in different places to be sure...

Right... and then we'd all have to assume that someone would actually take the time to look for the tag if/when this shark got aggressive looking for an easy catch.


to any of the armchair cowboys who think they would do better in this situation - let us know what you do when you actually come face to face with a large Bull.

warhammer anyone?

 

[Wayward Son]

Bull shark is good eating. I don't know if that changes once they get big, but i do know people who have killed & eaten them up to about 7 feet.

Howard, bull sharks are just a way of life up here. When i go spearing I simply assume I will see them before the dive is over & on some sites, it's rare not to. My best odds of not seeing one is during the winter when water temps are lowest, but that's not a guarantee. A friend of mine has been seeing them steadily through jan & feb this year.

 

[HowardE]

Howard, bull sharks are just a way of life up here. When i go spearing I simply assume I will see them before the dive is over & on some sites, it's rare not to. My best odds of not seeing one is during the winter when water temps are lowest, but that's not a guarantee. A friend of mine has been seeing them steadily through jan & feb this year.

That's great. But you're not necessarily the armchair cowboy(s) I'm talking about.

Regardless of how experienced one is with Bull Sharks, their actions are still unpredictable, and like a wise friend of mine says, "I have about the same chance of truly defending a shark (while in water) from eating my fish, as the shark does to come up on the beach, and take a burrito out of my hand"

 

[CBulla]

Right... and then we'd all have to assume that someone would actually take the time to look for the tag if/when this shark got aggressive looking for an easy catch.

Hmm how about one of those big ugly transponder things with some reflective tape on it.. they sort of trail around behind the shark for a while, attached to its fin like a house arrest bracelet, and eventually fall off.. but till then its like wearing a big HeeHaw belt buckle for the feller

warhammer anyone?

Oh what desperate times are these when a shark considers this food...

 

[HowardE]

Hmm how about one of those big ugly transponder things with some reflective tape on it.. they sort of trail around behind the shark for a while, attached to its fin like a house arrest bracelet, and eventually fall off.. but till then its like wearing a big HeeHaw belt buckle for the feller

Oh what desperate times are these when a shark considers this food...

I hear the big house arrest bands aren't fool proof either.

On the warhammer comment... I was implying that some people might need a new wetsuit after such an encounter.

 

[grassyknoll]

to any of the armchair cowboys who think they would do better in this situation - let us know what you do when you actually come face to face with a large Bull.

this armchair cowboy would likely defecate.
But, I grew up in the Kuskokwim Valley of Alaske, which has one of the highest concentrations of grizzlies anywhere, and I have been around more Grizzlies than most people evver will, that still doesn't mean that I wouldn't give YOU the benefit of the doubt to take action when you felt you were in jeapordy of being attacked by one. I don't feel I would do "better", but I do know that predators that have become accustomed to human interaction and have developed unnatural feeding responses can not allways be left alone.

Not even experts who study sharks for their entire lifetime can answer that question. So how can someone on ScubaBoard?

It seems that quite a few of the other posters are talking about unnatural learned behaviors in response to speared fish, so your saying they all don't know what their talking about?