Diver fights off 12-foot shark

[HateCheese]

People that make general comments about what a "spearfisher" will and won't do in all situations, have not had enough moronic situations to enlighten them.

First you admonish generalizations, then you make sweeping generalizations! Not every spearfisher is as perfect as you; the dude with the knife in the shark at the beginning of this thread is only one example!

There are lots of morons with spears who probably thought this was a cool 2 hr video. And just because a perfect spearfisher can be responsible and ecological does not mean they always are.

There are only less than a handful of shark species that show interest in spearfishing, yet you state categorically that you hate sharks and seem to say they are all dangerous. I guess being perfect might require blinders.

You say you should have speared sharks a number of times, yet neither you or your buddy have ever been bitten. Sounds to me like you have never really had to shoot a shark; thanks for doing just that!

Ummm......
"There are lots of morons with spears who probably thought this was a cool 2 hr video"

painting a nice picture there Halemono.... you can believe whatever you want, even if it is based solely on your opinion to make that statement.

"You say you should have speared sharks a number of times"
- he SPECIFICALLY says that he has never speared a shark in 35yrs (something like that) worth of diving. you can believe whatever you want, even if it completely contradicts what that poster said.

It would appear that there are some who are following this post like yourself who aren't very open minded. Except for the guys in the water that day, NOONE knows for sure what happened - that includes me, and it also includes you. Some people have engaged in this post asking good questions 'what is a spearos take on this', 'why wouldn't you drop you catch', etc.

I think it was scubasteve001 (sorry if i am wrong on that) that asked about dropping your catch. I doubt that he and I share the same opinion. Yet I don't need to blast him, misquote him, or state my opinion like it is fact.

If your opinion is as set as it appears to be, why post what you did or even read any of this? Keep it on track, contribute, ask a question, or just read this post.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

People that make general comments about what a "spearfisher" will and won't do in all situations, have not had enough moronic situations to enlighten them.

Not every spearfisher is as perfect as you; the dude with the knife in the shark at the beginning of this thread is only one example!
!

My desription of spearfishing was what I and my friends do and what other responsible spearfisherman do. It is a sport and it requires that people act in a responsible manner. The spearfishing community tries to educate new divers and new spearfisherman about acceptable behavoir. Appropriate behavoirs include a broad spectrum of topics including game laws etc.

My post was an attempt to enlighten unfamiliar people about what responsible spreafishing is about. Of course there will be idiots and poachers and criminals and theives (do you leave your wallet out on top of your gear when you scuba dive from a charter boat?).

My personal opinion about killing the tiger shark is:

(1) I have no reason to doubt that they felt it necessary to kill the tiger

(2) I've seen no video to prove that the shark was excessively aggressive and NEEDED to be killed that day.

(3) Once the shark was mortally wounded, I think it was not inappropriate to try to kill the shark with additional shafts.

(4) People that say they could have just got in the boat, may not understand that the boat was temporarily inoperable because lines were caught in the prop(s).

(5) That the release and publicity of the pictures and video is NOT GOOD for the sport of spearfishing (as evidenced by this thread).

Possibly something else "you people" need to understand is that many in the spearfishing community are not happy about the publicity generated by this situation. The guys who were involved in this single incident have taken a lot of heat from their peers, even though they are well respected in the community and are very experienced.

 

[ScubaSteve]

"you people"

You need to figure out how to try and sell your point better. This just is not effective at convincing "us people".

 

[sabbath999]

(4) People that say they could have just got in the boat, may not understand that the boat was temporarily inoperable because lines were caught in the prop(s).

Umm... they still could have gotten in the boat and waited until the shark swam away... then cleared their prop(s). Inoperable doesn't mean unavailable.

 

[captain]

Its a good question - why kill a shark instead of dropping your catch.

First, a shark won't necessarily go after the dropped fish on a stringer. General rule around here is that noone spearing gives a shark the fish they shot, but I have seen this before when a shark folllowed my dive buddy and myself to the boat - stringer was dropped between dive buddy and person on the ladder. I looked down figuring I'd see a cool scene of a massive shark chomping the fish, nope. Instead the shark made a run at me and evidently veered at the last second when he was 1ft behind me (my fish were on the boat already, and I stupidly had figured the shark would leave me alone then, so I lost sight of him thinking i could relax......). So what was the shark going for? A tasty meal was dropping to the bottom and there were 2 divers in the water at the back of a boat. The sharks interest was not isolated to the easy meal of dead fish......

So, from firsthand experience I wouldn't necessarily feel 'safer' dropping my catch.

Second, it is considered a bad practise for 3 groups - sharks, spearos, divers. An apex predator shouldn't be handed a meal, this could develop into learned behavior and is certainly not natural behavior for a shark, so why feed them. Not good for those spearfishing because if you give sharks a fish whenever they come in to inspect, you can guarantee that they will come in to inspect again and could potentially expect to be fed. And I don't believe it is good for divers who are not spearing because of the potential risk of sharks associating divers with food.

Last spring, my first dive was on a well known public wreck 15 miles south of Pensacola. It was rough, and no other boats went out, so when we hopped in the water we were certainly the first that morning to dive this wreck. 5 minutes after hitting the bottom, a 7ft bull came in. We were NOT spearing. Its behavior was slighly excited, but not aggressive. It would come within 15ft, and occasionally circle, but never arched its back and dipped its pectoral fins, and it never came in closer than 15ft. This is a site where many people spear fish. Although it was nice to see a shark that close without any blood in the water, it was a bit curious that he came in that close. This is NOT an isolated incident, but something I have observed a few more times. Other divers, DMs, and charter captains have mentioned the same thing.

For all of those reasons, I wouldn't drop my catch. Most people who spear feel the same way.

As to possibly why the shark didn't go after the dropped fish and charged at you is the old fisherman's saying, "to catch big fish you use big bait". You might have appeared as big bait.

 

[KLETCO]

dumpsterDiver: The long lines. Hook and Linemen. These are haystacks and you guys the needles in them.

You're completely right. The real problem is the media blitz announcing these guys as "heroes." It is kind of tough to get people to care and go after the "haystacks" when the needles are making such a fuss and making sharks out to be the bad guys.

 

[funkcanna]

Interesting to read the thread from a Spearfishing perspective...the guys involved post in the thread too.

Free Diver Wrestles 12ft Tiger Shark - Spearboard Spearfishing Community

 

[dumpsterDiver]

Umm... they still could have gotten in the boat and waited until the shark swam away... then cleared their prop(s). Inoperable doesn't mean unavailable.

Apparently my comments are unclear. The divers involved claim that there was no other option other than shooting the shark. It is hard to believe that with the boat only 150 ft away, that with a little screaming from the divers, the boat would close that distance very fast and been able to pluck them from the water before the need to shoot the shark.

HOWEVER, the story is that the props were fouled and the increasingly aggressive shark did not allow a swimming retreat to the boat. Does that make sense?

 

[Roadtrip]

This thread was fully discussed in the "accidents and incidents" forum until a moderator pulled it off the board. One of the brothers of the gentlemen logged on and exposed many of the SB veterans to be anti spearo and flat out wrong in their discussion. (putting it nicely). If anyone knows where this thread went, please post it. Strangely when the real facts get posted, it vanished? why?

 

[ScubaSteve]

The thread was pulled "into the back room" for review. The "discussion" was likely reported as crossing some lines. I am sure once it has been scrubbed, it will be reposted and people warned. I happen to be one of the ones that "got involved" and welcome the break.

Just to be clear, many people assume that because a person does not believe the story that just became public, that they are ANTI spear......that is not always the case. I personally do not believe the story that is posted BUT have not real problem with hunting (spear or otherwise) as long as it is not for true sport. As long as what is caught is eaten ( i.e. for survival) and only that which is over-populated is hunted. As soon as someone kills just to kill, I have an issue with it. But, that is me. I am not going to defend this position in any way in this thread, nor will I engage in conversations specific to the event that initiated this thread.

Bottom line is, just because some is arguing against, does not make them "anti-spearo". In fact, unless they tell you they are "anti-spearo", they should not be labelled as such..