Florida Diver Attacked

[nippurmagnum]

Apples and oranges and I hate that the bycatch issue exists! When I do eat seafood (not often), I only eat sustainably caught seafood to, hopefully, not add to the issue - a good resource is below:

https://www.seafoodwatch.org/-/m/sfw/pdf/guides/mba-seafoodwatch-northeast-guide.pdf?la=en

Look - I have no issue with people spearfishing - my point was not liking the idea of creating a situation and then injuring or killing a shark that is only doing what sharks do just just to keep your catch.

Here is a good example:


This guy spears a fish right in front of a shark - what do you think is going to happen? Is it then OK to injure or kill the shark to keep the catch? I, personally, have a problem with that. In, this video I was rooting for the sharks!

That video makes the point perfectly. The sharks are not "attacking" the spearfisherman -- they're just going for the catch. If the spearfisherman wants to stop the "attack", all he has to do is release the fish. If he's too panicked to do that (and you can see how he's flailing around and getting further and further tangled in his line), he could just release the spear, fish, line, etc., and let the sharks get the fish.

Instead, the spearfisherman pulls out a knife and frantically starts jabbing at the sharks' heads. Pathetic.

 

[The Chairman]

That was exciting. I would stick Mr Shark too. I've only had to fight off one shark and that was a bull near the bottom. Sharks are attracted to vibrations. I am patient when I shoot... I rarely get wrigglers. That's what draws sharks.

 

[johndiver999]

That video makes the point perfectly. The sharks are not "attacking" the spearfisherman -- they're just going for the catch. If the spearfisherman wants to stop the "attack", all he has to do is release the fish. If he's too panicked to do that (and you can see how he's flailing around and getting further and further tangled in his line), he could just release the spear, fish, line, etc., and let the sharks get the fish.

Instead, the spearfisherman pulls out a knife and frantically starts jabbing at the sharks' heads. Pathetic.

You have a preconception and are trying to find instances that support it by looking at videos on the internet.

I think you said earlier that you had no experience in spearfishing with sharks?

Your conclusion that dropping the fish will immediately suspend the attack and danger to the diver is very logical, but it is NOT correct in many instances. Many times sharks go right past the dropped fish and will continue to be interested in the diver and may attempt to bite the diver.

 

[HKGuns]

"Rooting for the sharks" - Flipping ridiculous statement. Grow up.

 

[nippurmagnum]

I think you said earlier that you had no experience in spearfishing with sharks?

Your conclusion that dropping the fish will immediately suspend the attack and danger to the diver is very logical, but it is NOT correct in many instances. Many times sharks go right past the dropped fish and will continue to be interested in the diver and may attempt to bite the diver.

I have lots of experience diving with sharks, in both baited and unbaited dives. In the baited dives, the sharks are sometimes drawn by spearfishing (on the part of the wrangler, at the outset of the dive), and when the sharks arrive, the shark wrangler offers the speared fish to the sharks (typically bulls and silkies). In my experience, when the wrangler offers the speared fish to the sharks, there is never any drama. In fact, the sharks tend to become quite cautious when they are being offered chunks of fish, and it takes a while for them to approach the wrangler.

I have no experience in spearfishing myself, as it's not something that appeals to me. But if, as you say, spearfishing leads sharks to relentlessly attack divers regardless of whether the divers offers the sharks the speared fish, then that would be an excellent reason to refrain from spearfishing.

 

[Joneill]

"Rooting for the sharks" - Flipping ridiculous statement. Grow up.

I don’t actually want to see a shark attack someome. However, the diver in this video created a situation that resulted in the “attack”. If that guy got mauled or killed, it would be 100% his own fault!

So, as a diver who respects the oceans and marine life, I personally think it’s despicable to end up severely injuring or killing sharks just because one decides to spearfish right in front of them at close range and then have to keep their catch. It’s just not right to me - end of story and I’ll, therefore, refrain from any further comment on the topic!

 

[Daebado]

So, as a diver who respects the oceans and marine life, I personally think it’s despicable to end up severely injuring or killing sharks just because one decides to spearfish right in front of them at close range and then have to keep their catch. It’s just not right to me - end of story and I’ll, therefore, refrain from any further comment on the topic!

I've got to agree. I don't spearfish but have respect for those that do and I think it's much better environmentally; divers typically only kill what they can eat, they don't clutter up the ocean with nets or discarded line, etc.
However, if you're spearfishing and there are sharks nearby, go somewhere else or wait til they are gone! Don't tempt the sharks and then have to fight them off or try to injure or kill them. The sharks aren't doing anything wrong!

Now, if there weren't any sharks around when you speared a fish and then they showed up all of a sudden, well then, all bets are off. These are two very different scenarios, though and the first can and should be avoided.

 

[CajunDiva]

That was exciting. I would stick Mr Shark too. I've only had to fight off one shark and that was a bull near the bottom. Sharks are attracted to vibrations. I am patient when I shoot... I rarely get wrigglers. That's what draws sharks.

Such a badass...just sayin'!

 

[The Chairman]

Such a badass...just sayin'!

He really was. People who want him to "lose" his fish while he's under assault, how do you propose that? Getting that fish off of the spear is a lot more complicated than getting it on in the first place.

 

[HalcyonDaze]

Just to weigh in on that clip, it's a bit of Monday morning quarterbacking but that seems like the result of really poor decision making. It looks like the shark is already making a run up at the spearfisher (or the chum) before the shot is fired; the whole thing just looks like a Charlie-Foxtrot - no backup, boat's off in the distance, fish is running around on a huge tangle of line (risk of a line wrap around an ankle if nothing else, really bad for a freediver), and a couple fired-up sharks. He's lucky, not badass. The smart thing to do would be to have another diver in the water to run interference, have the boat a lot closer to get the fish out ASAP, and know when to take a shot - e.g., not right in front of an oncoming shark.

Up where I usually dive in Jupiter, a common practice is to put out chum and a line of flashers to bring in bull sharks with cobia on them, then pop the cobia off the sharks' tails. It seems one or two folks get hit doing that every year (lower rate than one would expect); one such incident was an acquaintance of mine who thought he was in the clear, shot a lone cobia, and then was pulling the line in with his hands when a bull he didn't see coming zipped in and grabbed the fish. The line wrap around his fingers pulled the glove off his hand; when he went to retrieve the glove he noticed green stuff leaking out and then realized two of his fingertips went with it.

After that incident I figured I should stick to photography and popping lionfish; I've had a couple brushes with sharks on the latter but no them-or-me situations. I'd like to keep it that way.