Reef Shark Bites Spearfishing Freediver in FL Keys

[Johnoly]

...Do barracuda ever cause problems like this?

On the Atlantic side - No,,,, On the gulf side - Yes

I spear both coasts. The gulf side has many more cudas that will gang up on you. On the Atlantic side we'll get a handful and they'll circle but they won't come in for a fight unless you do something stupid like let a wounded fish dangle for a long time below you. If you bring the fish in close, they'll eyeball you but not come in.

It's been well discussed in other threads, but there are so many mistakes this whole dive team made.

 

[VirginiaScubaGuy]

I'm surprised we don't hear more angst about the categorization; if I understand correctly, you could spin it to say anybody spearfishing in the ocean 'deserves' to be attacked by a shark!

Did a quick Google search on the shark attack file; a Florida museum page referencing the International Shark Attack File says ""Provoked attacks" usually occur when a human initiates physical contact with a shark, e.g. a diver bitten after grabbing a shark, attacks on spearfishers and those feeding sharks, bites occurring while unhooking or removing a shark from a fishing net, etc."

If I were a spear fisherman, I'd be ticked off. In CuzzA's thread on this topic, Shark Bites Spearo: Video, Johnoly I.D.'d that as a sandbar shark in Post #8.

Richard.

almost all of the shark attacks on divers are related to spear fishing. in fact i don't think ive ever read of an attack on a diver that occurred randomly. i guess recently a snorkeler was attacked in the Bahamas. however, snorkelying at the surface is different from diving.

 

[spoolin01]

Marco Flagg was bitten by a big white shark at Pt Lobos while riding a scooter. A guy who used to hookah dive for urchins at the Farallones said that when he first started, while harvesting he had to be vigilant to watch and sometimes push the white sharks away. Randy Fry was bitten in half by a white shark freediving for abalone but while on the surface. Only having done a few dives in the Florida Keys it's quite apparent the sharks hunt you there - to what end I have yet to find out for sure. I have a suspicion what it's about.

It's certainly true that divers are at much less risk but I doubt it is so much that divers are off-limits in any respect, probably just that they are more aware of the presence of sharks and act accordingly.

Then there was the awful story of the guy who was killed by the two oceanic whitetips. That one was particularly chilling.

 

[VirginiaScubaGuy]

Marco Flagg was bitten by a big white shark at Pt Lobos while riding a scooter. A guy who used to hookah dive for urchins at the Farallones said that when he first started, while harvesting he had to be vigilant to watch and sometimes push the white sharks away. Randy Fry was bitten in half by a white shark freediving for abalone but while on the surface. Only having done a few dives in the Florida Keys it's quite apparent the sharks hunt you there - to what end I have yet to find out for sure. I have a suspicion what it's about.

It's certainly true that divers are at much less risk but I doubt it is so much that divers are off-limits in any respect, probably just that they are more aware of the presence of sharks and act accordingly.

Then there was the awful story of the guy who was killed by the two oceanic whitetips. That one was particularly chilling.

Lol I implore you to find me any story related to the sharks in the Keys that "hunt you there." You have a greater chance dying on a wreck from mismanagement than from sharks in the water. Whitetips?? Might as well says nurse sharks. I'll give you that great whites will eat anything in the water. I never wanna dive where great whites are known to regularly appear... except if I were in a cage. Even then, i'm not such an adrenaline junkie that even want to do cave diving.

 

[spoolin01]

What I meant by hunted was that the reef sharks try to approach from behind. Every time there's been one on a dive, that's what they've done. I don't think they just want to look over my shoulder at what I'm doing.

I don't know the species for sure, maybe Caribbean. Their behavior is quite different from say whitetips in Hawaii. But the Hawaiian variety seem pretty preferentially nocturnal and I've not seen many at night.

 

[wgw04024]

I would have to agree with spoolin01. The last trip I made to Key Largo (exactly a year ago), I've never seen as many sharks on the reef as we did those 3 days. The interesting part was while we were the only ones diving by ourselves (not with a guide and a larger group), we noticed numerous times where there was a shark above, or to either side but just out of peripheral vision, of those groups. Just casually trailing them. It was very intriguing to watch to be honest. Definitely seemed like a pattern after seeing it numerous times.

 

[HalcyonDaze]

I would have to agree with spoolin01. The last trip I made to Key Largo (exactly a year ago), I've never seen as many sharks on the reef as we did those 3 days. The interesting part was while we were the only ones diving by ourselves (not with a guide and a larger group), we noticed numerous times where there was a shark above, or to either side but just out of peripheral vision, of those groups. Just casually trailing them. It was very intriguing to watch to be honest. Definitely seemed like a pattern after seeing it numerous times.

Given that I've seen a grand total of one runty reef shark (~4 ft) in Key Largo, I'd say you should find some livelier reefs. Granted that was four years ago; maybe the numbers have gone up a bit since then. We were diving split off from the main herd at the time. Back in the early part of my dive career (2002-2006) when I used to dive the Key Largo reefs on a regular basis, I only saw nurse sharks even when spearfishing.

On some of the Palm Beach reef ledges (Shark Canyon, Juno Ledge, Tunnels) I'm used to having a couple small Caribbean reef sharks follow me around. If I'm shooting lionfish I'll keep track of them, but otherwise they're just scenery.

 

[Sam Miller III]

Disregard accidental post

MODS HAVE BEEN NOTIFIED

SDM

 

[drrich2]

Reef sharks cruising by, maybe making a few passes, to see if divers have a speared lionfish to offer aren't that unusual in the Caribbean from what I've seen & heard, but generally aren't particularly menacing (if you're not spearfishing and don't have one).

I'll give you that great whites will eat anything in the water. I never wanna dive where great whites are known to regularly appear... except if I were in a cage

I understand the sentiment, but when you consider the vast legions of humans entering the water in regions these sharks occur, it seems to me if they were prone to prey on humans even as a matter of convenience, there'd be a lot more great white attacks. I've also read elsewhere that white shark attacks on humans sometimes involve a 'test bite and move on' approach (which in all fairness can mess you up or kill you!), so they're not the indiscrimate killing machines they were historically billed as.

Not saying I'd knowingly jump in the water with a big one just wearing a shirt that said 'NOT A SEAL!,' of course.

Richard.

 

[spoolin01]

I think what we need are a group of volunteers to dive the Caribbean and Farallone Islands wearing blindfolds, so we can better understand whether the sharks are indifferent to sampling human flesh.