Right or wrong? Diver kills Tiger Shark.

[BTravlin]

If the story accurately represents the facts then I'd have to give them the benefit of the doubt. Seemed sincere that he didn't want to kill the shark.

 

[luckydays]

According to the diver, the first defensive shot he took went through the gills. So the question is, what do you do after that?

Good question. I say swim like hell and hope that I can get myself out of the water in time.

His story continues to go on to say that there were seven spears to the body and multiple stabbings and he was skin diving. Apparently he was able to surface at least once in two hours since the only other person to do it remotely as long as that was David Blaine and he did it for just over 17 minutes. The rest of us would have died.

Without the pictures, I would have probably just flat out believed him, but those pictures look almost perfect. Multiple angles, other people who are in the water but unable to help so their first though during an aggressive shark encounter is to take a picture. I don't know about you but it seems a little weird to me. So I will give him the benefit of the doubt but not by much since I was not in his fins at the time. I probably would have freaked out before getting bit. Maybe pee'd myself. Maybe cried. I doubt I would have had the wherewithal to be able to pull out my knife and 7 spears to get the shark for two hours with taking breathes in between. But that is me.

 

[TriMat]

...Without the pictures, I would have probably just flat out believed him, but those pictures look almost perfect...

Agreed, though I'm sure the photographer jumped right in when the guy surfaced and said "It's almost over." (i.e. "It's safe for me to get in, and there's no way I'm not getting pictures of this.") So I wonder if there are other pics of the whole battle. The ones in the article look like they are all a couple minutes apart (except the last one w/out the shark).

If the story is 100% spot on, then I wouldn't fault the diver on a defensive act / mercy killing. If it was anything else...

 

[mario_speedwagon]

This guy and his friends are a bunch of real men.... damn.... 4 against one fish....oh I meant 3 one was taking pictures.......

 

[ScubaSteve]

I have never been part of a shark attack (or any form of shark aggression for that matter), but why would you spear the animal ONLY when it was swimming past you? Assuming the guy had 6 or 7 spears on him, I can only guess that a shark does not swim past you and the whack you with it's tail, so if it is swimming by, to make the decision to spear it multiple times as it swims by is just murder as far as I am concerned.

I know that I would probably fill my suit if I thought a shark was going to attack, but once the shark swam by, I would be making my way to the boat. I would NOT make the decision to take my time killing the shark slowly.

 

[Bound]

Mans got balls of steel. Like fighting a bear with a knife and a spear.

 

[Valwood1]

Amazing story. I know nada about spear-fishing, and have never had a fight, big or small, with a shark (though I've seen loads of them), and certainly respect the danger posed by a 12' tiger, but --

1. Why the heck stay in the water once the fish stopped threatening you? <sigh> Guess it's kinda like going into the brush for your wounded cape buffalo.

2. Why didn't the shark swim away? Was it held by the wire with the spear? Is the wire attached to the diver or spear gun?

3. Why would someone make video instead of trying to help (or get outta the water)?

 

[jeraldjcook]

'Once I shot it in the gills I felt a moral obligation to finish the job,' says Mr Clasen.

'I didn't want it to go on any longer than it had to. I shot the fish like I would do any other fish and worked it up closer and did my best to kill it as humanely as possible.

'I speared it in the gills which I knew would kill it and from that I tried to put a shaft into its brain as quickly as possible.

'I shot it six times in the head with a spear and I wasn't having much luck - it was a slow drawn out process.

'Sharks are so resilient and so tough from millions of years of evolution they are just survivors.

--------------

Sorry, but I'm not buying their story. I realize a gill shot is bad news for the shark, but if it took 2 hours, 6 more spears, and multiple stab wounds to kill the shark, I'm guessing the shark would have survived that first shot. These guys just wanted to kill the shark.

 

[helimvee]

Interesting story and very nice pictures.

If this is genuine.... Wow!

But I think something smells "fishy"

I know that nothing on the internet is every wrong but.....

'I positioned myself between Ryan and the shark and I tried to watch it for a second, hoping it would pass us by,' explained 32-year-old Mr Clasen.


'I noticed that the shark was getting tighter and tighter and just kept trying to get a back angle on us and behaving in an aggressive manner.


'The shark made a roll and looked like it was going to charge us so I just went ahead and took the conservative route and put a shaft through its gills."

If that is what happened, as pointed out above, why is the spear in the gills positioned as if it was fired from behind the shark.

If the shark was charging, I would think that the spear would be in the other direction and/or one of the divers would be missing a limb.

Then, if the shark was hit how was he able to keep hitting it with spears. I would imagine that a shark with a spear in it would not want to hang around the area..

Last, but not least ............ don't sharks bleed? I don't see any blood in the water. Having never shot a shark with a spear or stabbed one with a knife I might be missing something. Then again, maybe I can't see it on my screen.

 

[mario_speedwagon]

They really felt bad about it, check out the photos they took on top.....Fish Photos