Stone
Contributor
Scott,
The clueless don't even know they're clueless.
Shark Attacks Diver
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The clueless don't even know they're clueless.
Dryglove
Contributor
I have to agree this is a lame resonse.
The main thing is your friend reacted in a way that saved his life. Kudos for him.
Did Hector clean fish, or pose for such a photo prior to this dive?
Brent,
Hector shot a nice hogfish on his first drop, so we snapped a couple of photos. Here is how he was holding it: http://www.spearboard.com/attachment.php?postid=16573
The way it works on the Gag Reflex (my boat) is when the fish hits the deck, they get gutted immediately. This keeps the meat as fresh as possible, and also preserves your ice better in the fish hold. We keep a "gut bucket" on the boat, as it is considered bad etiquitte to gut on top of someone in the water, which will usually result in a response from the diver of, "Thanks for gutting on top of me, a------!"
The point is that you may have 100 pounds of fish or more at times to gut , and I usually do it on my knees, and get blood on my wetsuit, and pieces of the fish will fly onto you, as well. It is highly unlikely that Hector holding a fish, or gutting fish, had anything to do with this attack. Hector makes the observation in the thread that he had been gutting fish, but, IMO, that had nothing to do with it, although it is at least noteworthy.
If a little blood resulted in an attack like that, imagine how many spearfishermen would be getting attacked with wounded, still twitching fish on their stringer. The head is a pretty vascular area on a fish, and when the stringer goes through the eyes, it is common to be swimming around a green cloud of blood. This happens to me almost every dive.
What we have seen with sharks looking for a meal is that their adroit at getting what they want. Divers with fish clipped off to their BC report feeling a tug and then seeing the shark chomping on their fish, almost surgically removing them from the stinger, but not hurting the diver. One guy a few weeks ago had a bull shark grab his fish and the stringer wound up in the sharks mouth, and he shook the diver around.
IMO, Hector's attack was a territorial response from the shark. However, I'm not an expert, and who really knows what sharks are thinking. After all, they can be unpredictable. Had this been merely a shark sniffing for food, it would likely have never occured like this. That is the reason I posted on scubaboard. Had it been solely a spearfishing incident, I would not have posted here. However, an OW diver taking photos or petting fish or whatever would have been in deep chit. It illustrats that the danger is real, although highly unlikely.
Personally, I'm not going to stress too much about a few specs of guts and blood on the wetsuit. On the other hand, you'd better not gut on top of me!
Only once have I seen anything anywhere close to that - and I happened to have had a big ball of redfish using me as "protection" from the big bulls that were after them.
Hector did a damn fine job under the circumstances; please pass along my "attaboy!" I sure hope the dental surgeon's able to "fix" him. (On the other hand, what better way to explain a nasty scar or ding on your face?)
The shark's behavior definitely sounds totally unrelated to any latent "wounded fish" smell, as there was no tentative testing or bumping - I think "territorial" is correct, TampaScott - this shark meant business, and had "killing" rather than "eating" on his little peanut brain.
Sorta makes one think about procedures, though... much like the "one up, one down" we use when freediving, perhaps a "one shooting, one watching" isn't such a bad idea when spearfishing.
Still, I think this particular shark would have attacked whether y'all were spearing or not - and that's really scary.
Rick
Hector did a damn fine job under the circumstances; please pass along my "attaboy!" I sure hope the dental surgeon's able to "fix" him. (On the other hand, what better way to explain a nasty scar or ding on your face?)
The shark's behavior definitely sounds totally unrelated to any latent "wounded fish" smell, as there was no tentative testing or bumping - I think "territorial" is correct, TampaScott - this shark meant business, and had "killing" rather than "eating" on his little peanut brain.
Sorta makes one think about procedures, though... much like the "one up, one down" we use when freediving, perhaps a "one shooting, one watching" isn't such a bad idea when spearfishing.
Still, I think this particular shark would have attacked whether y'all were spearing or not - and that's really scary.
Rick
Scott,
I probably did shoot a little too fast from the hip. Please forgive my hasty post. As I didn't have much info to go on, you post was sadly lacking in details. There are still details missing that are important. How far away was the shark when he first saw it? How much time did he have to react? Was the gun free shaft or line?
I would be very reluctant to shoot a shark with a line gun, less so with a free shaft. The reason I would not want to shoot with a line gun, is once you've shot, you are without any means of protecting yourself should the shark make another pass. A spear gun held sidways is useful for pushing off an agressive shark. Once the shark has taken your gun, you only have your BC and probably not enough time to take it off to hold in a defensive posture. It is also impossible to move as quickly to react to the shark's movements with a BC/tank in your hands as it is with a gun. I would feel safer trying to hold the shark at bay with the gun than without. I would not expect shooting the shark to cause it to leave. Thank God it did have that effect this time.
If only sharks had shoulders.........
I probably did shoot a little too fast from the hip. Please forgive my hasty post. As I didn't have much info to go on, you post was sadly lacking in details. There are still details missing that are important. How far away was the shark when he first saw it? How much time did he have to react? Was the gun free shaft or line?
I would be very reluctant to shoot a shark with a line gun, less so with a free shaft. The reason I would not want to shoot with a line gun, is once you've shot, you are without any means of protecting yourself should the shark make another pass. A spear gun held sidways is useful for pushing off an agressive shark. Once the shark has taken your gun, you only have your BC and probably not enough time to take it off to hold in a defensive posture. It is also impossible to move as quickly to react to the shark's movements with a BC/tank in your hands as it is with a gun. I would feel safer trying to hold the shark at bay with the gun than without. I would not expect shooting the shark to cause it to leave. Thank God it did have that effect this time.
If only sharks had shoulders.........
If you follow the Spearboard link, youll find plenty of detail behind this encounter. Hector was checking out a ledge, caught movement out of the corner of his eye, barely had time to turn and get his gun up to push the shark off as it made its first pass. It circled ONCE, turned at him and charged full speed. Theres no arguing, its preferable to freeshaft or powerhead a shark rather than lineshafting. Unfortunately, Hector was lineshafting and the shark gave him zero time to do anything but exactly what he DID do.
You do what you have to do with the situation youre presented with. Hector did very well. If he had not shot that shark, he might not have made it to the surface. Im not trying to be dramatic, but the thing didnt want to scare him, it wanted to take his head off.
As far as shooting a shark not causing it to leave, your expectations are dead wrong. All predators want an easy target. If its intended prey somehow causes it a great deal of pain, 95% of the time its going to decide that its not worth the trouble.
This advice is all relayed from those much more experienced than me, but when encountering a potentially aggressive shark, adopt an aggressive posture; make it think YOU are the apex predator, that YOU are the one to be feared. If that doesnt work and it does get aggressive, shoot it; in the gills will cause plenty of pain, in the dorsal fin is probably enough of a wakeup call to send them away.
Once the shark has taken your gun, you only have your BC and probably not enough time to take it off to hold in a defensive posture.
You are absolutely insane if you take your BC off. Thats the worst idea Ive ever heard. Its bad enough to be charged by a shark, now youre talking about risking your breathing supply and buoyancy control and best shot of making it to the surface. What do you do when you lost your BC, throw your mask at him?
You do what you have to do with the situation youre presented with. Hector did very well. If he had not shot that shark, he might not have made it to the surface. Im not trying to be dramatic, but the thing didnt want to scare him, it wanted to take his head off.
As far as shooting a shark not causing it to leave, your expectations are dead wrong. All predators want an easy target. If its intended prey somehow causes it a great deal of pain, 95% of the time its going to decide that its not worth the trouble.
This advice is all relayed from those much more experienced than me, but when encountering a potentially aggressive shark, adopt an aggressive posture; make it think YOU are the apex predator, that YOU are the one to be feared. If that doesnt work and it does get aggressive, shoot it; in the gills will cause plenty of pain, in the dorsal fin is probably enough of a wakeup call to send them away.
Once the shark has taken your gun, you only have your BC and probably not enough time to take it off to hold in a defensive posture.
You are absolutely insane if you take your BC off. Thats the worst idea Ive ever heard. Its bad enough to be charged by a shark, now youre talking about risking your breathing supply and buoyancy control and best shot of making it to the surface. What do you do when you lost your BC, throw your mask at him?
"As far as shooting a shark not causing it to leave, your expectations are dead wrong. All predators want an easy target. If its intended prey somehow causes it a great deal of pain, 95% of the time its going to decide that its not worth the trouble."
I generally agree with the aggressive posture theory.
"What do you do when you lost your BC, throw your mask at him?"
Perhaps you are correct, but I'd rather lose the BC than a body part.
Any time you are faced with such a situation, if you come out with minor injuries, you've done well. I'm glad Hector is still with the living.
Having just read Hector's first hand account, I'm convinced that he is lucky to to be alive regardless of what action he took. Hector was also lucky you are correct about the shark leaving the area after being shot. From his description of the event, he was easy prey after the hit.
I generally agree with the aggressive posture theory.
"What do you do when you lost your BC, throw your mask at him?"
Perhaps you are correct, but I'd rather lose the BC than a body part.
Any time you are faced with such a situation, if you come out with minor injuries, you've done well. I'm glad Hector is still with the living.
Having just read Hector's first hand account, I'm convinced that he is lucky to to be alive regardless of what action he took. Hector was also lucky you are correct about the shark leaving the area after being shot. From his description of the event, he was easy prey after the hit.
My point was that if you remove your BC u/w, especially at the depths we dove that day, (90-100'+), you are compounding the gravity of your situation tenfold.
OK, let's say the shark charges, you lineshaft him. He swims off with your gun trailing. You're now unarmed. You remove your rig and try to deflect the shark with it. The shark bites into it, destroying the bladder and most likely a couple of the regulator hoses.
So now, you're not only unarmed, but you have no BC, no way to breath, you're at 100', and there's a p*ssed off shark circling you. How is this situation better?
(This is assuming the shark is still interested in you as easy prey after you buried a 60" steel shaft in him, which I doubt)
Walter,
Yeah, the thing was coming to rip his head off. That's why I was a little sarcastic about your repsonse not to shoot it. We'll call it my fault for the poor descriiption.
But I have to tell you this, it don't matter if you have a line gun or are free shafting. Shoot the damn thing if he is about to attack. Screw on your powerhead first if you have the chance, ortherwise let the steel fly. I'd rather have a free shaft too, but I woldn't worry about being left without a gun if I had my line hooked-up. If you hit the shark with the steel, he will almost certainly decide that meeting you isn't involving the fun time he had invisioned.
Every person that I have ever talked to who shot a shark said the shark left them alone afterwards. Many times, a simply poke without even shooting it is enough. I have a real hard time envisioning a shark swimming around and attacking me with my 60" shaft embedded in his head. Probably even true if I'm nervous and hit him in the meat.
I've never had a shark get to the point I had to shoot it. I've had them come up to me after I shot a fish, but they've run off when I've raised my gun, blown bubbles, and make noise.
Yeah, the thing was coming to rip his head off. That's why I was a little sarcastic about your repsonse not to shoot it. We'll call it my fault for the poor descriiption.
But I have to tell you this, it don't matter if you have a line gun or are free shafting. Shoot the damn thing if he is about to attack. Screw on your powerhead first if you have the chance, ortherwise let the steel fly. I'd rather have a free shaft too, but I woldn't worry about being left without a gun if I had my line hooked-up. If you hit the shark with the steel, he will almost certainly decide that meeting you isn't involving the fun time he had invisioned.
Every person that I have ever talked to who shot a shark said the shark left them alone afterwards. Many times, a simply poke without even shooting it is enough. I have a real hard time envisioning a shark swimming around and attacking me with my 60" shaft embedded in his head. Probably even true if I'm nervous and hit him in the meat.
I've never had a shark get to the point I had to shoot it. I've had them come up to me after I shot a fish, but they've run off when I've raised my gun, blown bubbles, and make noise.
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