Shark bites Spearfisherman

[dumpsterDiver]

We were out last weekend off Jupiter.. trying our luck..snorkeling and spearing off the sharks

[video]https://youtu.be/mKgo93rJJTg[/video]

 

[Basking Ridge Diver]

So the fish at 2:25 was for the sharks? And the Cobia are known to hang with the sharks? I assume to pickup the scrapes from the sharks?
I would have thought the Cobia would be on the reefs or ledges - interesting.

 

[jfe]

WOW, that is so good, active and spearing at 70, respect to the man and shame on the shark for taking a bite at him.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

So the fish at 2:25 was for the sharks? And the Cobia are known to hang with the sharks? I assume to pickup the scrapes from the sharks?
I would have thought the Cobia would be on the reefs or ledges - interesting.

Yeah the flashers help, but a little chum keeps the sharks around. We eat those fish too. Had some for dinner last night. Cobia like to school with sharks, Rays, manta Rays, whale sharks.. etc.. We attract sharks and hope they are accompanied by cobia. Maybe 5% of the sharks have cobia... on a good day.

 

[drrich2]

I'm amazed we don't hear about more injuries. What kind of sharks do the cobia hang with that spear fishermen shoot them off of?

I'm thinking you chum in sharks, so they show up already aroused. Then you shoot a fish, which bleeds & thrashes, likely agitating the sharks. Then you grab the wounded fish, I'm assuming dead or you kill it, and haul the body up to the surface.

AlertDiverOnline (Dan's magazine) has an article, A Shark Tale, where a man named Art Penney speared 2 lion fish & headed back to the boat, when a maybe 3 - 5 foot Caribbean reef shark aimed for a lion fish & got his left hand instead. That's one anecdotal case, but it stuck in my mind.

So naturally I'm wondering what shark species it's considered an acceptable risk to spear cobia off of, & which are too high risk.

Richard.

 

[HalcyonDaze]

I'm amazed we don't hear about more injuries. What kind of sharks do the cobia hang with that spear fishermen shoot them off of?

I'm thinking you chum in sharks, so they show up already aroused. Then you shoot a fish, which bleeds & thrashes, likely agitating the sharks. Then you grab the wounded fish, I'm assuming dead or you kill it, and haul the body up to the surface.

AlertDiverOnline (Dan's magazine) has an article, A Shark Tale, where a man named Art Penney speared 2 lion fish & headed back to the boat, when a maybe 3 - 5 foot Caribbean reef shark aimed for a lion fish & got his left hand instead. That's one anecdotal case, but it stuck in my mind.

So naturally I'm wondering what shark species it's considered an acceptable risk to spear cobia off of, & which are too high risk.

Richard.

Most of the time it's bulls, so there's your answer. Folks will often shoot them off of tigers and last year when a spearo got circled by a juvenile great white off the Central FL coast a number of posters were half-jokingly saying "forget the shark, there's cobia on that thing!"

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I'm amazed we don't hear about more injuries. What kind of sharks do the cobia hang with that spear fishermen shoot them off of?

I'm thinking you chum in sharks, so they show up already aroused. Then you shoot a fish, which bleeds & thrashes, likely agitating the sharks. Then you grab the wounded fish, I'm assuming dead or you kill it, and haul the body up to the surface.

AlertDiverOnline (Dan's magazine) has an article, A Shark Tale, where a man named Art Penney speared 2 lion fish & headed back to the boat, when a maybe 3 - 5 foot Caribbean reef shark aimed for a lion fish & got his left hand instead. That's one anecdotal case, but it stuck in my mind.

So naturally I'm wondering what shark species it's considered an acceptable risk to spear cobia off of, & which are too high risk.

Richard.

I think the organized shark feeds are WAAAAY more dangerous. We generally try to keep the size of the chum small, or very small. More scent than food, but if it is slow, then we might drop down chunks like in the video. We work together and we will forcibly jab any shark that comes within our personal space. We want them around but not within 5-6 feet of us. The shark feeders are actively feeding them and bringing them into the diver's face.

We work as a team, protect each other, place a second shaft in a wounded fish ASAP.. etc. It is not controllable, and several times, when we get too many sharks and they get too amped up and they become competitive with each other, start darting around, waving with their pectoral fins at us, start working like a coordinated pack and trying to come from your blind side... those are all signs for me that it is better to be in the boat and we change spots.

This video from a year ago, shows more sharks and you can see some of the things that I describe. At 3:38 a shark got on my fin tip as I tried to ascend and I didn't notice and my buddy jabs it.

[video]https://youtu.be/AqbEhr8-1rc[/video]

 

[HalcyonDaze]

I think the organized shark feeds are WAAAAY more dangerous. We generally try to keep the size of the chum small, or very small. More scent than food, but if it is slow, then we might drop down chunks like in the video. We work together and we will forcibly jab any shark that comes within our personal space. We want them around but not within 5-6 feet of us. The shark feeders are actively feeding them and bringing them into the diver's face.

We work as a team, protect each other, place a second shaft in a wounded fish ASAP.. etc. It is not controllable, and several times, when we get too many sharks and they get too amped up and they become competitive with each other, start darting around, waving with their pectoral fins at us, start working like a coordinated pack and trying to come from your blind side... those are all signs for me that it is better to be in the boat and we change spots.

This video from a year ago, shows more sharks and you can see some of the things that I describe. At 3:38 a shark got on my fin tip as I tried to ascend and I didn't notice and my buddy jabs it.

[video]https://youtu.be/AqbEhr8-1rc[/video]

I will say that when I see a bull coming straight up towards me I feel like I should see flashing red lights and hear a lock-on tone. Definitely gets my attention.

I think the relative danger of spearing versus baiting is situational; comparing clips of cobia spearing with what happens when we're baiting sharks I can't help but wonder if they know what the game is. With us they can afford to be patient, whereas with shooters the sharks might know they have to steal the fish if they want lunch. That's entirely conjectural on my part, but on our dives with bulls I've noticed they get closer and bolder as we get up towards the surface with the bait. If we're dropping bits they see no point in getting close to the smelly, bubbling humans. Another speculative thought is that they might be trying to match the movement speed of the divers - us plodders with tanks on might not rate aggressive maneuvering, whereas they might step on the gas a little when they see freedivers making rapid dives and ascents. Again, conjectural on my part.

I will agree that we're trying to bring the sharks in close, whereas the spearo would prefer it if the shark vamoosed once he's shot the cobia. Divers on shark feeds have to be ready to fend off sharks at close quarters and with little reaction time; you want them close so you can get the shot but not so close that you have no time to react. The role of teamwork is why I feel a little more comfortable with the Emerald than I would with a lot of the other shark-feeding excursions you tend to find around the Caribbean; most times I'm out the majority of the divers are regulars rather than first-time visitors. That means the other divers are usually old hands; we know each other and work together to keep things under control. That makes me feel safer than being told to sit (probably overweighted) on the sand and keep my hands to myself while the DMs have full responsibility for keeping the sharks off of us.

 

[Johnoly]

.... Another speculative thought is that they might be trying to match the movement speed of the divers .....

There's so many different scenerios that us spearo's see with the bulls. If it's a single they usually take their time. But if it's 3-4, they seem to go into a "me first" mode to race the other sharks to get the meal 1st. Then it's truly like flipping on a light switch, it happens that fast. That's why it important to go after them 1st and back them down.

Also bulls are very territorial. I've had plenty of bulls completely swim right past my speared thrashing fish on the sand I just shot and come directly at me to get me to leave. I think it's twice as hard for photogs to read the bull's tail flips versus the calm sway because they are looking at the screen when the light switch gets turned on. But we see it all the time.