Shooting cobia off Bull Sharks

[ONESPEED]

Kinda makes you want a float line, huh.

Where's the sport in that?

 

[Captain Walt]

You have my vote...where do I sign up....

 

[Hetland]

After watching the guy shoot cobes off bull sharks it looks too easy.

I always heard that the bulls were bad news. Is that not correct?

These guys will be the ones that say, "I can't believe that Timmy is gone, those sharks were our friends, and they never acted in a way we found threatening..."

Bottom Line: If a bull wants you, you're his.

The Pelagic Shark Research Foundation - In the News

BULL SHARK
When Dawn Schauman was attacked by an 8-to-10-ft. bull shark in October 1993, she said, "it felt like a truck had slammed into me, then I felt a compacting squeeze and an acute burning in my left hand and my left leg." The shark spun her around, leaving her disoriented as she hemorrhaged blood into the water. The shark left, and willpower alone got Schauman — 6 1/2 months pregnant — back to shore. Her baby was later born prematurely but safely. For months Schauman woke at 3 a.m. replaying the attack in her head.

The bull shark, Carcharhinus leucas, usually grows no longer than 10 ft. and weighs up to 500 lbs., but what it lacks in size it makes up for in aggressiveness. Experts regard it as the most pugnacious of sharks. It has, according to Robert Hueter, director of the Center of Shark Research at the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Fla., the highest level of testosterone in any animal, including lions and elephants. Its lower spiked teeth are designed to hold prey while the upper triangular serrated teeth gouge out flesh. "The bull is an ambush type of predator, it makes this big mortal wound," says Hueter. It is fearless, taking on prey as large as it is.

A unique feature of bull sharks is their ability to live in both salt- and fresh water; they have attacked people in Lake Nicaragua in Central America and have been seen above St. Louis, Mo., in the Mississippi River. Those born in the Mississippi delta usually spend about six months in the brackish water before migrating along the coast to Florida to winter in the Keys.

The bull is the only shark that prowls regularly in water shallow enough for humans to walk in — and it may be territorial. Australian shark biologist Ian Gordon has been getting into the water off Florida beaches and deliberately agitating bull sharks to observe their reaction. He says his research so far suggests that underwater geography and a sense of territory can provoke an attack. "Even if you don't know it's there, the shark will feel like it is being cornered."

Human shark victims almost always seem to be inadvertent intruders rather than targeted prey. Scientists who work with sharks know how dangerous they can be, and many are critical of the guided shark-feeding tours that are proliferating in Florida and the Bahamas. Sharks there have begun to associate the sound of an outboard motor with food, and there have been attacks by sharks apparently impatient to be fed, according to George Burgess, head of the International Shark Attack File. Shark feeding is illegal in two Florida cities, and a campaign to ban it statewide is under way. "When you are training animals, you are changing their basic behavior and their respect for human beings," says Burgess.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I spoke with the guy who shoots the video this weekend.. He promised me if he gets bit, we will see the video on youtube.

 

[Johnoly]

Bottom Line: If a bull wants you, you're his.

The story you posted was not about a diver, she was in zero viz next to shore and the shark took an investigating bite. I'm sorry it happened to her.

I dive Jupiter every weekend and with the bull sharks and I spearfish, etc, etc, same old spearo story. My reports are on Spearboard.

Bull sharks are not that hard to figure out when you are shooting fish around them. You just need to act promptly, aggressively and not waste time. If diving the 120ft ledge, you're going to get challenged, fish or no fish the minute you jump in the water.

Last Saturday for the SBO tournament, I nailed a 28 pound jack who still had plenty of life in him. I had to get him down on the sand, sit on him and push my liftbag's stringer through him in about 30 seconds. Yes the bulls started coming in, but they will circle to look for an opportunity. With the stringer implanted, I both inflated the lift bag and came up off the sand and it took off to the surface. The bulls came in, scoured the sand where I was and then came after me.

I know bulls are very territorial and won't roam too far outside of their "spot". I got aggressive towards one (we don't kill/shoot sharks in Jupiter) and then swam 200 yards down the reef and all the bulls left us and stayed put. I know Jupiter very well, and the Sharktales team are good friends of mine. Their strategy of the liftbag attached to the gun and sending everything to the surface is the fastest I've seen. I personally want my gun for additional shooting and protection. Shooting cobes with sharks is just part of spearing since they hang out together.

The bullshark doesn't want to eat me. 1st, he is pissed that I'm in his 'house' taking his food and he wants me to leave. 2nd, if I take his food, it's still his food and he's going to try and eat it. It's my task to make the bullsharks get their mind off of the food and their territory and to pay attention to me and the aggressiveness that I'm coming after them by chasing them back down. If you get a good push with your gun butt off a shark, he'll circle, but not come in. Unless you do something stupid, like drop your fish.

Jupiter diving 'can' be dangerous and definetely is for the advanced divers because of it's depths, currents, and sharks.

 

[drfrank@]

What a cool vid!!

 

[Hetland]

The story you posted was not about a diver, she was in zero viz next to shore and the shark took an investigating bite. I'm sorry it happened to her.

The bite story was not the reason I posted the link. I was posting for the description of their territorial behavior, and the jacked up testostorone (I'm sure I misspelled that). Obviously, you know all of this already, but someone asked about bulls, so I responded. You're a big boy, and can make your own decisions. However, I fear that the behavior you guys enjoy so much can only end badly, either for you directly, or for the poor guy that goes for a dive with no intention of interacting with sharks, and then gets hit by the sharks you've been pissing off all weekend.

I think most people would agree that taking a pick-a-nick basket away from a grizzly is probably a bad idea, but that is exactly what you are doing.

I really hope I'm completely wrong, and that you guys never get hurt, or contribute to someone else getting hurt.

Finally, I'm not trying to be your mommy, or tell you what to do. Without a doubt, you guys know more about shark behavior from first-hand observations, than I will ever care to learn (in that fashion anyway). I'd probably share a beer with any of you guys, and this is simply my opinion on the subject at hand. I wish you all good hunting, and good luck.

-h

 

[danemeyer20]

These guys also dive quite deep. Doing deco stops with dead fish and Bull sharks can't be fun.

that is the dumbest thing i think i have ever heard

 

[danemeyer20]

Last Saturday for the SBO tournament, I nailed a 28 pound jack who still had plenty of life in him. I had to get him down on the sand, sit on him and push my liftbag's stringer through him in about 30 seconds. Yes the bulls started coming in, but they will circle to look for an opportunity. With the stringer implanted, I both inflated the lift bag and came up off the sand and it took off to the surface. The bulls came in, scoured the sand where I was and then came after me.

i dunno man, that sounds absolutely fuking stupid to me, sorry for cursing but there is no other way to sum it up. Although it sounds just as badass as it does stupid

 

[donkeys4hire]

That takes stones there!