Spearfisher critical after bull shark hit - Queensland, Australia

[Biotech Diver]

I would imagine only if the shark was oppositely magnetic.

All magnetic fields have two poles.

 

[chris kippax]

Also the sharks on the GBR are no laughing matter, they are big and can be very aggressive.
This one was seen in the Swain's reef complex and judging by it's posturing (arched back, downward pointing pec fins) was not a happy camper

 

[ToneNQ]

As I said, it is too close to the mainland for me to feel comfortable about spearfishing. Extremely clean is not how I would describe the water in that area but that is a matter of experience. Once I dived in Hawaii clean water took on a new meaning.
If you are tough enough to spear there don't let me stop you, once I had kids my risk tolerance went low.

Most of my spearfishing on the GBR has been in the bunker group (Sykes reef) and even there I get the willy's from sharks. The recent attack at Northwest did SFA to alleviate those fears.

You might be in clearer waters there, but also cooler, so I'm not sure its any safer. There was a Qld Parks officer attacked approx 10km from there in April, which would've been an unprovoked attack.

Every man and his dog is spear fishing the northern GBR these days, its new craze, to the point where the selective taking of large fish is a real problem. Every weekend there will be hundreds of spearos along those reefs not in the green zone, this is the first attack in a while so the odds are still pretty low, but its been a big year for shark attacks. This guy owes his life to a few things going his way.

Granted its all perspective, and I've never dived Britomart, but Otter reef is clear and actually very shallow fringes. We didn't go the whole way around it but it was hard to find more than about 8m of water near any coral, the viz was much better than that. A few people might take a bit more notice of their fuel capacity and the tides though, the channel into Dungeness is one to understand clearly if your life is going to depend on it.

 

[CuzzA]

Has anyone ever tried those magnetic field generating bands I see for sale in dive shops? I wonder how effective they really are at repelling sharks?

Shark Bands are snake oil.

Shark Shields are legit.

 

[Pressurehead]

the channel into Dungeness is one to understand clearly if your life is going to depend on it.

Quote:
Cr Jayo said the Dungeness boat ramp did not have all-tidal access and the victim and his rescuers were lucky the tide was high.

"I was just grateful that when the boat came in, it was high tide, or near high tide, and they could get straight out to the ramp," he said.

"Apparently, seconds were crucial for the survival of that young fella.

"Our concern has always been that, at the moment, we don't have all tidal access to the ramp facilities.

"That's really a problem in the sense that we need half tide or better before we can launch in or out."
ABC News.

 

[ToneNQ]

Quote:
Cr Jayo said the Dungeness boat ramp did not have all-tidal access and the victim and his rescuers were lucky the tide was high.

"I was just grateful that when the boat came in, it was high tide, or near high tide, and they could get straight out to the ramp," he said.

"Apparently, seconds were crucial for the survival of that young fella.

"Our concern has always been that, at the moment, we don't have all tidal access to the ramp facilities.

"That's really a problem in the sense that we need half tide or better before we can launch in or out."
ABC News.

Its dependant on your boat draw, but we would bottom out on the sand bar when low tide was below 0.5m, which is the new moon period. Much waffle could be heard on that boat waiting for the tide.

Its only a few hours per day, maybe 5-8 days per month, but Ramon Jayo is 100% right. We had a few tactics we'd use but that boat ramp has quite a few quirks to contend with, in addition to the channel. The spearo was super lucky, he was saved by a hugely brave friend, then transferred to a bigger boat that had a doctor as a passenger. If he'd had been returned home on the little boat without skilled medical care, he'd have been on much thinner ice. And his friends boat ran out of fuel, so the spearo was thrice lucky. If you're going to risk provoking a shark attack, ie by spearfishing, make sure as many factors as possible are in your favour.

 

[Popgun Pete]

Redirecting

Let us hope for the best as he faces surgery, it is a serious situation of the worst kind.

 

[chris kippax]

Duplicate thread

Original below

Spearfisher critical after bull shark hit - Queensland, Australia

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

All magnetic fields have two poles.

the front end, in that case.

 

[DandyDon]

Duplicate thread

Original below

Spearfisher critical after bull shark hit - Queensland, Australia

That link just goes to a post in this thread from yesterday. Perhaps there was a merge. There was not a thread on the incident in this forum at the time I first posted.