turk and caicos

    some of you know I was down to turk and caicos for a couple of days and I must likely will go to work there. I went to check out the area and see what i was going to get for the next 10 months. well it's seas are more than beautiful and there is fish over there, the regulations don't allow guns so it made it kind of hard to get fish. I only fished for a little time so , i didn't really got a lot of fish, just a big tiger grouper , a red grouper and a couple more fish . in the first spot i didn't really see a lot os fish , and stayed in the water for 30 minutes . I got the tiger there. only 30 ft. cristal clear water. it was awsom and beautiful. the second spot only gave me time for another 30 minuts or less . and here is whe the story i wanted to share developes.
    I jumped in the water, there was 50 to 55 ft, it looked like only 20 , perfect viz. I see a rock hind, pretty nice size and dive, as I got to the bottom to shoot it I se a couple sharks check me out but don't get close , the little grouper gets in his hole and I take the shot right in the head, look at the sharks and start movin a little closer but nothing fearfull. I give the shaft to a friend i had just met in the morning , a great guy. and he gives me the other one. I look down and there's a huge mutton right there at mid water , i chased it a couple of times but did not shoot , because it kept swimming and if it wasn't a kill shot i didn't want to take it. and with a gear new to me.......... well it just went away , then i see a big white grunt about the size of the mutton and the same happens . then I see a red grouper. I call the guy and tell him to come, but he keeps swimming backwards cause the sharks kept on moving around and he didn't wanna take his eyes off the ball. I tell him to stop watching them , that they wont bother . just leave them be. he comes to me and when he is by my side there's not one. I show him the red and start to descend, it holes up and before i go to get it I look around to see if them fuckers are there ahnd see only one moving sloooowly towards me. I look in the whole and take the shot , easy. It was like whistling for the dog race to begin. ha. 5 of them fuckers came and the speed of light out of nowhere towards usagresive as shit, so i grabbed the fish tight to me and kept it safe, they went to my friend with all they had , he poked hard at them repitedly rigth there, bur one came at him from the side and bit and shook with strenthtakind the shaft and rubber off his hand , leaving him weaponless. fuck , there I started to worry , so I let go of the grouper to meke them come to me, and they do , but just before they get it , i pull it to me again , it's mine , remember. but at least they took their eyes off him. when they see I have the grouper agains my shest they came really close but stopped and swamm away to you know where, where , they were bwfore. so it occured to me that I had to get the fish out of the water , cause it was bleeding. so I do , I get to the boat and throw it in there. I look back and see him struggling to keep them appart by moving his fins and as the boat was just there , 10 meters away hi got there, so I jumped on the boat real quick and with the fins on still I tried to pull him off the water. he was scared for sure , so he kind of lost his strength and it was kind of hard to help out. shit , he felt it was close. we got thw rod ready and 4 of them bit , but 3 managed to brake the line, still got one. of which I'll post a pic later on. it's woth mention that last monday in the same area they say a guy got bit in the arm , not sure if he lost it , but it happened.

    Just reading this was hard, I ve read that your a great person to dive with, but dam what you did with the grouper drawing the attention of the suits. That's heavy!

    It seems that they baited you, like a deer to the feeder.

    all I sensed was that they had their attention on him due to the eddrenaline, so I tried to lure them out some way to gain him time.

    I think that because they saw you had possession of the fish that you were a predator, so they didn't want to mess with you. Your friend was obviously not behaving like a predator so he was the easier target.

    Glad you guys came out all right. Dealing with one shark it's kind of easy but when you have a few of them gang up on you it's another story.:@

    I always get a kick out of av001 simplicity,


    but the question remains the same,


    swming like a grouper! would that not make me prey?

    I guess you never really swimm like a grouper. but trying to control your fears help. before we got in the water this guy asked me if I was afraid of shers, and I said everybody is , just some more than others. and that makes a difference. I could be wrong.

    To me behaving like a predator is having a certain attitude; looking for prey. When you're doing this you are not projecting yourself as prey. Of course some sharks that are large enough to eat anything they come across this will not impress. But others will definitely pick up on it even if you're not intentionally trying to scare them. This is why when you're actually hunting sharks they can be very hard to get near. Being in possession of a fish IMO may be a clear signal that you're a predator. Of course here in south Florida this is cause for being harassed by sharks. But the sharks Pantoja ran into chose his friend even though he didn't have a fish. Who knows really..

    Quote from pantoja

    I guess you never really swimm like a grouper. but trying to control your fears help. before we got in the water this guy asked me if I was afraid of shers, and I said everybody is , just some more than others. and that makes a difference. I could be wrong.


    Well said

    I did a little searching and found what appears to be the Turks and Caicos official fishery website http://www.environment.tc/Recent-Regulations.html I'm attaching a PDF file which is their fishing regulations. The pertinent regulations I found in there are the following which starts with "No person shall..".



    More.



    It's hard sometimes to make sense of the regulations, but it can be interpreted that spearfishing with a sling is legal when you have a commercial fishing license?


    My understanding is that Pantoja was on a commercial fishing vessel and was using a sling.

    I emailed the officials at that site, here's our exchange starting from the bottom.

    _________________________________________________



    From: B [mailto:bmr@tciway.tc]
    Sent: Tuesday, October 13, 2009 10:31 AM
    To: seahunterusa@rogers.com
    Subject: spearfishing in TCI..


    Keep in mind these regulations as published were last updated in 1998. At present, they are interpreted thusly: Commercial fishermen only are allowed to carry slings (only slings) for personal protection. (Most commercial fishermen here are conch and lobster divers, and they are harassed by sharks and barracudas occasionally.)


    If your thinking of trying to get a commercial fishing license though, be advised that they are strictly limited to Belongers (Natives!) only. An ex-patriot cannot acquire a commercial license.


    This office has a nice collection of spearguns of all types and slings that have been confiscated from tourists, yachties and natives. The fines are pretty high, too, including monetary, jail time and confiscation of vehicles and boats.


    Sorry!


    Bmr/nec


    from: seahunterusa [mailto:seahunterusa@rogers.com]
    Sent: Tuesday, October 13, 2009 9:07 AM
    To: 'B'
    Subject: RE: spearfishing in TCI...




    Thanks for the reply. Could you clarify one more thing please; I was reading your regulations, am I interpreting correctly that with a commercial fishing license it is allowed to use a sling?


    Thanks,
    Dan



    More.



    From: B [mailto:bmr@tciway.tc]
    Sent: Tuesday, October 13, 2009 8:55 AM
    To: seahunterusa@rogers.com
    Subject: spearfishing in TCI...



    Dan, spearfishing in any form is not legal in the Turks & Caicos Islands. No spearguns, slings, grains or pole spears are allowed. Sorry!


    Bmr/ nec

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