Whatcha' gonna do when they decide to feed on you

    This may sound stupid, but I relate it to the countless shark "incidents" I have had over the years. I always feel that although, I don't think the shark intends on eating or biting a diver, one really can never know for sure. They are animals in their habitat and are subject to bouts of extreme hunger, mood elations, territorial postures, etc... My father introduced me to spearfishing and he always stressed to never underestimate a shark. Among many of his advice was that "Un tiburon es un tiburon."


    Anyhow, I was watching an animal program yesterday concerning a lion pride in Africa. This particular pride had many juveniles and adolescent lions that had not honed their skills yet. Most of the hunters were three mature females. The two main lions were off marking their turf. In any event, the pride had gone almost a week without eating and they were desperate. Desparate times calls for desparate measures and the two top hunters attacked a 3 ton Hippo. Obviously, they hoped for the rest of the pack to assist in taking the hippo down, but most of them hesitated and did not participate. As the mature females were gnawing at the Hippo's back, it reared its head and grasped one of the lions by the skull. It focked it up good and nearly killed it. What normally would not be a quarry for these lions became one under hunger and duress. I wonder how many times this has occured with sharks in the wild...

    Exactly, if a shark is starving, then he would me more and more daring, must of the time they are just passive bysthanders. 9 out of ten times. But there is a solid 1 out of then when they will come after you if the conditions are right.

    I'm a Speardiver, not a freediver

    it's just fish that deserves respect. they got the tools to feed themselves, so I don't see the need for humans to feed them. in their enviroment we are actually in desadvantage , so why make them curious. the only thing i would feed them is steel or from the boat whatever food with a hook in it.

    this is why underwater footage is so valuable to us...to learn the visual clues that a shark is deparate, aggresive or just behaving oddly, can be the thing that saves you from a random attack

    i like to spear fish

    I've been in a similar situation a few year back, but unfortunately didn't have a boat to retreat to.


    We were about 1/2 a mile from shore and had more about a dozens large aggressive reef sharks continuously trying to make a move while my dive buddy and I carefully swam bak to shore. We got bumped and scraped a bit, but never bitten. They followed us back until the water got to shallow for them... The scariest part was in the surfzone, where the bubbles of the waves would make any attempt at spotting them impossible. Surprisingly, after the initial shock of being rushed by so many sharks, my heart rate recovered quickly, and in back to back formation it was relative easy to defend our selves, even though the 2 of us had only one gun...

    I vividly remember some years back diving with Rolo in the Keys when I speared a yellow jack in crystal clear water and as I looked around for cudas a huge bull came out of nowhere and took the fish right out of my hands in a cloud of bubbles and blood. I thought at the time the damned thing had taken my hand! After a change of wetsuit;) I was back in the water.

    Quote from LunkerBuster

    this is why underwater footage is so valuable to us...to learn the visual clues that a shark is deparate, aggresive or just behaving oddly, can be the thing that saves you from a random attack

    The only sign I saw is that the shark was not going away. Is this what you meant? One would have to be stupid to feed sharks like that and purposefully put himself in that situation. Wanting to be around feeding sharks is something that runs contrary to common sense and natural survival instinct. When I have a shark around that's interested in me and my fish and is not showing signs of being afraid of me, I slip on the powerhead and get ready to pop him.


    Gerald, Julio, thanks for sharing your experiences.

    Quote from pargo

    ...slip on the powerhead and get ready to pop him.


    You know, when I was relatively new to spearfishing and I found out about Tito's affordable powerheads, I bought a whole bunch, thinking I'd be using them on a regular basis. However, in reality I've never felt threatened enough to feel compelled to slip one on. The few occasion where I did feel threatened, I simply didn't have the chance to slip it on, as the shark caught me totally by surprise.


    It seems like on most occasions as soon as they know they've lost the element of surprise, they aren't as brave and keep a bigger distance. Although his tends to change when they are in a pack or fresh fish is involved, but even then its not guaranteed. I shot a yellowjack of the back of a bullshark during Nationals a few years ago, it was a spine shot that sent the fish in a vibrator like dance with blood gushing from its gills. I had been dreading this scenario, but to my surprise, the shark didn't even turn around to look at me. Just leisurely swam along. Go figure...



    I've witnessed several sharks get shot, but I am of the opinion that more than likely a jab with a shaft would have deterred the shark just fine. I think that if you're in the water, and a shark shows up whose behavior you don't like, you should move spots, not pre-emptively kill it when it make an inquisitive close pass. Often people mistake curiosity for aggression. In most cases people have plenty of time to get on the boat. Anyways, I'm not a shark hugger, but I respect them, a respect they have definitely earned.

    Quote from gerald

    ...in reality I've never felt threatened enough to feel compelled to slip one on. The few occasion where I did feel threatened, I simply didn't have the chance to slip it on, as the shark caught me totally by surprise.

    I agree. But then those are not the ones we need to worry about right? It's the shark that shows interest and will not go away that gets the PH. I equate interest with aggression, the shark is not there to make friends with me. It may happen once in a lifetime but when it does you'll wish you had the PH. And honestly I have no problem PHing a shark whether it kills it right then and there or mortally wounds it to die later. As far as I'm concerned if a shark is of a species that can be a danger to me and it is not showing a reaction of fear towards my advance/stays withing shot range I will PH it. I wish we were allowed to spear them for food like in PR.


    Tito told me once of a tradition he was taught by his uncle(?) in Hawaii. He said that if a shark shows aggressive behavior and is after fish or a diver then they'll poke it once with the spear as a warning out of respect. If it doesn't go away then the next thing is they PH it. I can see the fairness in that but I prefer my way. The worst incident I had was with a nurse shark. It came up and after my stringer. I poked it with the spear 5 times in the head and it kept circling and coming back after the fish. I didn't PH it because I thought it was just a poor nurse shark. But at that point I was getting worried. I focused and decided that the 6th poke is going in his little yellow eye. He must have noticed something about me because just when I was ready to do it he looked me in the eyes and took off.

    Were you on a boat or a beach dive? Did you have the chance to get away or out of the water? If that shark was starving and you had an easy meal, itll fight you for it. It definitely saw that you were the more aggresive animal in the fight and left.
    I had 2 instances that I shit myself, and they both involved fish. 1 was with a stringer that got eaten up while attached to me(I cut and ran) , and the other was with a HH that came straight up from the bottom after me and a yellow jack. I had to let go the fish bbecause all I had in my hand was the fish and my pecker.



    One more thing. Thinking about those times has made me realize that this is another reason why diving alone can be a problem.

    Edited once, last by Toledo ().

    I was diving from the beach and alone :) Hitting it with the spear while it's in the gun was so weak.. The spear felt springy every time I poked and I was worried about damaging the mech. Being a nurse shark I'd reconsider shooting out the spear so I can poke it with the spike, a much more solid hit.

    I figured. The alone thing kinda doesn't help either.
    The time with the HH, my brother was able to come over to me and " Convince" the HH to give us some space. I let go the fish, gun etc.. and watched till he ate the fish and then I was able to retrieve the gun. My bro poked that thing quite a few times without it as much as budging. It was locked in on its meal.... Talk about pucker factor....

    I wouldnt have been able to use it(no gun or spear) even if I did, I dont know. Maybe at that moment outta fear, I dont know though. My brother, on the other hand, would have done it for sure. He thought I was being attacked at first.

    Quote from straight shaft

    I vividly remember some years back diving with Rolo in the Keys when I speared a yellow jack in crystal clear water and as I looked around for cudas a huge bull came out of nowhere and took the fish right out of my hands in a cloud of bubbles and blood. I thought at the time the damned thing had taken my hand! After a change of wetsuit;) I was back in the water.


    The Yelp Heard Around The World...that was a good day.

    a little experience form yesterday.a buddy speared a nice snapper and a shark showed up. after making a couple of large circles around us he began to make tighten the circles and move side to side frantically with excitement. my dive buddy had his gun unloaded with a struggling fish on the line, and i had my gun loaded next to him watching the shark with my gun pointed at the shark the whole time. as my buddy was swimming back to the boat holding the fish out of the water at one point i saw the shark swimming on the surface like the jaws movie charging after him and the fish that was out of the water leaking blood. i yelled at him to throw the fish. we swam back to the boat, and thought how bad a situation can get with having 2 or 3 of those sharks frenzied around you and having the boat anchored about 100 yards away, and being alone.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member to leave a comment.

Register a new account
Sign in now