Vintage 1950s Haiti Spearfishing Film

    That sounded like the 1960s Wide World of Sports commentator with Jim McKay. :D
    Like an episode in the doldrums between end of basketball and start of baseball season.


    Pretty wild grabbing that nurse shark with a hook.

    I had two Spring Spearguns like his, same mask and similar fins back in the 50's and maybe into early 60's but thankfully never speared Angel fish or Nurse Sharks. Or Puffer fish :nono: He sure stayed shallow but maybe because of the camera housing. I've been to Port-Au-Prince a few times for work and sadly trees are all gone and reefs are pretty much destroyed. We had the same rich reefs on the Caribbean Side of the Isthmus of Panama and hopefully they remain.


    Interesting find though - thanks.

    Edited once, last by Oscar ().

    Quote from Dan

    7:40 "The prize this time is a beautiful black Angelfish" now that's a first. I don't know about them vintage Haiti divers..


    Gustav Dalla Valle: Spearfisherman and SCUBAPRO Co-founder



    I got to meet him once when I was close with Scuba Pro, later in life he started a fine wine vineyard.


    He didn't need to be in the dive industry as he had plenty of bucks, a very colorful guy. He died in Dec of 1995 but his vineyard in Oakville Napa Valley is still run and owned by his wife.


    Cheers, Don

    "Great mother ocean brought forth all life, it is my eternal home'' Don Berry from Blue Water Hunters.


    Spearfishing Store the freediving and spearfishing equipment specialists.

    Edited 2 times, last by Don Paul ().

    Quote from Hardline

    Was he spearing just to spear stuff?




    He shot a bunch of nice fish over his time.It's hard to look at fish that were speared, caught rod and reel in the 50's. I have a hard time looking at images of Jew fish and Giant sea bass hanging from the dock scales, it was a different time.
    In Haiti where the film was made I bet every fish was consumed by the fisherman or the locals. He did pass on the Moorish Idols ''in search of more sporting game''.:D


    I still remember my first trip to Tahiti...I was standing on the dock wanting for a boat to take me to film on the outer reef. A beautiful Tahitian girl was fishing from the dock with a little scrap of thin mono, soon she hooked a 4inch yellow tang just like I had in my aquarium back home. While it was still alive she scaled it and tore pieces of flesh from the body to snack on. I didn't like it but kept my mouth shut, later I remembered doing the same thing to Bluegills when I was a kid. The little cute yellow tang was just a local fish for her.


    I did eat a angel once.;) ....tan, blond hair.....


    Cheers, Don

    "Great mother ocean brought forth all life, it is my eternal home'' Don Berry from Blue Water Hunters.


    Spearfishing Store the freediving and spearfishing equipment specialists.

    Edited once, last by Don Paul ().


    That's funny. I always get a kick out of salt water aquariums. Especially when u have eaten the fish housed in them. Manini, kole, papio, mempachi, aweoweo, and parrots are expensive to collect but they sure taste good.:laughing:


    Guilty on the Jewfish - we did take a lot of them in the early days but none of them was wasted. I enjoy looking at them now and wouldn't consider shooting one now ; but in the old days shooting a huge jewfish with a spring gun or French Arbalete tied to a nylon ski rope with a Clorox bottle to old the line up - was sporting - freediving of course.


    Times have changed. We never speared Parrot Fish - we considered them to be unsporting and unedible - now they are a popular target. Go figure.

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