Shark concern

  • Wrong, that's shark feeding. You've just conditioned the shark to harass divers.


    Dan I understand what you are saying BUT the way you worded it comes across as it is okay to risk your life to deny a shark a fish to avoid associating divers with food. Beginners read this.

    A bad day at sea is better than a good day in the boatyard
    George Steele

  • Wrong, that's shark feeding. You've just conditioned the shark to harass divers.


    An encounter between a spearo and a shark where the shark gets the fish one time does not condition or change a sharks behavior pattern nor does feeding them make them more aggressive. If feeding sharks made them aggressive, than the entire shark diving business in the Bahamas and Fiji wouldn't exist. Then you have guys like Emerald Charters who go out there and do exactly that virtually every day.


    I was speaking more so of the one shark who is actually harassing you enough to warrant dropping your fish. We're still talking about RARE occurrences. If a shark wants whats on your stringer and your poking is not making him go away...it's already got the mindset in place. A bite from a shark trying to steal your fish is not worth the fish in my opinion.

  • ok you tag, pet and take pictures of sharks. I'll powerhead a shark that doesn't go away after one poke. The only thing that would make me think twice about it is the $20 cost of the powerhead.


    If a shark ever does harass you to that point than I hope you would PH it because I wouldn't want to see you attacked. I just hope that situation never comes.


    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Dfq6hZSh8w

  • Come on Frank those sharks were just hooked, reeled in, & dragged into the boat then released. Not an applicable example. When a shark comes in serious to check you out while you are surfacing or right after shooting a fish its a whole different scenerio than watching one swim away from the boat it slipped off of.

    Scupper Pro Gives You Wings!

  • Come on Frank those sharks were just hooked, reeled in, & dragged into the boat then released. Not an applicable example. When a shark comes in serious to check you out while you are surfacing or right after shooting a fish its a whole different scenerio than watching one swim away from the boat it slipped off of.


    The point is that a shark is primarily interested in the fish on your gun or your stringer,not in you 99% of the time. For the other 1%, there is the PH.

  • redrider----so there you have it. You asked for our opinions and as you can see from the posts here, many spearos have different opinions/options on how best to handle the shark situation. There are many choices thrown out there by many experienced spearos for you to choose from. You can take your chances of getting your hand bit off petting a shark away OR blowing your hand off with a PH. :D
    hope this helps


    PS---"Quick Clot is your friend". http://www.z-medica.com/health…uikClot-Combat-Gauze.aspx

  • redrider----so there you have it. You asked for our opinions and as you can see from the posts here, many spearos have different opinions/options on how best to handle the shark situation. There are many choices thrown out there by many experienced spearos for you to choose from. You can take your chances of getting your hand bit off petting a shark away OR blowing your hand off with a PH. :D
    hope this helps


    PS---"Quick Clot is your friend". ZMedica - QuikClot® Family of Products for Healthcare Professionals


    Spearfishing is hard on the hands :D

    Scupper Pro Gives You Wings!

  • Dive with a partner and you statistically halve your chances of shark attack ;) You also get a set of eyes for the back of your head, more intimidation ability and an extra poking stick.

  • Powerhead or spearhead, I believe that the big shark that will get you, will blind side you with a big hit. You won't see it coming. A bazooka isn't going to help you then.


    The curious ones that come in a circle and you can poke….or shoot, maybe a big tiger would keep working it's way in but….


    Just don't think about it. Worry more about wrecking your car.

  • Im an excellent driver hank! I get what you are all saying and appreciate the advise.
    And hau, thanks for bringing up the quick clot. I always carried it with me on my hunting trips. hadn't thought about it in this application tho.

  • If you ever have to use QuickClot, be prepared. It literally sears itself into your skin on contact with the blood, and is excruciatingly painful, especially as you are placing it onto a large open wound area. Once you get to a hospital, they will have to surgically cut out the QuickClot that has melted itself onto the wound which will cause more rapid blood loss again, and if you aren't anesthetized when they do this, well, it isn't pleasant. Trust me. However, if you have serious blood loss at hand, don't hesitate to use it, it does work great- just prepare yourself. Hope you never need it, safe diving.


    Oh, one more word of advice. If you ever get a nasty bite on your limbs, a tourniquet is your best bet. They work amazingly well, and you have a couple hours to get to a hospital before there is any risk of you losing the limb. The Quickclot is best saved for abdominal/chest wounds where a tourniquet cannot be applied. They are cheap, easy to use, and really effective.

    Edited 2 times, last by Sames ().

  • Im an excellent driver hank! I get what you are all saying and appreciate the advise.
    And hau, thanks for bringing up the quick clot. I always carried it with me on my hunting trips. hadn't thought about it in this application tho.


    I didn't mean to insinuate you're a bad driver. :)

  • Powerhead or spearhead, I believe that the big shark that will get you, will blind side you with a big hit. You won't see it coming. A bazooka isn't going to help you then.


    The curious ones that come in a circle and you can poke….or shoot, maybe a big tiger would keep working it's way in but….


    Just don't think about it. Worry more about wrecking your car.


    I agree that any aggressive hungry man eating attack is likely to be a quick surprise. Even most of the small shark bites in the carrib seem to be from the ones not seen. Sharks are im sure keenly attuned to how aware we are of them and plan accordingly.


    Shark behavior seems to vary from place to place and species to species. I hear about some places with insanely aggressive sharks (usually smaller sharks) and see videos of big 15 foot tigers in hawaii coming to check out spearos multiple times. But all my experiences with sharks here in South Florida have pretty much involved small to medium sharks really wanting the fish on my stringer and really not wanting anything to do with me.


    When I see a shark messing with my fish I usually swim at them aggressively and that scares them away. I then take my fish out of the water and that usually sends them off permanently. Ive yet to even need to really poke a shark, as swimming at them usually causes them to swim in the opposite direction. Much like my style of spearfishing.


    That said, animal behavior is not predictable and I dont trust that all sharks will be so intimidated or focused on the fish. For those I carry powerheads I never plan to use. But if I ever find myself in a situation with a shark that wont leave me alone its getting the PH.


    Last weekend I was followed by a pesky 5ft bull that kept finding us every time we put fish in the water.Saw him 3-4 times during the day despite moving spots. Late in the day I saw him going after my stringer and chased him away. I called the boat over to take my fish but got distracted by a fish swimming by. Not long after that I felt a nice solid tug and instantly knew it was the shark taking my hogs. I then pulled in as I expected, an empty stringer and thought "dammit im an idiot, a fishless idiot"


    I tend to put my head on a swivel when im handling fish as I feel this is the time I am going to get bit. Struggling bloody fish and a hungry shark. But it seems most sharks around here dont show up until fish has been soaking in the water a while.

  • Shark behavior seems to vary from place to place and species to species. I hear about some places with insanely aggressive sharks (usually smaller sharks) .


    The most aggressive sharks I have encountered were these little 2-3 foot Caribbean reef sharks. There were three swimming right next to me. I looked at them and they're like, "what"….:D. So I poked one kind of hard. It didn't penetrate at all. It swam off, turned and came right back and started circling me. Just a little shit. haha. I just swam on and they finally left.

    Edited once, last by hank: spelling and stuff ().

  • Powerhead or spearhead, I believe that the big shark that will get you, will blind side you with a big hit. You won't see it coming. A bazooka isn't going to help you then.


    The curious ones that come in a circle and you can poke….or shoot, maybe a big tiger would keep working it's way in but….


    Just don't think about it. Worry more about wrecking your car.


    exactly my thoughts

  • Fortunately, an encounter with a "man eating" shark is a very rare event. Since you have had such encounters with the afore mentioned species you `ve come to realize already that sharks are not that dangerous. Around here the prospect of being close enough to a shark to Powerhead his guts is almost imposible, cause they don`t come that close. I have been in the middle of a shark frenzy and never felt really threatened cause I stayed calm. Another mate who was not as calm was harrassed by them though, cause they were trying to figure out the source of the blood and movement. Sharks are turned on not just by blood alone, but a dying /fighting fish movement. Stay calm and keep your eyes peeled at any times and you`ll be fine.

    I'm a Speardiver, not a freediver

  • I agree with hardline & dan, they have somewhat different views on this topic, but both make good points. I have had encounters with tiger sharks, galapagos sharks & whitetips. When i'm diving i am zoned into my dive & am enjoying the moment & am not looking over my shoulder for sharks. First of all we are in their world & if they wanted to attack you theres not much you can do especially if they get you from your blind side or come from the bottom up . Over time when you see sharks you can tell if they are aggressive by watching it's body langue. When they arch their backs & point their pectoral downward and circle around you a bit, quickly swim away & come right back they are in a very aggressive mind set. You can try to fight them off by jabbing them with your speargun, or using your power head as a LAST RESORT. Most of the time their just curious & are cruising around if they get to close just push them away with your speargun. You can carry a power head around to have peace of mind, but if you don't have time to get it out of your wetsuit & slip it on your shaft ?


    aloha oceans

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