Bahamas shark attack on spearfisher

  • Florida fisherman attacked by shark in Bahamas http://www.baynews9.com/conten…acked+by+shark+in+Bahamas

  • nowhere near enough info to make any conclusions there, but from what IS there, sounds like he shot wayy too big of a shark for no reason?!?!


    aren't carib reefies not too aggressive ? i thought only the white tip reefies were?

    i like to spear fish

  • i saw this on the news. i have had 2 caribbean reef sharks get really close to me. one time with a dead fish in the water.


    do you think the guy made the situation worse by shooting the shark? barracudas act the same way sometimes when shot at.

  • I do not know much about sharks first hand... but, unless a shark is a foot away from me with it's mouth open I would not shoot it. The self defense on the story sounds more like... "Cooper got scared of the shark and shoot..."


    It's simple... do not shoot at anything you are not going to eat nor is trying to eat you. On the other hand if you are going to hunt for sharks... get a powerhead.


    In the water you are just another big fish, reef sharks do not have humans on their pray catalog.

  • I don´t think a shark with a shaft deeply embeded in its snout could be capable of coming after the diver as in "retailation mode" . That is, I think personification, a figure of speech by which an animal or an inanimated object behaves as a human being. The only exception to that rule would be, if the shark was allready in a feeding frenzy, situation in which he would certainly had gave a damn about the inflicted wound.


    I think something is missing in that report. IMO

    I'm a Speardiver, not a freediver

  • sure thing, there is something missing . most of the times the reporter knows nothing about the subject and never asks the right questions. i tried those slings not long ago and to be honest i'd rather poke at the shark than shoot with one of those . of course unless i had a power head and had a shot from top .

  • The article didn't specify that it was with a sling. It can be assumed that since Bahamas doesn't allow spearguns that it was a sling but many people use a speargun anyways. And yes if it was a sling I wouldn't shoot it either. I'd keep it to poke the shark away.


    A shark can attack a human under a few circumstances. It can be a predatory attack which I think we all understand. It is the most difficult to avoid. Then there's a defensive attack which most of the time is easy to avoid. Just leave the shark alone. A defensive attack happens when a shark feels threatened. The third kind is a territorial attack. It is an extension of a defensive attack and is more difficult to avoid as you don't have to be very close to shark to stimulate it to attack. This is prevalent with few species of shark but I think that the reef shark is one of them. Basically the shark perceives threat from a distance but rather than choosing to escape it's programmed to attack and drive off the threat.


    A shark that feels it can't escape and associates the diver as the cause can attack. I've heard of this happening with barracuda as well although I've never seen it and I've shot many barracudas. I would guess that a speared barracuda that was deemed to attack a diver simply chose the wrong direction on its escape run and slammed into the diver. It can cause a lot of damage that way.


    Here's a good example of a defensive attack by a shark.


    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uL7I6dgfzH4

  • Nice tipology Dan. A predatory attack is a rare event for a spearo. The shark knows you are an apex predator too, he may dare to fight for food but if you get beligerant you will get the best part of it. Some sharks are more aggressive than others when it comes to bite a human. I have heard some scary stories about makos though. A tourniquette kit should be mandatory in every spearfishing vessel.

    I'm a Speardiver, not a freediver

  • Here's some good info I pulled from SB a while back about the use of a tourniquet.

  • Life saving info Dan. Thanks a lot. The risk of massive bleeding wounds is always present in the spearfishing scenario. Seeing it otherwise is both irresponsible and too optimistic.

    I'm a Speardiver, not a freediver

  • I'm not a big diver but having seen a fair amount of sharks in the last 3 years I've always found that they keep well clear of humans, even the more aggressive Lemon Sharks (IMO), I'd drop the spear and fish and tread water quickly, first time I saw a lemon shark I rose above the water and didn't get wet for about 3 miles.

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