Close Encounter

I shot an Amberjack on a weekend dive this past week and within a minute an 8 ft bull shark was circling me. He came face to face 7 feet away at one point.

I am curious on how often others experience sharks while shooting. That was about my 12th dive with a spear; I have been diving awhile and have never seen a shark until now.

I was snorkeling for lobster in the keys back in 2003 and had an encounter with a 6' bull shark. Before I go any further I must add that this encounter was COMPLETELY my fault. I had cut my knee and was bleeding (but not badly) when I got in the water and had just released 2 short lobster when I noticed the bull circling me. I then stopped lobstering and placed all of my attention on the bull. He was about 10 feet away from me and getting closer with his pectoral fins in the down position. As he got within 5 feet of me, he turned and came straight at me with his jaws open. At this point I stayed verticle in the water and thumped his nose with an aluminium tickle stick. This prompted the shark to swim back out to his original 10' circle around me. I popped my head up above the surface for a split second to find the nearest boat and to make a long story short, I swam as rhythmically and calmly as possible the 70 feet up current back to the boat. The bull followed me half way and lost attention in me and swam down current. Talk about fighting every ounce of instinct to noth thrash about the surface! I was back in the water 15 minutes later catching bugs!

never take your eyes off the shark. loose your catch if it even remotely considders taking it. move slowly.

I've never had a problem with a shark in 13yrs of spearfishing. seen LOTS.

Amphibious:

never take your eyes off the shark. loose your catch if it even remotely considders taking it. move slowly.

I've never had a problem with a shark in 13yrs of spearfishing. seen LOTS.

Click to expand...

Sounds like the same tactics a lot of people use with bears taking a hunter's kill.

I'm no hunter (though very supportive of the sport), but it would seem to me that if sharks are like bears, the sound of the shot is like ringing the dinner bell. They know something is most likely hurt or dead, and an easy meal is in the offing. I've had black bears show up when I've gone target shooting in the mountains. They are often curious, but usually scoot off when they don't see a kill to take.

Does this same behavior happen in the water? I have yet to see a shark in the wild, and I wonder if one could simulate the sound of a speargun firing underwater to attract them.

It's not the sound of the spear gun, it's the thrashing of the wounded fish, and the blood in the water from the spear. The electrical signals in combination with the smell of blood are what triggers the response in sharks. Sharks aren't really like bears, I would compare them more to wolves. They'll go after the weakest, injured, old, or tired of the species they're hunting before taking a strong healthy animal. Like wolves, some sharks hunt in packs, and some are solitary. Both animals deserve a healthy respect by humans. I have been fortunate to see both sharks and wolves in the wild, and that is how I draw my conclusion.

And I guess if you want to get technical in comparing two different groups of animals, you should compare sharks with all forms of wild dogs, and draw the connection by species.

Blue Sharks - pack hunters - sort of like jackals.
Great White - Solitary hunters - lone wolves.
Mako Shark - Has some form of order, but tend to feed alone - similar to coyotes.

I havent seen any sharks except for nurse sharks and they are like pets. Hope i can be as calm as yall when i do have an encounter with one.

As he got within 5 feet of me, he turned and came straight at me with his jaws open. [/QUOTE]

Crap,bet the ole butt hole coulda bit a #2 pencil into.

I know its gonna happen sooner or later, but I aint rushin it. Wow!

My brother and me went spearfishing out of Pensacola with 6 other spearos. All went down. The first spearos shot an amberjack. Within 10 seconds, 2 bulls, 10 feet each came over and want the free lunch!!!. Everyone bolted to the surface without deco stop except me and my bro. We were down low and did not see it until it circled us.

Me and my bro got tag-team by both of them. One of them came in about 5' of us. We turned the gun butts and ready to shove him off. Don't want to shoot him and get dragged under the bottom... an't much fun . He saw the gun butts and went back out to the 20' circle.

Anyhow, they tagged team us all the way to 20 feet. The 3 minutes deco is the longest fricking deco time in my life

Yep, bull is like wolf/dog, you show you are scared, they will be aggresive. You show who is the boss, they will back off. It worked for us.