Reef Shark Bites Spearfishing Freediver in FL Keys

[kelemvor]

The short clip of me (Parker Simpson) getting attacked by a 7-8ft reef shark. We were spearfishing near Middle Sambo reef off Boca Chica in the Keys on Sunday when this shark came out of nowhere. He first went at my dive buddy Justyn but immediately turned toward me. He first bit my left fin then took a chunk out of the right one before biting my leg and cutting the speargun line. I assumed he was trying to steal the black grouper i was holding. But after I lost the grouper and watched it swim to the bottom, the shark kept coming at us! Justyn went back down for my gun and actually shoved it in the sharks mouth like a badass!!!! The shark then took it straight to the bottom while we rushed back to the boat and safety. Always dive with a buddy and someone who is trained in first aid! I would not have made it back to the boat without the help of another strong swimmer and would have bled out had I not been patched up so well by Amanda. The shark tore through the skin, fat tissue, muscle, muscle sheath, and unfortunately my tibial artery which caused me to lose more than a liter of blood.

This clearly could have been much worse! Happy to still have my leg even with a piece missing! And we even got my Koah speargun back!!!

I am not Parker Simpson, just did a cut and paste from a report I saw on Facebook.

Seems pretty obvious that it is in the "deserved" or "provoked" or whatever they call it category.

 

[EricTheDood]

Seems pretty obvious that it is in the "deserved" or "provoked" or whatever they call it category.

Yep, bait with two legs.

 

[Nick Steele]

curious if he had the grouper on himself via stringer or if he just/grabbed it. The sharks you don't see are the worst and most likely to attack just for this guy for sure but at least he still has his leg!

 

[drrich2]

Seems pretty obvious that it is in the "deserved" or "provoked" or whatever they call it category.

I'm surprised we don't hear more angst about the categorization; if I understand correctly, you could spin it to say anybody spearfishing in the ocean 'deserves' to be attacked by a shark!

Did a quick Google search on the shark attack file; a Florida museum page referencing the International Shark Attack File says ""Provoked attacks" usually occur when a human initiates physical contact with a shark, e.g. a diver bitten after grabbing a shark, attacks on spearfishers and those feeding sharks, bites occurring while unhooking or removing a shark from a fishing net, etc."

If I were a spear fisherman, I'd be ticked off. In CuzzA's thread on this topic, Shark Bites Spearo: Video, Johnoly I.D.'d that as a sandbar shark in Post #8.

Richard.

 

[Trace Malinowski]

Glad he's okay and has a tale to tell.

Competing with an apex ocean predator for food on its terms ... spearfishing, because poles are for wussies. I bought a a T-shirt that said that in the Keys. Parker proved it true.

 

[spoolin01]

Shoulda jabbed at that shark when it got within range. Good thing they don't all go straight to attack like that!

For having an artery cut, it didn't look like much blood. Does that make sense?

 

[dmaziuk]

For having an artery cut, it didn't look like much blood. Does that make sense?

Tibial is lower leg so it's not as bad as, say, femoral. Still, a liter of blood is IIRC about half way to dead. Unless you're already in ICU when it happens.

 

[spoolin01]

I think it's a little less serious than that, but anyway, who measured his loss? Rewatching, it did bleed pretty steadily underwater, but in the brief shot on deck it appeared to have all but stopped already. I'm wondering if he did actually sever a main artery. Not that it wasn't a nasty wound.

 

[kelemvor]

I'm surprised we don't hear more angst about the categorization; if I understand correctly, you could spin it to say anybody spearfishing in the ocean 'deserves' to be attacked by a shark!

I think the right term is provoked as you found.

I'd compare it to running around in an Indian jungle with bloody strips of dead zebra strapped to your body. Pretty good chance if you go anywhere near a Tiger you're going to have a bad day. Same thing when diving with dead and bloody fish strapped to your body.

 

[drrich2]

I see the point, but I recall reading an article talking about the fact there are people who deer hunt in bear country.

Spear fishing obviously ups your risk; it raises the question of just how much risk is involved for mainstream spearfishing. I also wonder roughly what % of ocean hunting spearos get instruction on dealing with sharks.

Do barracuda ever cause problems like this? Bad as this was, the thought of a 5 foot barracuda charging like that sounds even worse.

Richard.