FL shark diving

[Amazz]

It will also be a plus if you have a mindless disregard for responsible diving practices, and don't really care that much if someone gets bitten or worse.

I'm curious about what you have specifically observed on the Emerald as mindless disregard for responsible diving practices. I dive with Randy a lot and completely disagree with your statement. I occasionally spearfish, but rarely on the Deep Ledge with bull sharks present. My personal decision. Cobia are a good eating fish. They frequently travel with bull sharks and sting rays. I don't have the nerve to shoot in that situation. These guys may very well get bitten one day. They take that risk. However, the sightseers are relatively free of danger as the sharks know exactly where the carnage is and go right to the fish. You are very good at criticizing operations that you know nothing about.

Divers shoot a lift bag from depth to let boaters know where they are before they hit the surface. This is a standard safety practice on Emerald. A diver must make a reasonable effort to stay within 300' of the dive flag. This part of the law is deliberately ambiguous because with drift dives, it's not always reasonable. The Emerald follows the law. PERIOD.

 

[danvolker]

I'm curious about what you have specifically observed on the Emerald as mindless disregard for responsible diving practices. I dive with Randy a lot and completely disagree with your statement. I occasionally spearfish, but rarely on the Deep Ledge with bull sharks present. My personal decision. Cobia are a good eating fish. They frequently travel with bull sharks and sting rays. I don't have the nerve to shoot in that situation. These guys may very well get bitten one day. They take that risk. However, the sightseers are relatively free of danger as the sharks know exactly where the carnage is and go right to the fish. You are very good at criticizing operations that you know nothing about.

Divers shoot a lift bag from depth to let boaters know where they are before they hit the surface. This is a standard safety practice on Emerald. A diver must make a reasonable effort to stay within 300' of the dive flag. This part of the law is deliberately ambiguous because with drift dives, it's not always reasonable. The Emerald follows the law. PERIOD.

My comments were entirely about the Youtube videos coming out of people diving with Randy, where the video was glorifying the idea of creating a frenzy situation by spearing around bullshark, and getting them to start rushing divers...the shooting the cobia off the backs of the bullsharks is part of this excitement.

I think it is one thing to observe bullsharks or any other species, when they are relaxed , or even just interested due to bait with no live struggling fish....the issue of the live struggling fish is the problem I see. As you obviously know, live struggling fish put out vibrations that cause shark behavior to be far more aggressive and potentially far more dangerous.

Maybe all Randy is ---is an attractor for the type of diver that likes this. In any event, my purpose for posting was to suggest to a diver interested in shooting video of sharks, that this is not the smartest way to bring sharks in close, and still have them in non-aggressive behavior mode....

Since so many spearfisherman want to defend this practice as Intelligent, and will in all likelihood defend it to the death, I will not waste any more time on this topic.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I'm curious about what you have specifically observed on the Emerald as mindless disregard for responsible diving practices. I dive with Randy a lot and completely disagree with your statement. I occasionally spearfish, but rarely on the Deep Ledge with bull sharks present. My personal decision. Cobia are a good eating fish. They frequently travel with bull sharks and sting rays. I don't have the nerve to shoot in that situation. These guys may very well get bitten one day. They take that risk. However, the sightseers are relatively free of danger as the sharks know exactly where the carnage is and go right to the fish. You are very good at criticizing operations that you know nothing about.

Divers shoot a lift bag from depth to let boaters know where they are before they hit the surface. This is a standard safety practice on Emerald. A diver must make a reasonable effort to stay within 300' of the dive flag. This part of the law is deliberately ambiguous because with drift dives, it's not always reasonable. The Emerald follows the law. PERIOD.

Your bolded comment is NOT always true. If you continue to get more experience in spearfishing, you will begin to realize that sharks can and will go right past a struggling fish and "be aggressive toward" a diver. You are correct 99.5% of the time, but it is that damn 0,5% where things get really ugly. Anthony lost a portion of his calf like this while diving locally... just ask him...

 

[danvolker]

I'd almost swear that when the bullsharks begin going nuts after we have shot fish ( when they happen to show up) , that they are getting themselves worked up and "pissed" that we are on their hunting ground, stealing THEIR prey/food...and they are trying to let us know it.....there is a lot of posturing, and we already know that body position and posturing is a powerul way that fish comunicate basic ideas....think "cleaning posture" so that cleaning fish come in, as well as this "threat posturing" aimed at rival predators.


And as DD says, I have had plenty of sharks pass the fish by and make close passes at me instead. Fortunately I have always been able to wave them off by the large electromagnetic ouput and large mass of my big double barrel Ultimate gun--apparently large enough that they "feel it" without having to bump into it--either that or just big enough, that they don't like the idea of it getting too near them.


I spearfished pretty much every dive I did from 1976 to 2006.... the last few years have been primarily shooting video....just the same, I like seeing sharks without the aggressive behaviors that having live struggling fish in the water, near me, creates.

Apologies if it looks like DD and I agree on anything. We don't.

 

[guyharrisonphoto]

Do I understand this right? They dive to 130-135', in strong current, at the very limit of no-deco, into narcosis territory, a no-margin-for-error dive.

Then, they slaughter a great game fish, not for food in the time-honored tradition of harvesting (yes, I have no problem with spearfishing for food), but for no purpose other than having it bleed and thrash, and then be torn to pieces by large predatory sharks in a feeding frenzy. Then they drift through the middle of that frenzy.

Does anyone foresee a happy ending for this? Just ask Timothy Treadwell, "Grizzly Man", what comes of the hubris of thinking that large predators are "friendly" or "under control," and he didn't even intentionally provoke their predatory instincts. True, he did last for years, but the end was not pleasant.

Like Treadwell, this might go on for a while before the inevitable. But, at some point, either a diver is going to get bit (or worse) doing this, or a panic situation will arise probably resulting in a chamber ride at best, or they are going to have to kill some sharks in a "self defense" situation that their own foolishness and macho cruelty created.

Am I missing something, something that would show me this really is "responsible diving practice"?

If so, please enlighten me.

OK, OK, now all of you "its my life and I can do what I want" people can weigh in.

 

[danvolker]

Do I understand this right? They dive to 130-135', in strong current, at the very limit of no-deco, into narcosis territory, a no-margin-for-error dive.

Then, they slaughter a great game fish, not for food in the time-honored tradition of harvesting (yes, I have no problem with spearfishing for food), but for no purpose other than having it bleed and thrash, and then be torn to pieces by large predatory sharks in a feeding frenzy. Then they drift through the middle of that frenzy.

Does anyone foresee a happy ending for this? Just ask Timothy Treadwell, "Grizzly Man", what comes of the hubris of thinking that large predators are "friendly" or "under control," and he didn't even intentionally provoke their predatory instincts. True, he did last for years, but the end was not pleasant.

Like Treadwell, this might go on for a while before the inevitable. But, at some point, either a diver is going to get bit (or worse) doing this, or a panic situation will arise probably resulting in a chamber ride at best, or they are going to have to kill some sharks in a "self defense" situation that their own foolishness and macho cruelty created.

Am I missing something, something that would show me this really is "responsible diving practice"?

If so, please enlighten me.

OK, OK, now all of you "its my life and I can do what I want" people can weigh in.

I think they start out shooting jacks--which typically are spectacular for bringing in sharks, and lousy for eating( if you ask me--but that is personal taste)....Cobia are considered a delicacy by many divers, so when they pop the cobia on the back of a bullshark, they try pretty hard to get it up to the surface without a shark getting it....the jacks they don't care so much about--but again, that is just my assumption ( from watching his videos), as I have never dived with Randy, and have no plans for it. I am pretty sure Randy would prefer it this way as well

 

[Amazz]

Your bolded comment is NOT always true. If you continue to get more experience in spearfishing, you will begin to realize that sharks can and will go right past a struggling fish and "be aggressive toward" a diver. You are correct 99.5% of the time, but it is that damn 0,5% where things get really ugly. Anthony lost a portion of his calf like this while diving locally... just ask him...

I likely know far more about Anthony's encounter than you do. And we'll not get into his personal incident on this public forum. I never said that shooting fish in the presence of bull sharks is intelligent. Notice that I stated that I don't do it. My initial point was to disagree with somebody who accused an operator of disregarding safe diving procedures without knowing what those procedures are. This person has a habit of positioning himself as an expert without possessing the knowledge to do so.

---------- Post added February 21st, 2013 at 07:42 PM ----------

This is not a win-able debate. Emerald is a spearfishing boat. That's what they do. They are also getting a fair number of photographers. When you spearfish, you attract sharks, especially on the 130' ledge. For the most part, divers land their fish and get them to the boat. However, this time of year, the sharks come in great numbers and it's more difficult. It's a choice. I once had a scary experience when I shot a mutton snapper on the deep ledge. 6 bulls closed in on me very quickly. Ironically, Anthony, who was bitten by a bull later swooped in on his scooter and smacked a bull that was on my back. Thank goodness I didn't see it. But I saw the others and quickly gave up my fish and got out of there. Golden lesson learned. We have plenty of choices who we dive with. If you don't like it, don't do it.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I likely know far more about Anthony's encounter than you do. And we'll not get into his personal incident on this public forum. I never said that shooting fish in the presence of bull sharks is intelligent. Notice that I stated that I don't do it. My initial point was to disagree with somebody who accused an operator of disregarding safe diving procedures without knowing what those procedures are. This person has a habit of positioning himself as an expert without possessing the knowledge to do so.

---------- Post added February 21st, 2013 at 07:42 PM ----------

This is not a win-able debate. Emerald is a spearfishing boat. That's what they do. They are also getting a fair number of photographers. When you spearfish, you attract sharks, especially on the 130' ledge. For the most part, divers land their fish and get them to the boat. However, this time of year, the sharks come in great numbers and it's more difficult. It's a choice. I once had a scary experience when I shot a mutton snapper on the deep ledge. 6 bulls closed in on me very quickly. Ironically, Anthony, who was bitten by a bull later swooped in on his scooter and smacked a bull that was on my back. Thank goodness I didn't see it. But I saw the others and quickly gave up my fish and got out of there. Golden lesson learned. We have plenty of choices who we dive with. If you don't like it, don't do it.

And my point was very specifically that your assertion that sharks will leave you alone and go right for a speared fish is NOT true in all situations. I myself have had to fight off sharks with my bare hands that went right past a speared fish. Punching sharks in the face and head, as you try to make your way to the surface on a breathhold dive leaves a person with a very clear understanding. It sounds like you know this to be true if you have spoken with Anthony? Not sure why you won't simply agree with me that you are right 99.5% of the time.. ?????

I too, used to believe that the sharks are smart and they only want the fish and they won't bite a diver and if they ever did bite a diver it was because they got confused between the fish and the diver...I am quite confident that this is not always true. I have seen several other incidents as well.

I have not attacked Randy, his operation or his spearfishing.

 

[guyharrisonphoto]

Also, the OP shows only 24 dives and he is from up north. I seriously doubt he has any extensive deep diving experience (if any) and his posts suggests that he has no shark diving experience.

I do not think it is resposible diving practice to recommend this dive to him, as the danger, not just from the sharks, but inherent in the dive itself, does not seem well suited to his experience.

Frankly, as a photographer with going on 1000 dives by now, and one of Jim's shark trips under my belt, I would think twice, or three times, before I would do this dive with active spearing going on.

I an not attacking the spearfishermen who do this for food (although I do dislike spearing for waste, even lowly jacks, just to get a frenzy going). Cobia are indeed one of the tastiest fish around.

But, the stories here (one person bitten and two with near misses between just a few posters) need no elaboration to show just how dangerous this dive is even for highly experienced divers.

 

[Murfdizzle21]

Randy has put his divers on seven or more Great Hammerheads the past three weekends.. Besides all the bulls, lemons, and reefies they see.. Just saying. The pictures and videos don't lie. You want to see some awesome sharks, he's you're man.