Shark kills South African spear fisherman

[likelite]

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Which show? If you see it again, post it somewhere. I think a letter-writing campaign is in order, either to whichever channel showed it or whichever dive company is featured in it.

 

[dannobee]

IIRC, it wasn't "shot" like a speargun, but used more defensively, as a prod to get the shark away. As the diver pushed harder, the charge went off with a bang that (allegedly) didn't hurt the shark, just made the big boom and scared it away.

As for a letter writing campaign, you do know that most of those shows are several years old, right? Look at the copyright dates on them.

 

[Cudabait]

The difference is that chumming does provide any food to the sharks (other than the odd scrap of fishhead), so if anything the sharks would associate the boats with NOT being fed?

Stick to your day job.......not the science of fish behavior..You also may wish to re-write this post....as it stands it does not make sense.

regards,

 

[Cudabait]

IIRC, it wasn't "shot" like a speargun, but used more defensively, as a prod to get the shark away. As the diver pushed harder, the charge went off with a bang that (allegedly) didn't hurt the shark, just made the big boom and scared it away.

As for a letter writing campaign, you do know that most of those shows are several years old, right? Look at the copyright dates on them.

Actually, it is called a bang stick and they are designed to do tremendous damage. The hydrostatic shock plus the various projectiles used in these devices make holes big enough to put a large ball into. They are usually armed with 10 ot 12 gauge shotgun shells containing rifled slugs or 00 buck shot. It is activated by contact which activates the primer and the following explosion. Very effective for stoning sharks.

Regards,

 

[dannobee]

Actually, it is called a bang stick and they are designed to do tremendous damage. The hydrostatic shock plus the various projectiles used in these devices make holes big enough to put a large ball into. They are usually armed with 10 ot 12 gauge shotgun shells containing rifled slugs or 00 buck shot. It is activated by contact which activates the primer and the following explosion. Very effective for stoning sharks.

Regards,

Could be. The one that they showed seemed to have a shell quite a bit smaller than a shotshell. Maybe about the size of a .38/.357? This was the first time I'd ever heard of or seen one, so it was new to me, but the shell that this one had wasn't very big (compared to a 10 or 12 gauge shell).

 

[MontyPython]

The difference is that chumming does provide any food to the sharks (other than the odd scrap of fishhead), so if anything the sharks would associate the boats with NOT being fed?

Well, McDonalds (and other fast foods) does not provide any real food either, but people still queue 5 deep to get that scraps. And we are supposed to be smart and on top of the food chain.

Chumming is home delivery for our cousins in the ocean.

Yes, it would be nice to have a shark expert answer some of these statements we make here, but In My Humble Opinion, common sense should prevail, DO NOT FEED THE ANIMALS.

Take only memories and leave only bubbles behind.

 

[Mwright15]

Stick to your day job.......not the science of fish behavior..You also may wish to re-write this post....as it stands it does not make sense.

regards,

Easy tiger.. yes sorry you are correct my post did not make sense. I was trying to make the point that while the Pavlov reaction was induced by associating a stimulus with food. Shark cage diving does NOT (yes the missing word from my first post) result in the sharks being fed. So drawing a comparison with Pavlov may not be entirely fair. Let me creep back to my day job now...


p.s your 'bang sticks' are also known as thunderheads and are sometimes loaded with blanks to have a less devastating effect.

 

[ReefGuy]

k, guys. What we're talking about is Powerheads, and they are frequently carried by spearfishermen for self defense. They are a cartridge, not a shell, and come in just about any caliber from .223 to .45. They're either screwed on or just slipped on to the tip of a spear on a speargun, which effectively becomes the firing pin.

I believe that bangsticks, which used shotgun shells, were the first generation.

Also, Mwright, it's not the caliber of the powerhead, it's the gas charge that does the massive damage. For this reason, a lot of spearos opt for the .223 - lots of gas but small bullet. Blanks are supposedly no less effective than a regular round.

 

[likelite]

You know what? You can call me a shark-hugging blenny lover if you want, but I think it's outrageous to intentionally swim outside the cage with a giant shark, and carry a weapon capable of killing it should it decide to attack.

YOU are in ITS environment, not the other way round. And frankly, there's not much anyone here can say about this that's going to change my mind on this topic.

As far as the shows being a couple of years old, I suspect that an organized campaign directed at the media outlet showing this stuff would do some good. Ditto a letter campaign to whichever outfit is shown conducting the dives. These folks all make their livings by word of mouth, and I know I won't be doing any trips, sans cage or avec, with anyone I have seen on television encouraging people to shoot sharks.