Sharks

[james croft]

I agree that bulls are my worst nightmare. We had several folks killed by them the past several years in VA and NC. Some surfing, some swimming. Bulls are mean and will ruin your day. Give me a nice ole sand tiger any day.

 

[PUGMASTER]

HEY, this is not helping


Thanks for the tidbits though.

 

[H2ODoc]

I, too, am afraid of sharks. Maybe I should say I WAS afraid of sharks...

What I'm trying to say, is that I was always afraid of sharks based on hearing about them, watching Discovery Channel, etc. I LOVE watching SharkWeek and learning about them - maybe its like road kill - you don't want to look at it, but you can't help yourself.

Anyway, my fears were always based on what I saw on TV, etc. That's before we started scuba diving. We took our 1st scuba trip last year to Belize where the only thing on my mind was what I'd do if I saw a shark.

So, on the 1st day of our 1st dive trip, we go out on the little boat, the DM grabs the mooring bouy and secures the boat. Within 30 seconds, 8 nurse sharks are circling the boat. Great.

I, as luck would have it, am the 1st person ready to go, so the DM says "hop in". I look at her with that look of "are you ********ing crazy? YOU hop in!". She says "don't worry, they are like kittens". Yea right. I paid in advance for this trip, so you don't care if I live or die!

Anyway, I hopped in and they all stayed 5 to 15 feet away. We were in chest deep water standing on the bottom and I was alone with these things for a few minutes. I was VERY surprised NOT to be nervous. It seemed obvious that they didn't care about me!

The next day's dive, we go out and hop off the boat in 40' of water. My wife and I are the 1st to descend and were told to "wait on the bottom" (to avoid seasickness in the swells). We are dropping down and out of the distance comes 4 nurse sharks. They were coming our way and some swam below us and some came next to us. They were probably 3 to 8 feet away. Anyway, once again, I barely felt nervous. I say "barely" because I was aware of them, but it somehow seemed obvious that they weren't too interested in us.

Its almost as if they were so confident in their element and so beautiful, that the joy of seeing them overshadowed any fear. For all of you "non-shark-fearing" divers, you are probably laughing that anyone could be afraid of a nurse shark. Well, irrational as it may be, everyone has different fears.

I may feel differently around GW or Bulls, though. I guess it depends on the circumstances (a bull coming at me at 20 mph vs. watching him from a distance!)

I hope this helps. The joy of diving should be worth any trepidation you may have!

 

[Walter]

I'm no expert, but that attack looked premeditated.

I don't believe a shark has the ability to do anything premeditated.

 

[PUGMASTER]

I hope this helps. The joy of diving should be worth any trepidation you may have!

Great story, thanks.

 

[Thalassamania]

Ok now that raised my pucker factor. SCAARRRY!!!

I was working for US AID on an Inter-American Bank from 1974 thru 75 on a project assessing the fisheries resources in Lago de Nicaragua. Most of the work was stock assessment stuff, tag and recapture studies, the usual, there was a little diving. I’d heard stories about the Bull Sharks in the lake and I had some concerns so I usually dove with a shark billie and I had a Farallon Shark Dart (Magnum model) mounted in a PVC tube on my backpack. The Farallon Shark Dart is a sharpened hollow spike with a high pressure Carbon Dioxide cylinder at one end. When you poke the spike into a shark, a sharp pin punctures the cylinder and the gas travels out the hollow spike and into the shark. The gas inflates the shark like a balloon and it is forced to the surface. This picture is of the small version, the one I had used the giant CO₂ cartridges.

Anyway, to make a long story short, whilst diving to do soem transect work I had a Bull Shark start circle me and start displaying aggressively (back arched, pectorals down, etc.). The circles got smaller and smaller and finally he was in real tight and I was holding the shark’s head away from me with the billie, We were spinning from right to left. The shark flicked away from me and cut my leg rather badly with what I can only assume was his pectoral fin, he went out about fifteen feet and turned back at me, I reached over my shoulder and pulled the Shark Dart (with a shaft about two feet long attached) up out of the tube and over my shoulder. I glanced about for my Comrade Diver, but he was no where to be found.

The shark came straight at me and I fended him off with the bille, I brought the dart around and stabbed him with it. Nothing happened. I pulled the dart out of him, still with the billie pushing against his head. I could see that I’d not pulled the little orange clip off the dart to arm it.

It was one of the moments like when Butch and Sundance jump off the cliff, OH ...! I was pretty scared, I could not arm the damned thing without using my left hand (which was holding the shark off) or my teeth (which were holding my regulator). After what seemed like a long time spinning around with the billie held against the shark’s head (likely it was really five to ten seconds, but time is hard to judge in adrenal drenched retrospect) the shark once again retreated and went back into aggressive displaying I dropped the billie on its lanyard, reached up and pulled the clip off and recovered the billie as quickly as I could.

The shark charged once again, and once again I parried his head with the billie, as we started to turn I poked him hard with the dart and it went off with a woosh. I could see his guts being forced out his mouth and he went head up. I had a little trouble pulling the dart out due to the angle.

I checked my compass and headed back toward shore which was a few hundred yards away, after going a little way I decided to surface and look for Comrade Diver. He was a little ways off and was pulling the dying shark with a transect rope he’d secured about the tail. I went over to him and lent a hand. We towed it into shore and gave it to the old woman that was sort of in charge of the little village we were staying in. The cooked the whole thing up and we had a rather nice fiesta. Bull shark washed down with a bottle each of Flor de Cana Especial.

I cut the jaws out and brought them home. For years they were nailed to the wall and I used them to hang keys on. A friend of mine, an artist named Peruko Ccopacatty (who is a rather well know metal sculptor) saw the jaws hanging there and asked for them so that he could make me something appropriate to hold it. He made me a metal tube sculpture that is clearly squaliform, but that also looks a bit like a cross, and has the jaws mounted in it. It’s on my wall to this day.

 

[james croft]

You are the man! Anyone who thinks they are going to be in proximity with bulls better have more than a broken steak knife or EMT shears. I carry a .223 powerhead that makes me feel a little better. I have seen the shark dart but have never heard of a firsthand experience of anyone using it.

 

[PUGMASTER]

I have one of those kind of stories also, but it was a black bear.

I'm sh #$%^&% just reading this.

 

[Walter]

I was working for US AID on an Inter-American Bank from 1974 thru 75 on a project assessing the fisheries resources in Lago de Nicaragua.

I'm glad I rarely dive in fresh water.

 

[Thalassamania]

You are the man! Anyone who thinks they are going to be in proximity with bulls better have more than a broken steak knife or EMT shears. I carry a .223 powerhead that makes me feel a little better. I have seen the shark dart but have never heard of a firsthand experience of anyone using it.

I thought they were stupid. My Mom bought if for me because she'd read about the sharks down there and she was worried. I almost did not take it, and the only reason I mounted it on my backback was to keep her happy.