What would you do for a sheepshead?

[RickI]

There may be a few sharks milling about when the divers first enter the water on the Stuart Cove shark feed dive. The first dive is along the wall away from the feeding area. Usually no sharks follow along that part of the dive. When you go in for the second dive, more sharks are in the area of the feeding "arena" still not that many. The sharks really show up once the bait box goes into the water. When the feeder leaves the area with the bait box, many of the sharks follow along. I recognize some of the same sharks showing up despite several months between my visits.

There are a bunch of still shots and a video of one feed at:
Video & Photos - Nassau Shark Dive With Stuart Cove - FKA Kiteboarding Forums

I wonder if the sheephead fisherman was aware of the massive annual blacktip migration moving through the area? There were beach closures around that time, http://www.wpbf.com/news/18722444/detail.html A kiteboarder was killed by a bull probably feeding on the spinners/blacktips in that migration just to the north off Hutcheson Island this year within a month or so later. If your life or health are worth trading for a sheepshead particularly while spearfishing solo without a place to put your kill out of the water with hundreds of sharks sliding past, have at it, gene pool rules. Outwardly there doesn't seem to be much risk to condition one shark out of hundreds or thousands on an annual migration over many hundreds of miles with one released fish. On the other hand that shark is at risk of being eaten itself (or the shooter for that matter), by attending bulls and tigers to the migration.

 

[Johnoly]

..... If your life or health are worth trading for a sheepshead particularly while spearfishing solo without a place to put your kill out of the water with hundreds of sharks sliding past, have at it, gene pool rules....

Ouch Rick, I've met you before and you're a very nice person who I didn't think would wish ill-will on a fellow Florida diver.

Like the other spearo's commenting on this thread, we dive and spear around bull sharks on a regular basis. We know what signs to look for to determine what the bull is looking to do. You can't panic, you need to watch, react and follow your spearo training just like this spearo did in the video. By the way, I know this spearo too.

Here's a couple of tips on the bull's behavior in the Video to show that the shark WAS NOT after the fish. The bull was protecting his territory and wanted the spearo out of it. It was not after the fish.

* If you look at the video closely, you'll need to watch the bull's tail. As it comes closer, the tail has a smooth sway motion back and forth and it is not looking for speed. Very quick tail flips indicate it's looking for a speed strike. No way is he looking for a speed burst in this video.

* Look at the head movements side to side. Again the bull is keeping his head pretty steady and not straight on in a direct line with the head going side to side so he can use both eye balls for angle perspective. This bull is making side passes and no rapid side to side, and using only one eye ball on each pass. Clearly not food related especially with the sheeps in clear view.

* Bull's eyes and head are level. If the bull wants to strike, he'll tilt his head at the last second for a strike. No tilt here.

* The bull's back is arched alot. He posturing showing he's the boss, but the spearo back's him down. The back remains arched meaning he's not ready to strike. If the bull streamlines and get's straight as it moves away, then look out for a strike.

This bull was being territorial. The sheeps head was way outfront several times and the bull could have taken it anytime it wanted to. He was protecting his territory and wanted the spearo gone so he would not take his food source. This behavior happens regularly on the deep ledges and sometimes with a good current, we can out swim the territory and they will turn around.

Learning the behavior only comes from years of getting attacked and knowing when you have a real problem and a feeding frenzy, OR when you have a territory problem which is very different.

There is NEVER a reason to kill a shark, bull or otherwise. Now a days if we are in a HOT spot, we just lift bag our fish to the surface and the problem is solved. But I've had 4 bulls on me at once with no buddy and no boat. A shark shield and a big tank are really nice to have while you handle a 10 minute fight.

Rick, Come diving with us around May 1st to May 15th in Jupiter and I will show you hundreds of Bulls in the water with a dozen very experienced spearo's and you can sit back and observe them from a distance and you will see exactly the behavior that I wrote about above. It will be the most thrilling dive you have ever done.

 

[RickI]

I thought it was a bull at first too. Then I started looking more closely at it and changed my mind. Take a look at these and see what you think.

From: File:Bullshark Beqa Fiji 2007.jpg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A fuzzy screen capture of the shark in question. Things show up better if you watch the video however.

Photos from: Bull Shark Pictures - Images of Carcharhinus leucas the bull or zambezi shark.

There are no black tips on these sharks pectorals, or on its primary doral fin tip. The dorsal is lower and more blunt than what shows up in the video. Also the trailing edge of the pectorals is more curved, less sharp that those shown above. Finally, the head seems far less blunt, more streamlined and more flat than the bulls shown above.

If you slow down the images of the shark video you will see the pectorals erect and downward head at times, pretty classic attack behaviors. I'll agree as aggressive displays go it was fairly subdued after that first close pass behind the sheepshead spearfisherman's back. The guy wasn't hit a good thing but honestly, not for lack of trying from appearances. There are quite a few things that might have been undertaken differently. The guy must have known that beach had been closed for at least two days with the annual spinner/blacktip migration the week he was out there. I've kited over these schools of hundreds of spinners and blacktips for many hours. No way I would want to spend time in the water with them with a dead or dying fish attached to me. That is just my choice. It is interesting that around sunset, fins would vector towards me while kiting, no fish in the water needed.