What do you regard as "safe" viz?

[Rolando]

You SA spearos have what we call down here in Miami "Cojones". Poor viz spearing in GW infested waters...shit you guys are "Cojonoos".

Bluecape,

Regarding stupid things we do out in the water, I think it's safe to say that everyone commits a bone-headed move from time to time. The trick is to learn from it and not repeat it again. I speared a nice sized fish the other day with a salt-water croc in the vicinity all in 5' viz. When I got home that night, I told myself it wasn't worth the risk.

Good Luck to all you guys and beware of the tax collector in the grey suit

[bluecape]

Hi Rat

I think my post may have caused confusion...on powerheads not helping, I was specifically referring to a situation where a great white decides he wants a piece of you...ie, you are not going to see him coming at all. I do however know of plenty of my buddies who dive with them, and certainly they are 'feel-good' things to have in a pocket should a shark be in the area and showing an interest. ( Not only whites.)
I will see if I can get Tommy Botha to write a piece for this thread if I can get hold of him, otherwise maybe Ed Hayman can do. ( Also had a run-in with a great white, and a massively experinced spearo. Was bent once by repeated deep freedives whilst spearing.

[Rat Cunning]

Blue Cape:

Thanks for your post. Yes, getting some input from the serious divers is the way to go, and I think it would be very helpfull for the other readers in this forum. If you could get hold of either of these guys (they used to dive commercially too, I think) it would be a really intersting piece of feedback. Thanks for the offer.

I will try and get hold of other chap who has a fair bit of experience with these monsters, he is an underwater camera man, and pretty hard core but a really approachable guy and always willing to give advice and assistance, and then we can compaire notes. He has some footage on his site here, if you want to check it out. If you look closely at his spear, I think it has a powerhead on it, but am not sure:

http://www.digistream.co.za/stock.html

I can have my opinion, as can anybody else, but having never even seen a GW, I am not really in a position to speak with any authority really, and don't want to mislead people incorrectly in one direction or another. Having said this, Sod's law being what it is, the day I get convinced by you guys to ditch the powerheads, is the probably the day I get circled by a white and really get a good scare.

[sammydive]

My visibility limit is when it quits being fun. Either through fear of sharks or just not being able to see anything. One advantage of only diving from boats, is we can usually find clearer water, by going further out.

[IB Boyd]

Very cool thread. Am enjoying it much. Was diving at La Jolla a couple weeks back when the red tide was thicker, vis was about two foot on the surface, with about 15-20 foot vis at around ten feet down. tried to not even think the sh-rk word while recovering between dives. Any of you guys ever try one of those shark pods? The web site for them claims they have been throughly tested and found effective...if they really work(?) I would venture to speculate that that might be a more effective countermeasure in low vis than a bang stickas you wouldnt have to see the shark for it to work. Also wonder whether it would be effective in a case where a GW shark has selected his victim and is using a polaris attack( I beleive that is what it is called when they rocket up from below) I used to surf and dive the coast north of san fransisco and never saw a shark(although im sure they saw me).......and have no desire to!!

[Griff]

with regard to SA spearo being hardcore etc because of the GW threat, thats mainly the cape divers (southern, Sw side of the country). if someone see's a GW around Natal its a big big deal. we do get them, but now as many, and mainly the smaller ones (aroud the 4m mark) i know divers who have been diving for a long time and never seen one. the day i see a GW underwater is the day i decide whether or not i'm cut out for this spearfishing thing.

[ivan]

hi

Griff I think most of you Sth africans are crazy

Remember Abri has two or more encounters with White pointers and keeps diving, Tommy botha being attacked twice and keeps diving. Other stories I've read in our spearo magazine about Sth african divers and whites.

I have made a promise to myself that I will not dive below the Tropic of capricorn here in Australia due to Whites. Next year I will be moving down to the coldest and most southern part of Australia "Tasmania" where the risk of whites is very high so I don't think I will even take my guns.
Might stick to the freshwater lakes, heck I have nightmares about Whites and Ive never seen a live one.

Murat I will be diving at our local island tommorow most likely 10-15ft vis. With the mackeral my gun is always out in front the mackeral come in for their once over check and you must shoot cos generally they don't come back. There is usually more than enough time to line up however if you are not on the bottom and dive bomb them they swim a lot quicker.

cheers

[Murat]

Hey Ivan,

May be you should try cage diving with GW. That way you may overcome your fear . Personally i don't have courage to try it even i had a chance

[Memo]

I've been diving for about 19 years and have seen only 1m long harmless sharks just one time! but whenever the water is murky and deep I feel unsafe I think 10m is the safe viz for me although there is no shark in turkish waters in practice....

[bluecape]

There is a great, very true saying that goes "Knowledge dispells fear..."

I , like Andrew, used to be seriously freaked out by whites. So I decided to learn about them. I started reading everything I could, I started speaking to 'experts', and last week, I got into the water with them. ( In a cage) See 'The silent beauty' under freediving stories forum.

And yes, the more I see, and learn, the more I understand that they are probably more likely to try and avoid us, then we are them. Understanding it's habits and 'routine', and diving conservative, has left this 'paranoia' cape diver a happy, contented 'fan' of the oceans purest and most spectacular predator!

Dive safe

Jeff

[Rat Cunning]

Here are some stats regarding sharks and Viz. I am not sure how helpfull they are, or tell us anything.

http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Sharks.../WaterCond.htm

[Griff]

Looking at the stats from the link that Rat posted, i've come to a few conclusions.

0.9ft is when the most attacks occur, with the trend dropping off, as viz increases. the problem with the info is that the worse the viz, the fewer divers you will get. what we now need is info on what the worst viz is that divers are most likely to get in. after all, the other factor to consider is that more people diving, more shark attacks are going to happen.
i'm making a poll, with the same figures in terms of viz, and ask that everyone please post their info. the bigger the population group, the better the results.
thanks
Mark

[gert]

hi
i hate diving in bad vis but always seem to find myself in it i would say that i would be happy in 8m+ .
powerheads,i carry them with me always. i know alot of divers who won't dive without powerheads been near to bird island(second biggest population of great white)

blue sea and big fish to all
cheers
gert

[SHOOT2KILL]

how do you use a bangstick or power head.........do you attach it to your gun shaft.........i got an ice pick and its glued on

[gert]

Originally Posted by SHOOT2KILL

how do you use a bangstick or power head.........do you attach it to your gun shaft.........i got an ice pick and its glued on

it is put on (when needed) to the front of the spear point, when the spear is fired at the shark the spear deternates the bullet