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hunter almost become hunted (bull shark encounter)...
- Thread startergetawayFK
- Start date
Thread Status: Hello
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Kmo, Goliath groupers are protected in Florida as well, but if you look at the situation there, there's too many of them to an annoying extent..so like many rules that exist out there, you sometimes wonder, where/why did it all begin ? besides, being protected in one area doesnt mean it should be protected everywhere else.
Good to know that you are all ok,I had the sense that the gulf has no much sharks especilly bull sharks,I used to spearfishing in Jeddah for the last 5 years and almost 5 months ago transfered to Khobar where I'm still looking for a new group or buddy ,so when starting to spear fishing again I have to be more carfull instade of my previous wrong sense of safty for spearfishing in the gulf,thx for the nice post.
Hi,
A few observations on the behaviour of bull sharks in S Africa. Here on the eastern seabord, we see them fairly often. It is a very unpredictable shark which can appear to be docile - minding its own business at the edge of viz for long periods of time, then something in its primeval brain switches and they become agressive. We treat these sharks with extreme caution as it probably has been responsilble for more (non fatal) attacks in Natal than any other shark. I have had days (mainly during competitions) where I have dived in the same area as I have seen one for a few hours, seeing it every 10 dives or so with no problems. The next day it is impossible to shoot and land a fish! As I have stated they are unpredictable - just beware.
Secondly, in Natal, they seem to be semi-territiorial in that you will often see the same shark on the same reef for long periods of time then nothing for months - then it returns again. In the '80's at salt rock there used to be two big bull sharks which were seen often. These two were eventually 'removed' and the sightnings of bulls are now sporadic to say the least.
These sharks have a tendency to sneak up behind you on the bottom (this is where they do most of their feeding), so be cautious when doing long aspettos as they can give you a big fright while on the bottom. A word of caution when surfacing swim slowly as they have followed me up off the bottom - even in deep water!
When we see them (unless it is comp conditions) we tend to move away and dive different spots. Caution is better than valour!
Keep safe
A few observations on the behaviour of bull sharks in S Africa. Here on the eastern seabord, we see them fairly often. It is a very unpredictable shark which can appear to be docile - minding its own business at the edge of viz for long periods of time, then something in its primeval brain switches and they become agressive. We treat these sharks with extreme caution as it probably has been responsilble for more (non fatal) attacks in Natal than any other shark. I have had days (mainly during competitions) where I have dived in the same area as I have seen one for a few hours, seeing it every 10 dives or so with no problems. The next day it is impossible to shoot and land a fish! As I have stated they are unpredictable - just beware.
Secondly, in Natal, they seem to be semi-territiorial in that you will often see the same shark on the same reef for long periods of time then nothing for months - then it returns again. In the '80's at salt rock there used to be two big bull sharks which were seen often. These two were eventually 'removed' and the sightnings of bulls are now sporadic to say the least.
These sharks have a tendency to sneak up behind you on the bottom (this is where they do most of their feeding), so be cautious when doing long aspettos as they can give you a big fright while on the bottom. A word of caution when surfacing swim slowly as they have followed me up off the bottom - even in deep water!
When we see them (unless it is comp conditions) we tend to move away and dive different spots. Caution is better than valour!
Keep safe
Hey bro thanks for the drop by and have a safe trip.. and inshalah we'll dive soon when u are back !
Thanks for the drop by and Im working on improving my video technique as well :blackeye
those that enter the foodchain should fully expect to eventually become part of it
Well if that's your vindication then I would consider myself to be at the apex of the food chain :martial... As for you, I don't know where you consider yourself in that "foodchain" :blackeye
Hey mate thanks for the pass by. Well I guess here the Persian Gulf is recovering well (hopefully) after all the oil spills, wars and over constructions that has been going on in the area. I can tell you that in term of fishery, this year has extremely been generous... You shouldn't be worrying about sharks while spearfishing but you should always dive with a buddy and use good buddy system (Shallow water blackout is a much bigger danger than shark attack...Also always use common sense... And if you feel unsafe and uncomfortable while diving then just get out of water...) As for sharks, I used to consider sighting a shark an occasion that would happens once in every 50-70 dives (well but with the cooler water now (17-20C) it has been happening much more often (e.g: Sighting sharks on three consecutive dives!) ... Neither I or any of my diving mates have had any major issue with them and their rare and occasional sights would only enlighten and beautify our dives...
However only two minor incidents happened (the one I described here in this post, and another incident that happened 2 years ago: in the same area and at the same time of the year when a group of free-diver spearos were returning from a far dive to the shore after having bee for couple of hours in the sea and just before dusk, something huge ripped apart their float and took it underwater and then took off with their catch, guns and everything that was attached to the float !!! Those guys couldn't have a look at what was that as it was already getting dark and they got pretty scared as well and at that moment their only thinking was to get back to shore safely!
Hey mate thanks for the very informative post! What you posted is exactly what I observed about their behavior! Around 20days ago, I also dived in my same spot and I got to observe a large bull shark cruising by (in around 25m deep water, could've been the same bull i had the close encounter with)... He seemed very relaxed and just cruised at the edge of the visibility and just minding his own business! Even on that encounter I described in that post, the bull shark never charged or came speeding... Mind you also that Im not worried about sharks I see (especially with a 1.2m rabitech gun:blackeye... And I swam before face to face with a very large tiger shark) but I get worried about those that I don't see or those which sneak from behind you...
I am planning for a dive to that same spot on sunday and I'm hoping to sight that bull again to better videotape him... In addition, we planning to be 4 spearos instead of 2 like last time and not separate from each other, and what we also planning is to use two different floats: One for fish and one for equipment... (Just in case we have to give up on the fish float). Hopefully things will go as planned and I will update with new video if I get chance to do capture him on camera ...
Best !
More divers in the water is always a good thing. We see it often with blackfin sharks that if there are 2 or more divers in the water at a time - no problem....but if you are alone they will harass you 9 out of 10 times you shoot a fish. I personally believe that there is definite security in numbers (except with Whites and in some areas Tigers) - as bulls do not like too many people around them. More divers will also prevent your catch being stolen by 'lesser' sharks (hammers, greys, blacktip, dusky, lemons etc).
Just be sure that all the divers in the water know what to do if a shark is seen. Its pointless having divers fleeing in terror at the first sign of a shark:martial
The divers need to stay close to the fish as you do not want a frenzy to start. A few solid jabs to the nose will normally send any shark bolting (does not apply to white sharks though!).
Anyway, enjoy your dive and keep us posted on how it goes.
Just be sure that all the divers in the water know what to do if a shark is seen. Its pointless having divers fleeing in terror at the first sign of a shark:martial
The divers need to stay close to the fish as you do not want a frenzy to start. A few solid jabs to the nose will normally send any shark bolting (does not apply to white sharks though!).
Anyway, enjoy your dive and keep us posted on how it goes.
Hi, like Spadefish I also dive the Natal Coast (with Spadefish on the odd occasion when I'm lucky enough) and sharks are a "normal" part of life. When faced with a shark the important thing is to not act scared but seem to be confident and make a point of showing the shark you have seen it. I was diving with a mate a few days ago on a spot called 19 Fathoms near the Aliwal Shoal area. A medium size Tiger shark of around 3.5m came in on my mate as he was diving. As he saw it he suddenly turned around and came bolting up to the top. Immediately the shark came slowly towards him albeit slowly. I dived towards the shark and actually "chased" it for some distance. IT swam in a long circle keeping me in her vision and eventually didn't like the attention any more and moved off. A quick "lecture" to my mate on how to react was hten the next point of order. He is an inexperienced diver so his first reaction was to "get the hell outta dodge". I explained to him that he must swim away "towards" the shark if that makes sense. i.e. don't rush away as that immediately peaks that predator-prey response from the shark. Make it aware that you saw it and that you're not scared.
Spadefish mentioned the habit of bullsharks to sneak up from behind. So true, last year I was bumped 3 times and grabbed on the foot by Bullsharks and all crept me up from beafter. Buggers.
VERY VERY VERY VERY IMPORTANT - Do not attempt this with a Great White. I did last year (not through choice mind you) and it worked but I would strongly advise against any bravado against GWS's. Make sure you watch it and back away slowly and scream like hell for the boat. hehehehe
Spadefish mentioned the habit of bullsharks to sneak up from behind. So true, last year I was bumped 3 times and grabbed on the foot by Bullsharks and all crept me up from beafter. Buggers.
VERY VERY VERY VERY IMPORTANT - Do not attempt this with a Great White. I did last year (not through choice mind you) and it worked but I would strongly advise against any bravado against GWS's. Make sure you watch it and back away slowly and scream like hell for the boat. hehehehe
Hey Corry, why don't you post your story "Ragged in a cave" ?? I reread it all the time. Cheers.
Hi Corrie,
I have seen a TOP euro (no names mentioned but he certainly is one of the best spearo's in the world) behave exactly like your inexperienced diver. This guy saw a tiger at the edge of viz (probably 15m on that day) and really tried to sprint to the boat splaching and carrying on on the surface. This guy normally was like poetry in motion the way he moved in the water until.....
What it does show is that if you are not used to an experience the reaction is not always the correct one. Taking the tigers on Aliwal as an example, I will dive with these sharks in the water - no problem, but I think to do so further north (tropics) would be foolish. Nevertheless, I certainly would not be terrified of them. In a way, through contact with sharks one gets a feeling when it is time to move - hard to explain but suddenly a shark which you have seen on a number of dives becomes 'threatening' not by any external display. Its almost like a 6th sense telling you it is now time to move. I have experienced this with a number of sharks - bulls in paricular. I dived a competition last year where I spent most of the day diving a particular section of reef and seeing a bull (I think it was the same fish - not sure though) every 10 or so dives. At no stage did I feel threatened (didn't take a fish). Other times when you see a bull even if it is still at distance and you immediately know its time to move.
In a way, due to our frequent encounters with sharks, we become blase about them. This does not make us 'better' than the guys who have never seen a shark and soil their wetsuit at the first sight of a grey! In a way, we are privaleged to be able to see them in the water. It is sad to think that many divers who only dive the med or the atlantic in europe will probably never see a shark in the open!
I have seen a TOP euro (no names mentioned but he certainly is one of the best spearo's in the world) behave exactly like your inexperienced diver. This guy saw a tiger at the edge of viz (probably 15m on that day) and really tried to sprint to the boat splaching and carrying on on the surface. This guy normally was like poetry in motion the way he moved in the water until.....
What it does show is that if you are not used to an experience the reaction is not always the correct one. Taking the tigers on Aliwal as an example, I will dive with these sharks in the water - no problem, but I think to do so further north (tropics) would be foolish. Nevertheless, I certainly would not be terrified of them. In a way, through contact with sharks one gets a feeling when it is time to move - hard to explain but suddenly a shark which you have seen on a number of dives becomes 'threatening' not by any external display. Its almost like a 6th sense telling you it is now time to move. I have experienced this with a number of sharks - bulls in paricular. I dived a competition last year where I spent most of the day diving a particular section of reef and seeing a bull (I think it was the same fish - not sure though) every 10 or so dives. At no stage did I feel threatened (didn't take a fish). Other times when you see a bull even if it is still at distance and you immediately know its time to move.
In a way, due to our frequent encounters with sharks, we become blase about them. This does not make us 'better' than the guys who have never seen a shark and soil their wetsuit at the first sight of a grey! In a way, we are privaleged to be able to see them in the water. It is sad to think that many divers who only dive the med or the atlantic in europe will probably never see a shark in the open!
Hi Angelo,
I agree with what you say. You don't even have to go far North to find aggro Tigers. Oscar deep off Vidal is pretty hectic enough. I just mention that in the process of retreating just don't "appear" to be panicked as this may initiate the predator/prey response from the animal.
I always re-iterate that a shark sees us as a ~4m entity in the water with attitude, not pointy metal bit, juicy tender bit and floppy plastic/carbon fibre bit.
I just found it interesting as the Tigers off Aliwal area are used to divers and this shark definitely showed some interest in Trevor when he veered off at pace. Only when I dived towards it did it turn away. I don't believe the shark ever had any intentions to do anything other than investigate as it was very calm, but if Trevor started to really panic as the shark got closer, the response of the animal may have become more aggressive or predatory.
I have no doubt had this happened on Protea with the Zambies (SA name for Bull Sharks) or even at Oscar with those Tigers, Trevor may have had some excitement.
I know you're sitting in Jhb, so I won't tell you I'm about to go to Protea as the vis is 25m+ with very little current.rofl
I agree with what you say. You don't even have to go far North to find aggro Tigers. Oscar deep off Vidal is pretty hectic enough. I just mention that in the process of retreating just don't "appear" to be panicked as this may initiate the predator/prey response from the animal.
I always re-iterate that a shark sees us as a ~4m entity in the water with attitude, not pointy metal bit, juicy tender bit and floppy plastic/carbon fibre bit.
I just found it interesting as the Tigers off Aliwal area are used to divers and this shark definitely showed some interest in Trevor when he veered off at pace. Only when I dived towards it did it turn away. I don't believe the shark ever had any intentions to do anything other than investigate as it was very calm, but if Trevor started to really panic as the shark got closer, the response of the animal may have become more aggressive or predatory.
I have no doubt had this happened on Protea with the Zambies (SA name for Bull Sharks) or even at Oscar with those Tigers, Trevor may have had some excitement.
I know you're sitting in Jhb, so I won't tell you I'm about to go to Protea as the vis is 25m+ with very little current.rofl
Fantastic story Corrie, thanks for the link.
Very nice fish in the pic, we call them mulloway or jewfish, they are very much a prized eating fish. I suspect they may be called 'drum' in the US, after the sound they will make.
Must say I love reading of the experiences you SA lads have!
Adopting a confident body position has proven beneficial in my few encounters with sharks. I don't want to have to think about a GW encounter, the sheer size of the beast would be extremely confronting, to say the least.
Cheers and safe diving!
Very nice fish in the pic, we call them mulloway or jewfish, they are very much a prized eating fish. I suspect they may be called 'drum' in the US, after the sound they will make.
Must say I love reading of the experiences you SA lads have!
Adopting a confident body position has proven beneficial in my few encounters with sharks. I don't want to have to think about a GW encounter, the sheer size of the beast would be extremely confronting, to say the least.
Cheers and safe diving!
Hi Neil,
Spoke to Corrie yesterday. They got two nice king mackerel (think they are called spanich mackerel in Aus). They saw a shoal of about 100 hammerhead sharks. Here in SA we get this in some locations - Sea of Cortez is not the only place. These sharks are no problem.
Aparently they had to leave early as the bulls, blacktip and dusky sharks became a little too aggressive. As I have stated before it often happens that you just 'know' it is time to move. By the way, generally when we see loads of sharks there are usually lots of gamefish too.
Safe diving in Aus
Spoke to Corrie yesterday. They got two nice king mackerel (think they are called spanich mackerel in Aus). They saw a shoal of about 100 hammerhead sharks. Here in SA we get this in some locations - Sea of Cortez is not the only place. These sharks are no problem.
Aparently they had to leave early as the bulls, blacktip and dusky sharks became a little too aggressive. As I have stated before it often happens that you just 'know' it is time to move. By the way, generally when we see loads of sharks there are usually lots of gamefish too.
Safe diving in Aus
Hi All Spearo's, Jonathan here, i wanted to post my experience i had last week about Bull sharks as it gave me quite a reality check!
I have only been spearing for 2 years now, and i was developing a false sense of superiority in the water, like i am some big bad hunter with a spear gun, and seeing many tiger sharks, white tips and black tips, all without incident. Well that all changed last week for me. I was hunting with my daughter (11 years old) about 100 meters pass the break in front of our home in the South Pacific. It was very calm and we went further east than we had done before. My daughter spotted a Treveli and i dove and shot it, and was pulling it up and it teared off my flopper (crappy small flopper at tip of spear (my other spear gun with better spear was not working). My daughter saw this and dove down and missed the shot. We both were surfaced and seems like the 11 year old has A LOT more common sense than me, as she said dad there's lots of blood in the water let's go back, i said no lets press a bit further and we did. Well about 5 minutes later with no fish on us, we both spotted a Shark (later found out it was a Bull) about 70 meters from us, suddenly on a dime the bull headed straight for us full speed ahead. My daughter got behind me and with no time to be scared i readied myself with my spear gun in my right hand half cocked and my left hand empty to maybe push the shark away (didnt have time to grab my knife) Well within 3 or 4 seconds i felt my arm jerk back violently and couldnt see a thing but knew this bastard was inches in front of my chest. I heard my daughter screaming as she thought i was being eaten alive. When i heard her scream i twisted around and didnt see any shark on her, meanwhile this shark dissappered, and she started to freak out thinking i am all chewed up, and splashing around to leave the area. I grabbed her and told her i am OK, and told her not to move as i wanted to see where this Bull shark was. I didnt see him, so we both swam eagerly but not crazy to our spot where we can go thru the break. It is by the GRACE OF GOD, that nothing more than mental trauma happened to us both. I am grateful we pray together every time we go out. So now the new protocol is Shark Sheilds on every time we go out of the reef. I have been about 4 times already but it is not the same. I am very twitchy, and when spearing fish i see i am almost in a panick mode to get the fish to me, and reload and see what is in my immediate area. i am hoping this changes but i was wondering if other Separo's have had these type of encounters.....
I have only been spearing for 2 years now, and i was developing a false sense of superiority in the water, like i am some big bad hunter with a spear gun, and seeing many tiger sharks, white tips and black tips, all without incident. Well that all changed last week for me. I was hunting with my daughter (11 years old) about 100 meters pass the break in front of our home in the South Pacific. It was very calm and we went further east than we had done before. My daughter spotted a Treveli and i dove and shot it, and was pulling it up and it teared off my flopper (crappy small flopper at tip of spear (my other spear gun with better spear was not working). My daughter saw this and dove down and missed the shot. We both were surfaced and seems like the 11 year old has A LOT more common sense than me, as she said dad there's lots of blood in the water let's go back, i said no lets press a bit further and we did. Well about 5 minutes later with no fish on us, we both spotted a Shark (later found out it was a Bull) about 70 meters from us, suddenly on a dime the bull headed straight for us full speed ahead. My daughter got behind me and with no time to be scared i readied myself with my spear gun in my right hand half cocked and my left hand empty to maybe push the shark away (didnt have time to grab my knife) Well within 3 or 4 seconds i felt my arm jerk back violently and couldnt see a thing but knew this bastard was inches in front of my chest. I heard my daughter screaming as she thought i was being eaten alive. When i heard her scream i twisted around and didnt see any shark on her, meanwhile this shark dissappered, and she started to freak out thinking i am all chewed up, and splashing around to leave the area. I grabbed her and told her i am OK, and told her not to move as i wanted to see where this Bull shark was. I didnt see him, so we both swam eagerly but not crazy to our spot where we can go thru the break. It is by the GRACE OF GOD, that nothing more than mental trauma happened to us both. I am grateful we pray together every time we go out. So now the new protocol is Shark Sheilds on every time we go out of the reef. I have been about 4 times already but it is not the same. I am very twitchy, and when spearing fish i see i am almost in a panick mode to get the fish to me, and reload and see what is in my immediate area. i am hoping this changes but i was wondering if other Separo's have had these type of encounters.....
HI Getaway, i would of agreed with you until this last encounter i had with a BullShark, It was like Jaws, unprovoked and seriously agreesive, and i didnt run, There was NOTHING SLOW ABOUT THE INVESTIGATION, it was 0 to 110+++, within an instant. I praise God that my daughter and i got out unscathed physically.... From now on SharkShields and Tourniquet on my weight belt....