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A cautionary tale, Re:Air Gun

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lol we regularly dive false bay in South Africa and it takes a special kind of stupid to do that lol, but hey any human acting like a fish is stupid enough as is
 
Good morning Jonny 250.Thank,s for the encouragement.Yes,I,m sure your right,there must be many incidents of stupid error,s happening every single day,but the real stupidity,is not to share them with like minded people, just think how good one would feel,if, by admitting to one,s own follies, other divers were saved from pain,or even death!.The sea is an incredibly dangerous place,the weapons we use are lethal,we need all the help we can get!.....keep safe, Geoff. Covert,Hi,more on False bay please.
 
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lol geoff ok let me break it down false bay is found on the Cape Town south africa coast. It is has one of the biggest great white shark colony's in the world, since there is an island called Seal Island which is packed with tasty blubbery seals and as you know this happens to be the fav snack for you average great white.

In recent years there have been more recorded sharks in the bay than at any previous time, be it due to global warming, or diminishing fish stocks and food sources we dont know.

Now granted most spearo's stay as far away from seal Island as possible, but the sharks roam the entire bay, including our favourite dive spots, millers point, buffels bay, captains rock etc. With almost daily sightings. There is actually a network of lookout posts to warn people of GWS in the water. Shark Spotters

There have been many attacks in this area including a 80 year old women last year that just dissapeared, a spearo last year, a life gaurd lost his ankle and a couple more cases I am not too sure of all the details, (my mind is misty i blame it on lack of oxygen) BTW some people blame the increasing shark diving trade and chumming for the sharks comming closer inland.

These sharks also have certain predictable patterns, eg, this time of year the seals are pregnant and pretty much stay out of the water, this means that the GWS com in closer to shore (where all the surfers and divers are) to find other food sources.

But there are some good shooting to be had, yellowtail, galjoen, cape barracuda (snoek) and some other tasty morsels. Which inevitably means some crazy spearo's like myself, DeepThinker, Cape Town Guy, Bluecape end up diving these waters (especially in winter)

The bay and the underwater life itself is beautiful and the water is also a bit warmer than the Atlantic side, which is about 30 minutes away.

Oh yeah last year a spearo also shot a GW in the nose, as it came in to have a bit of a taste test lol.

All in all good but dangerous diving, but a man has to do what a man has to do. There are however a big bunch of spearo's that wont set foot in false bay, And I think they are the clever ones lol. But hey I could get hit by a bus too.

Also our sharks are famous for breaching, which if i have it right doesnt happen anywhere else on this planet. Air Jaws | Great White Shark Breaching in False Bay, South Africa

And here is a map of the cape peninsula to give you a bit of perspective
Paradise Touring - South Africa Peninsula Tour - Tour Cape Town, Tour Town, South Africa false bay on the right of the pic (indian ocean) and atlantic ocean on the left.

http://1campsbay.com/Maps/images/peninsula.gif
 
Reactions: spaghetti
Jesus Covert!, & they think I,m crazy, Wow!, no way I,d go any where near that place, (not without a rocket launcher anyway).Great info, thank,s.It makes me realize just how much I take for granted, OK., your fish are a lot bigger, & there,s more of them, but I,d rather that, then hunt in those water,s.You & your friend,s must really love to hunt, to risk being attacked by those shark,s. Do you use any type of repellent?, like a machine gun, for instance?........Geoff.
 
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lol just shark shields, though not everybody has them, and if they work is another debate, we do try and minimize our chances of being attacked like not stringing fish eg DeepThinker has made a float from a body board, so the fish is kept out of water, etc ,etc, etc. Though i doubt that does much good lol. When you shoot the fish there's already blood in the water.

Some spearo's have powerheads although its illegal to have them. But yeah we love our diving, and diving is a risky business, everybody fears the great white, i fear the Samba more than i do the sharks. Or getting stuck in the kelp forests.

Ask DeepThinker he met the taxman (GW) on his very first boat dive,,,,makes for a fund story lol.
 
...just going to nip out and let the air out of my old cressi pneumo...:crutch
Good to 'see' you missed Geoff.
 
covert, excuse my ignorance, but what is a "Samba"?, & why do you fear them?.DeepThinker, if I saw a Great White on my first dive, I think I would stick to knitting.SurfnSpear, thank,s, & make sure you have the power lever on MAX.
 
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Basically a shallow water blackout, there is about a million articles about shallow water blackouts on the DB site, if you need to read more about it. More people die from blackout than sharks so thats my biggest fear statistically speaking lol.
 
Covert,Thank,s for the explanation, & the link, very interesting.This is why I never "push it", coming up as soon as I feel the need to breath.Sadly, this means I will never go more than about 10/12 Mtrs, so won't get the really big fish, but as I invariably hunt alone, this is what has to be. Regard,s,......Geoff.
 
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Geoff just be carefull of that time, just before you go up to surface, you see the mother of all fish, looking at you staring glaring knowing you dont have air left, he teases you, you decide it must die, it must be supper (it will impress the wife). And knowing better you stay down you dash after it, you fireaway, and nobody ever hears from you again!!!!
 
Covert, So I'm not the only one that fish take the "piss" out of then?. I was starting to think they were passing a photo around!.
 
lol dude the more you spear the more you realize they are just F@!#!@ with us lol, we just get lucky every now and then. rofl
 
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