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Grey reef sharks

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
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blueface

I'm not really C N
Sep 23, 2008
373
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Today we got harassed by a couple of greys. One was posturing and swimming erractically near the surface circling close. We shot him in the pectoral and he went to the bottom. about 5 minutes later he came back with another one. We could clearly see the mark on the pectoral from the shot. A large rainbow runner stayed under the "friendlier one" and he kept a safe distance away. The agro one would leave and show up inches away right behind me twice in my blind spot. It's not that big of a deal but these greys have been known to be unpredictable. I've never been bit. Not even near a big frenzy. Scientific name is Carcharhinus amblyrhyncos.

Oh yeah, and Jay got a 40 pound trevally! I don't have pics yet.

My question is: Has anybody ever been attacked or bitten by one of these? I mean bit by a grey reef shark not a trevally.

Skip
 
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Reactions: island_sands and Don Paul
foxfish said:
What happened to your spear when you shot the shark?
Click to expand...

Jay shot it through the edge of the pectoral so it tore out easily. I've shot one through the middle of the pectoral and it took of like a rocket! In one second he was on the bottom and right over the drop off. My reel has never emptied that fast for any other fish! That one spooled the reel and dragged me barely under for a split second and then tore off. It didn't come back but I'm sure he healed up just fine.

We are thinking about bringing a couple of powerheads along but I'm thinking the power heads might be more dangerous to us than the sharks!:blackeye

Skip
 
Yes Skip they bite divers. Raira have bitten a few of my friends in French Poly. I also have a friend on Rangiroa Atoll ( pro spero) named who has part of his right buttock missing from a bite.

I have watched them vaporize a 6 foot shark in less then 1 min during the
filming of Blue Water Hunters.

Yes divers can work with them just like Whites, Tigers, and Makos.

Cheers, Don Paul
 
Here is the 40 pound Trevally. Jay stoned it at 97 ft. It was 100 plus foot vis and the current finally gave us a break.

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Thanks Don Paul,
I usually won't even mention an encounter like that but I was reading about some crazy stuff these greys will do and I guess it got me thinking. I really don't want to get bit.

Skip
 
blueface said:
Thanks Don Paul,
I usually won't even mention an encounter like that but I was reading about some crazy stuff these greys will do and I guess it got me thinking. I really don't want to get bit.

Skip
Click to expand...

I have never shot one. But I have poked, kicked and have seen a knife stuck
in one of their heads as a last resort when one was wrapped up it our ''safety''
divers tank strap. The shark was one of 75 to a 100 of his clan.
Cheers, Don
 
MY FREIND GOT BIT IN THE BAHAMAs, by a grey reef shark. about 4ft long. it bit him on the forearm when he put his arm up to defend himself when it charged. he had been shooting hogfish and stuffing them in his wetsuit to store them till he swam them back to the boat.(something people do around keywest. I dont. but people do it) this 4ft shark showed up and was all over him. all over. wouldnt leave him alone.he gave the shark the fish in this suit and tried to swim for the boat. and it came at him again and bit him. he had some puncture wounds, and thats about it.grey reef sharks can be very territorial. very. probably the most territorial of all sharks i have seen. they try to chase you off more often than bite i think. if you show them some room, maybe just go to another spot when they come around. they wont get so crazy. if you are interested in powerheads. go with the ones that have no firing pin ,(uses the speartip to fire the bullet) those are perfectly safe on the boat. unless its ON the spear, it CANT fire. .223 is by far the best caliber to use. anything smaller wont hurt an 8' bull shark or a pissed 7ft reef shark. good penetration with those. be careful though, most of the times a powerheaded shark will just slowly swim down to the bottom and just sit there. i have heard that bulls specifically, will sometimes start snapping at air and biting at everything around them, immediately upon being popped. the brain of a shark is small, so go for the gills. if they cant breathe, they cant fight. it seems to have the most effect. have you ever heard of a shark shield? electronic shark deterrent. i have one. they work. really well actually. you can just tie it to your float and no sharks will come within 30 ft of it. protects your stringer of fish too.
 
Grey Reefs are notoriously aggressive. if you an watch the DVD of "Sharks on the their Best Behaviour" by Mike de Gruy you can watch a brilliant account of how he was attacked while filming some 20 years ago. he has the scars on his arm to prove it.

[ame=http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sharks-Their-Best-Behaviour-VHS/dp/B00004CM03]Sharks On Their Best Behaviour [VHS]: Amazon.co.uk: Video[/ame]

he actually has some great productions (he is also featured on the Blue Planet)

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0_E-vY3Hs8"]YouTube- Squali, Killer dei mari con Mike de Gruy[/ame]
 
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island_sands said:
Grey Reefs are notoriously aggressive. if you an watch the DVD of "Sharks on the their Best Behaviour" by Mike de Gruy you can watch a brilliant account of how he was attacked while filming some 20 years ago. he has the scars on his arm to prove it.
Click to expand...

Was this the same guy that, after he was bit, created a plexiglass shield for he and his camera to try and provoke another attack? I saw a show on a guy who was attacked by a grey, and he wanted to study how far he needed to push them before they actually attacked so he went out with his new creation. Didnt take long.
 
I can't post footage from Blue Water Hunters (copy right) but if you watch the Rangiroa pass footage in the Tahitian scene, you'll see some very hairy footage. The images were shot by one of the Blue Planet cinematographers,Emmy award winning Rick Rossenthal. I had led the producers there after diving it a couple times in the early 80's.
We did all our shots without cages or killing any sharks.
I have dove with Grey Reef sharks many times, I always have to be able to fiend off with a metal camera housing, or gun barrel jab. T.Mass's camera housing received some hard hits and bites. I have a young son now and lost my nerve for pushing it close to the edge.
Cheers, Don Paul
 
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Thanks jtkwest,
That was informative as well as interesting! I usually can get back to the boat without too much trouble but these greys, I don't trust. We have considered bringing a souple of power heads.

Thanks!

Skip
 
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