What do you regard as "safe" viz?

[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:duh) 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. :hmm

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]

Some Stats regarding shark attacks and viz

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/scuba/WaterCond/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]

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

 

[Fish Tale]

We have a lot of sharks where I dive. Bull Sharks, Tigers, and Hammer Heads are the ones that concern me the most. If I can look back and see my fins clearly I don't worry much about sharks unless I've speared a fish. I always attach my stringer to my float which is 40 feet behind me. Swimming back to the float to string another fish with less than 10 foot vis always creeps me out. When the vis is less than about 10 feet I try real hard to stone the fish to keep the fish from thrashing around because it tends to quickly call the sharks in from a distance. It's always a good idea to avoid getting blood or fish oil on your suit. The tiny slick you trail behind yourself in the water may be just enough to create a shark brave enough to take a test bite in low vis situations. At sunset I've had sharks follow my stringer slick back to the beach and agressively search back and forth in a foot of water for the source of the slick.

Right now we have a lot of big sharks gorging themselves on tarpon in our area. Over the weekend I found two nice grouper with 2000 psi left and I decided I couldn't risk shooting them until I was closer to the end of the dive. At 1700 psi- building wave surge had degraded the vis to about six feet and we decided we wouldn't risk the unwanted attention with several hundred yards between us and the beach. The stringer stayed empty on that dive so I could come back another day and fill it.

 

[timgfallon1]

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

Being relatively new to spearfishing, I haven't had much experience sharing the water with fellow predators large enough to cause me any worry. However, my 25 years as a Big Game Hunter has found me in many a situation where I am sharing space with a larger, faster, and more environmentally adapted predator. I know from experience the fear that a face to face confrontation sparks, and the only thing that allows me to take the risk of confronting a larger predator is knowledge and respect for them. I learn as much as I can about the predators I am likely to come into contact with, and I learn the proper respect each one demands. That being said, I am never foolish enough to charge into a wild berry thicket after a Griz, nor would I follow a lion into a shoulder high crop field. I take the lessons of respect for these animals and transfer those lessons into the water - I will not fish any water with larger, faster, more environmentally adapted predators without at least 15-20ft visibility. It's not based on any fact or research, just my own personal feelings.