I thought this would be a good thread to start since tonight The Discovery Channel is kicking off it's "Shark Week" with the historic and tragic story of the USS Indianapolis that was attacked and sunk by a Japanese submarine in July 1945.

Thread topic: Your shark tales and memorable encounters with these magnificent creatures and the oceans top predator.

I'll start it off with one my favorite encounters from the winter of 2004.

Our plan for the day was to do 2 dives, one in 90 fsw and the other in 60 fsw. Left the boat ramp at 6.30 am and were anchored up at our 90 ft spot around 7.30. At 90 feet the vis was 30-40 feet with a bottom water temp of 72. One grouper, 2 hogfish were taken on the dive. I saw a dusky shark approx. 7 feet in length trailing behind us as we were making our way back down the ledge towards the anchor line......I tried getting Trey's (BigStick)attention but by the time he turned around it was gone, never to be seen again. For the lack of fish we should've called the dive but we pushed on looking for more......I missed a very nice inshore hogfish.

Second dive was on the South Jack wreck in 60 feet and we were hoping the AJ's would be there. Vis at the bottom was roughly 15 ft and the water temp was 72. I quickly dispatch 2 nice mangos and string em up. I see a hogfish round a piece of the structure and I head the opposite direction hoping to drill him on the other side......just as I get him in view a shaft comes flying in and pins the hogfish to the sand......and I see my buddy Trey quickly swim in as I give him the finger and move on. Just then a large school of AJ's come into view and I quickly think of switching over to my lineshaft, but decided against it thinking I may not have enough time. So I take a bead on one of the reef donkeys and pull trigger and get a nice shot, but not a stone shot. The shaft is all the way through him as he begins to swim away from the pack trailing a green line of blood. I begin to chase him down as I'm reloading for a second shot when he makes his way back into the structure.....he bangs his head along the wreck and I let my second shaft fly but end up missing because he slides his head off the wreck just as my shaft closes in. He's not swimming as strong now so I was able to catch up to him.......this is where the fun begins :D After a few quick trips up, down, and around the structure we were diving I'm finally able to subdue him. In the ass-kicking process where I almost lost my gun to the surface I managed to drop my stringer :pissed: Thankfully my buddy Trey came in and I was able to put the fish on his stringer and I took off Nsearch of mine. Before I even get 10 feet away I hear Trey struggling with another AJ.....I turned around and headed his way to see him being bitch slapped in the face by a smaller AJ. :rofl: I pull my knife and bury it home releasing a cloud of green blood and putting an end to Trey's bitch slapping. He gathers his gear and after stringing the fish he motions that he's gotta go and is heading to the surface and I give him the ok sign and head off in the other direction looking for my lost stringer with 2 mangos on it. After some searching I find my stringer on top of the wreck in about 48 feet of water. To give you an idea of the ass-kicking that I received from my AJ when I grabbed him after missing with my second shaft I was practically on the sand in 60 feet. So I make my way back to the anchor line and as I approach the anchor to dislodge it from the reef (it was hooked pretty good and I thought I'd give my back a break because I'm the anchor bitch). Just then I see a 8-10 foot dusky roll in from my upper right and it was obvious that he was worked up and wanted my fish. I pull my stinger of fish in close to my body and keep my gun inbetween him and I as he makes several passes in close. Dislodging the anchor is no longer a priority as I begin my ascent with the dusky who is still very interested and he follows me all the way up to around 15-20 feet where I stop for my planned safety stop. He makes two more passes and then disappears out of my visibility.......but definitely not out of mind. The entire length of my safety stop I'm visualizing him charging in from beneath but I never see him again.

It was a great day of shooting......here's a shot of the 42-lb AJ that put a whoopin' on me that day.

http://www.barrierislandgraphics.com/forumfiles/12%204%2004%2042AJ.JPG

What's your favorite shark tale? I know Bucket One has a good one....let's hear em!!

Yea...I just went and bought and charged up my new shark shield just to watch shark week.:rofl:

Get an extra battery, I hear people on the radio ask for spares lately. :D

OK, ..............I'll bite!

About 1990 I was the dive master on the Adventure Diver, a 40' Burpee at the Jupiter Inlet. I took down a large group and while on the bottom I grabbed a small nurse shark by the tail that was sleeping under a ledge that I saw lobster in. I pulled it out, let it go, and it swam right into the net of a girl that was about 12' away.

I remember it happening in slow motion and could see her eyes get huge with panic as the nurse swam right at her. She had a tickle stick in one hand, a small net in the other, and so she put the net right in front of her like someone would hold up a ping pong paddle. The nurse swam right into her net and suprisingly she didn't freak out. She was smart and held her arm stiff to keep the netted shark away from her and eventually managed to get her net back.

She was a good sport and we laughed about it on the surface. :toast: Here's to you Eileen, ......where ever you are.

I thought this would be a good thread to start since tonight The Discovery Channel is kicking off it's "Shark Week" with the historic and tragic story of the USS Indianapolis that was attacked and sunk by a Japanese submarine in July 1945.

Thread topic: Your shark tales and memorable encounters with these magnificent creatures and the oceans top predator.

I'll start it off with one my favorite encounters from the winter of 2004.

Our plan for the day was to do 2 dives, one in 90 fsw and the other in 60 fsw. Left the boat ramp at 6.30 am and were anchored up at our 90 ft spot around 7.30. At 90 feet the vis was 30-40 feet with a bottom water temp of 72. One grouper, 2 hogfish were taken on the dive. I saw a dusky shark approx. 7 feet in length trailing behind us as we were making our way back down the ledge towards the anchor line......I tried getting Trey's (BigStick)attention but by the time he turned around it was gone, never to be seen again. For the lack of fish we should've called the dive but we pushed on looking for more......I missed a very nice inshore hogfish.

Second dive was on the South Jack wreck in 60 feet and we were hoping the AJ's would be there. Vis at the bottom was roughly 15 ft and the water temp was 72. I quickly dispatch 2 nice mangos and string em up. I see a hogfish round a piece of the structure and I head the opposite direction hoping to drill him on the other side......just as I get him in view a shaft comes flying in and pins the hogfish to the sand......and I see my buddy Trey quickly swim in as I give him the finger and move on. Just then a large school of AJ's come into view and I quickly think of switching over to my lineshaft, but decided against it thinking I may not have enough time. So I take a bead on one of the reef donkeys and pull trigger and get a nice shot, but not a stone shot. The shaft is all the way through him as he begins to swim away from the pack trailing a green line of blood. I begin to chase him down as I'm reloading for a second shot when he makes his way back into the structure.....he bangs his head along the wreck and I let my second shaft fly but end up missing because he slides his head off the wreck just as my shaft closes in. He's not swimming as strong now so I was able to catch up to him.......this is where the fun begins :D After a few quick trips up, down, and around the structure we were diving I'm finally able to subdue him. In the ass-kicking process where I almost lost my gun to the surface I managed to drop my stringer :pissed: Thankfully my buddy Trey came in and I was able to put the fish on his stringer and I took off Nsearch of mine. Before I even get 10 feet away I hear Trey struggling with another AJ.....I turned around and headed his way to see him being bitch slapped in the face by a smaller AJ. :rofl: I pull my knife and bury it home releasing a cloud of green blood and putting an end to Trey's bitch slapping. He gathers his gear and after stringing the fish he motions that he's gotta go and is heading to the surface and I give him the ok sign and head off in the other direction looking for my lost stringer with 2 mangos on it. After some searching I find my stringer on top of the wreck in about 48 feet of water. To give you an idea of the ass-kicking that I received from my AJ when I grabbed him after missing with my second shaft I was practically on the sand in 60 feet. So I make my way back to the anchor line and as I approach the anchor to dislodge it from the reef (it was hooked pretty good and I thought I'd give my back a break because I'm the anchor bitch). Just then I see a 8-10 foot dusky roll in from my upper right and it was obvious that he was worked up and wanted my fish. I pull my stinger of fish in close to my body and keep my gun inbetween him and I as he makes several passes in close. Dislodging the anchor is no longer a priority as I begin my ascent with the dusky who is still very interested and he follows me all the way up to around 15-20 feet where I stop for my planned safety stop. He makes two more passes and then disappears out of my visibility.......but definitely not out of mind. The entire length of my safety stop I'm visualizing him charging in from beneath but I never see him again.

It was a great day of shooting......here's a shot of the 42-lb AJ that put a whoopin' on me that day.

http://www.barrierislandgraphics.com/forumfiles/12%204%2004%2042AJ.JPG

What's your favorite shark tale? I know Bucket One has a good one....let's hear em!!

Bryan, who is the skinny, young kid in the red shirt?

10ft hammerhead followed me all the way up to the transom of the boat the other day freediving in 65ft. i got out and the hammerhead did two figure 8's around the transom while i was on the swim platform. i could of touched the dorsal fin from the platform.

12ft hammerhead, reef white tips, black tips, reef black tips, bull, and greys have all tried to get really close to me. I was once in the water with a tiger as well but that is unconfirmed since I didnt see it. My dive bud was on the bottom in low vis and said it passed right in front of him after I followed him speeding toward his kayak from our current location.

Tiger shark vs. Turtle

http://www.break.com/index/tiger-shark-destroys-turtle.html

I am sure most of you can remember what great experiances Hector had with sharks :D This one gave him and I a few minutes of hell during deco in the grounds. I got out 1 minute before he did, and this thing chased him all the way up the ladder. it had a long liners rig in its mouth, and probly had not eaten in the while, because it was hungry as shit. We promptly dispatched hook and line gear so he could take it home to his mom :smthumbup:

Lets be careful and please remove the picture of that shark. Posessing a speared shark is illegal.

http://myfwc.com/marine/spearing.htm

I am not the one for removing pictures of Hector, and we all know it was self defense, but providing a picture of a speared shark can be used against us.

Sorry man, I'm not used to this moderator stuff. :beer:

Lets be careful and please remove the picture of that shark. Posessing a speared shark is illegal.

http://myfwc.com/marine/spearing.htm

I am not the one for removing pictures of Hector, and we all know it was self defense, but providing a picture of a speared shark can be used against us.

Sorry man, I'm not used to this moderator stuff. :beer:


Thought he stated they used a hook and line for it...

Solo dive 80ft NE of Ft.P had 40ft viz. I'm swimming down the reef and see a big school of sardines packed and very nervous. About the time I approach the school the part and there is two 18-20 lb gags 6ft in front of me. I instinct shot before they dart and hit the fish head on but high with PH. He's stunned but not dead. Bag him and he wakes up. I am checking a cave all the while the fish was going nuts. When i back up to check my surroundings all i see is shark. He was all over me. You know the rest of the story being i am still here

Thought he stated they used a hook and line for it...

He stated they found a long-liner's rig hanging from its mouth. It was "disabled" because of over-aggression and a last resort to guarantee Hector's personal safety while at depth.

I don't know what actually happened, but this makes it sound like they caught it hook and line.

We promptly dispatched hook and line gear so he could take it home to his mom

Maybe I did misinterpret the text.

Well, regardless if the sweet baby Jesus came down with a cane rod and a wiggler, and manhandled it with one arm to the boat, it doesn't matter. The picture showed Hector in a wetsuit, bear hugging the shark, with spearguns in display.

If I am making a mistake in judgement, then by all means please repost it. I have never been to internet moderating 101 school.:circle:

I don't think it matters either way. The shark was taken legally but it was probably the type of pic that could be taken out of context.

We promptly dispatched hook and line gear so he could take it home to his mom :smthumbup:

At the time of the post I actually thought about putting it in BOLD LETTERS that the shark was taken on hook and line,wich would have been a good idea granted the picture shows him holding it in a wetsuit with his dive comp. still on his wrist. More thought should have been put into the posting of the pic.
Inlet,
you can do what you want with it

Tom

yeah, I agree - now tht I think about it, a shark with a wetsuited diver and spears in the same picture will, eventually, be mis-used or misinterpreted (at some later date far and away from this forum and the text that described it). Taking it off was probably for the best.

It looks like they are replaying Shark week on Discovery HD Theatre this weekend. So if you missed it on regular Discovery, it will be on in HD glory this weekend.

It looks like they are replaying Shark week on Discovery HD Theatre this weekend. So if you missed it on regular Discovery, it will be on in HD glory this weekend.

Hey, can ya keep the thread on topic there Mr. Brighthouse? Post up a damn shark story or at least make one up :D :p

Hey, can ya keep the thread on topic there Mr. Brighthouse? Post up a damn shark story or at least make one up :D :p

I saw a shark once. It was big. It had big teeth. I was scared. The end.

I religiously carried a PH from the very first time I hit the water. I had been diving for over a year and not seen a single shark. So, we suit up and do our first drop of the day. No PH. towards the end of our dive, I shoot a nice Cobia, the water soon gets a green tint to it as the fish goes nuts, as I made a poor shot. As I wrestle a very green fish, A very large Hammer Head in the 10-12' range shows up and begins circling. My dive buddy see the shark as well and swims over, we are back to back watching him. By this time the Cobia has been subdued and is no longer thrashing about. The shark makes to passes at my stringer and I thrust my 60" Riffe in his face, the shark does not give way and resumes his circling. I look at my computer:900#s. We start our accent, with this shark circling under our fins, at times getting within close the end of my gun that at this time has had the line setup disconected and all three bands loaded. We surface, 100yrds from the boat. My brothers windlass was slow as maple surup in December. We finaly get to the boat and start telling the story as the shark swims under the boat. The boat was 28' with a 10' beam, you could see head and tail sticking out as he swam under the boat. I did not give up my stringer, nor did my buddy. Very scary experience. I dont let them get that close anymore, and dont carry a PH either. They get the cold steel.

Freediving ff Bayport a few months ago I had a little run in with Mr. Bull. I was the only freediver out of 3 divers. I had been dropped on the spot first to find 10ft vis. I thumped a big 22" Mango and took it to the boat and let everyone know the fish where here. As I proceeded back I noticed Threw-er-back under me so I proceeded roughly 20ft in frot of him and dropped in. On the way down I can see a few nice goes and a high 20" Gag. I git the bottom and laid there until everything calmed down and prepared for the shot on one of the nicer Go's. I then feel my leg get pinned to the bottom HARD! Fully expecting to turn around and see Threw-er-back pinning my leg to the bottom with the but of his gun for dropping in front of him I was VERY surprised to see a 9ft Bull. She was strait up and down, mouth closed just pinning my leg in a little crack I was laying in. I ripped my leg free and she spun up in surprise. She circled me slowly once and the headed off into the murk. I hit the surface and the boat like a my ass was on fire.

Second time I had a 12ft hammerhead steel a 28ish gag off my shaft in 12ft. She swam right up to me but under and gave me a look see and proceeded to swim around the rock pile. I followed her around for 5 min or so and decided I was pushing my luck as I was a solid 50yrds from the boat.

Freediving ff Bayport a few months ago I had a little run in with Mr. Bull. I was the only freediver out of 3 divers. I had been dropped on the spot first to find 10ft vis. I thumped a big 22" Mango and took it to the boat and let everyone know the fish where here. As I proceeded back I noticed Threw-er-back under me so I proceeded roughly 20ft in from of hit and dropped in. On the way down I can see a few nice goes and a high 20" Gag. I git the bottom and laid there until everything calmed down and prepared for the shot on one of the nicer Go's. I then feel my leg get pinned to the bottom HARD! Fully expecting to turn around and see Threw-er-back pinning my leg to the bottom with the but of his gun for dropping in front of him I was VERY surprised to see a 9ft Bull. She was strait up and down, mouth closed just pinning my leg in a little I was laying in. I ripped my leg free and she spun up in surprise. She circled me slowly once and the headed off into the murk. I hit the surface and the boat like a my ass was on fire.

Second time I had a 12ft hammerhead steal a 28ish gag off my shaft in 12ft. She swam right up to me but under and gave me a look see and proceeded to swim around the rock pile. I followed her around for 5 min or so and decided I was pushing my luck as I was a solid 50yrds from the boat.

Ed said you looked as if you had seen a ghost, and they was a fould smelling aroma omiting from your wetsuit.

Ed said you looked as if you had seen a ghost, and they was a fould smelling aroma omiting from your wetsuit.

Ghost,, YES,,, Poop,,, NO. I was to focused on getting the hell out of the water and checking out my leg to POOP.:toast:

I got bit in the foot in 1997 surfing crap waves at first peak, sebastian inlet. went to the hospital, sat next to a guy who shot himself in the leg with a .22, had the doctor dig out a crapload of sand out of the wound, sat in walgreens for my lortabs until 11:30 PM. Discarded loratabs the next day because they sucked. Apparently a tooth nicked a tendon, because I severed the tendon while attempting a drunk kickflip on a skateboard about 7 weeks after.

You guys have to have more tales than these. :bringiton:

You guys have to have more tales than these. :bringiton:

In the interest of re-living the thread....

This was my first experience with a shark.
I was on an artificial reef off of Clearwater (super secret culvert piles that absolutely NO ONE knows about :)) and had gotten a few nice inshore hogs. I'm nearing the end of the dive, wondering which direction the boat is when I got that "hair on the back of the neck standing up" feeling and whipped around behind me. Coming right at me was a healthy bullshark, maybe about 6-7 feet. I'm not gonna say it was 9 feet, I think people have a tendency to exaggerate the size of sharks. It was VERY pissed off and coming right at me. I was carrying the stringer of hogs in my hand and in the second I had to scramble to get my PH onto the end of my shaft, I dropped the stringer. Looking back on it, I probably threw the stringer at it while screaming like a girl....
The shark promptly tore apart both hogs off of the stringer while I headed up, quickly. I broke the surface and found the boat and started swimming for it. The shark finished off the hogs and was looking for me! Viz was top to bottom and I put my back to the boat and started kicking while keeping my eyes and gun trained on the shark. He swam under me and circled a few times and I thought I was in the clear. He circled higher and higher until he was only about 10 feet under me. I had a 52 inch gun at the time, so I was estimating based on how far off the shaft he was. I kicked a little harder and got a bit ahead of him. He rose to the surface enough that the people on the boat could see the fin. He was literally chasing me down in full on "Jaws" fashion.
At this point, he went back under and got to about where my knees were and opened his mouth. I decided I'd had enough of him at that point and pulled the trigger. I obviously didn't get a good shot on him. The shaft hit him in the mouth and the PH went off, but I think I only succedded in royally pissing him off. It was at this point that I learned a very important lesson about unclipping your lineshaft before PH a shark. The PH and the shaft it was screwed onto (Beco) lodged itself into the shark's mouth and wouldn't let go. I yanked a couple of times as the shark was thrashing around wrapping itself up in the line. I also realized that this was bringing me closer to the shark which was still thrashing around with a wide open mouth.
If I had any capacity for rational though, I would have cut the line and swam away with my gun. Instead, I dropped everything (including the gun) and made for the boat. Witnesses in the boat said that for only the second time in the last few thousand years, a man has walked on the water.

After I had composed myself some, we did another drop on that spot looking for my gun or the shark. We found neither.
Looking back on it, I did alot of things wrong. And I learned a lot from that day. I over-reacted, got scared, and forgot who the apex predator with opposable thumbs was.

1) NEVER GIVE UP FISH.
2) At first sighting of a shark, immediately establish your dominance. Swim right at the thing, blow bubbles through your reg, scream at it, point your gun at it, etc...
3) NEVER GIVE UP FISH
4) End the dive and get out of the water. But don't haul ass away. Kind of like running from a dog, it's only gonna chase you!
5) If you have to defend yourself, do not use a lineshaft! :)
6) If you break step 5, get your knife out and cut the line.
7) NEVER GIVE UP FISH

Giving up your fish turns a curious shark into a feeding shark. At that point, I believe you've lost your ability to "scare" the shark away and anything it sees is a potential food source.
Since that incident, immediately establishing dominance has worked for me. When I see a shark and I swim right at it, I have found that it loses interest and swims away. I have yet to have one continue to swim at me when I confront it. I don't think they work that way. They aren't used to anything swimming at them or showing them any aggression.

That's my experience with sharks. Take it for what it's worth...

Besides my experience with 2 bulls trying to tag team me last yr(white city bridge... never dive there again :D ), I've only had one other close call.

It was along Ana Maria Island, those strips of skyway rubble withing a mile of shore. We had timed it with the high tide to catch the clear offshore water before the bay funk wrapped around. Only an hour or two window before vis goes to crap...

Anyway, we were using tanks for some reason(only 12' deep), just dinking around when I saw a nice couple of gags suspended under a piling. Once shot he pulled into the rocks and holed up big time. I sat there for 10 min pulling on his ass, meanwhile the vis had made the change to mud and the other 4 guys had gotten back in the boat. I was about to give up but made one last heave and the sucker finally popped out.

Happy as a clam, I hit the surface and started kicking toward the boat(50' away) and held the fish up to show the guys on the boat. At first they all had these big smiles and were gathered at the stern waiting on me to get there. Suddenly I felt them focusing behind me as their smiles changed to shock then terror. Only about 20' from the boat, at this point, I sensed they were seeing something behind me... Simultaneously all four started reaching out, waving their arms and screaming at me to "GET IN THE BOAT, GET IN THE BOAT NOW!". Not a good thing to hear when your in zero vis 15' from the boat:eek:. All I could do was keep kicking and all they could do was keep screaming at me. As I made it within arm's reach of the platform, I felt a mighty surge behind me. A very large hammerhead (later confirmed by my friends who'd seen the huge "orca" fin behind me)had been trailing me to the boat in the dirty water and evidently finally bumped into my fins and spooked. The wake from him whirling literally lifted me up on the back of the boat and I was raked the rest of the way in by my speechless friends.

He was obviously just blood trailing the fish I had, which for a fact, had made enough damn noise to bring in every shark for miles. Dirty water was the main culprit though. I hate dirty water.