Sharks and other scary stuff

[tuffr2]

a64pilot - I had to re-read your post as much of it was like I could have written it. Especially the movie 'Jaws' giving you the willy's. I may have called it the heebee jeebees.

Glad to hear I was not the only one that let that movie affect me. I am over it now...I think...lol.

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[s/v Beth]

For those of you that are saying great whites are just fun little fishes....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_um7QljZE8

We saw about a 15 foot one on our last sail out in the Pacific, big enough for me to stay on the boat!

[Blue Crab]

I saw Jaws when it came out. I was high on marijuana, and the opening scene scared me spitless for years. However, I moved on and after 50 years of diving with a hellava lotta sharks, they've never bothered me underwater.

That said, 7 or 9 people got bitten in the surf this year here in NC. And I recall some Aussie that's been bitten twice. What are the odds of that?

[Sun and Moon]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Sharks and blood are a little interesting, back when I used to fish a lot we would occasionally catch a shark. I learned if you cut one open to where it's guts spill out and throw it in the water, it will eat it's own guts until it dies.
My Father had a trick, if you bent it's nose up with a big pair of pliers and turned it loose, it couldn't submerge, it would swim away right at the surface, small sharks, couple of feet. Learned the hard way not to bring a big one in the boat. Big ones, just cut the leader and let them go.

Cruelty for your own entertainment is really sick. I respect you for what you typically write. I hope you have changed since you were younger.

[Simonsays]

Originally Posted by Sun and Moon

Cruelty for your own entertainment is really sick. I respect you for what you typically write. I hope you have changed since you were younger.

i'm not promoting animal torture but almost all that we know about sharks today has been discovered by treatment like that or worse.
and trying to learn about them this way is still better than just cutting their fins of for soup and dumping the (still living) body in the ocean or killing them to pose off for 1 pic on the doc and than sending them to the shredder.
there's a lot of precaution that can be learned from people that have experience with sharks preventing violence either way.
they are sure not pets.
but they are not out there hunting for humans.. unless frenzied or taunted.
which makes them about as dangerous as average human beeings.

[a64pilot]

The nose thing doesn't hurt them and is very temporary, the gutting thing was a supposedly dead shark, that came back to life once thrown into the water, and no I didn't make a habit of that then or now, only did it that once. Now if I catch a shark if it's a small one I bring it on board and remove the hook and throw it back, a large one I cut the leader and I have seen a few sharks swimming with hooks and lines in their mouth without apparent damage.
I do not bring big ones aboard anymore after bringing a decent sized sand shark aboard that was "dead" and came back to life once on the little boat, a 17' bow rider. My friend and I spent all day in the bow of that little boat, shark even dried up and wrinkled would come to life and start thrashing around and biting if we went to try to get a drink out of the cooler or anything.

I used to be an avid hunter as a kid, but just don't anymore, the interest isn't what it was. I went on a dove hunt with my brother and my now boss years ago in Mexico, there were thousands of birds, it was slaughter and no intent to hunt for food or anything, just killing. I had nightmares of shooting Babies that night, and while I have nothing at all against hunting, that wasn't hunting.
When you hunt, you eat what you kill, that was taught to me as a small child, and this wasn't for food.
Since then I have become very much against this "thrill hunting" you know the pay thousands to travel to Africa to shoot a lion which is really pretty tame, all while a professional hunter stands besides you to make sure you don't get hurt.
Understand now, that is not the kind of hunting I grew up with and is not what it done around here, what is done by the Rednecks around here is if you can't find the deer you shot ,you spend hours looking, to not recover it is a waste, and a sin.


Now one day I want to catch a sail fish, a big one, take pictures and turn him loose. I've wanted to do that for years


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[Sun and Moon]

A64 - Thanks for the clarification. That is much more in line with the opinion of you I've formed from reading your many thoughtful posts.

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by Canibul

One thing most people don't realize is that every shark within a huge radius of you already knows you're in the water. Do some research on them. Here's a start:
A Shark's Sixth Sense

yet, they don't come over and eat you. Because they know you're not a fish. Don't act like a fish and you should be okay. Those bozos on Shark Week are the television equivalent of today's "news" casters. Don't believe a word they tell you. They bait those fish into a frenzy so they can get that footage. Sharks are just big fish. Nothing more.

Most of them avoid injury if they can, because a bleeding injury to them could be fatal to them. Because they ARE fish. And the other sharks know it.

Yeah, it can be un nerving as heck how the suddenly appear in an area youve been diving or snorkeling in for quite a while... then... there he is right where you were 3 minutes ago!
In my book... all wild animals are unpredictable.. and should be treated as such. Just ask the brothers that ran the tiger show in Vegas....

[rgscpat]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

Yeah, it can be un nerving as heck how the suddenly appear in an area youve been diving or snorkeling in for quite a while... then... there he is right where you were 3 minutes ago!
In my book... all wild animals are unpredictable.. and should be treated as such. Just ask the brothers that ran the tiger show in Vegas....

Siegfried and Roy, retired, and Mantecore (died March 19, 2014 at age 17). Not brothers, but closely associated from around the early 60s. The performers maintain that Roy Horn had a stroke on stage October 3, 2003, and believe that Mantecore was trying to move Roy to safety and accidentally bit Roy in the neck, causing Roy's paralysis.

[Cormorant]

The stories of sharks coming to life in the boat reminded me of this excellent eel story. Just one more thing to inhabit your nightmares!

http://seabreezenews.com/issues/2009...9/Page_01c.pdf

A R-eel Fish Story

Two weeks ago a group of four men, Steve Hoyland Jr. with friends Bruce, Ken and Erik, set off on an overnight offshore fishing trip. They left at noon on a Tuesday and went about 120 miles out into the Gulf. They were having a great night of fishing, catching big snapper, grouper, ling and kings. About 3 am, two of them went down below to catch some sleep. The two remaining on deck were catching fish and drinking beer, enjoying the warm tropical night air.
All at once, Bruce got a big run on his line. This thing went all around the boat and took more than twenty minutes to bring up to the surface. When they got it up to the surface, they could not tell what it was. It looked prehistoric.
Steve Jr. put a gaff in it and the two men dragged it aboard the 33 foot boat. As soon the big creature hit the deck, it went crazy, attacking them. It was an eel over 6 feet long, weighing close to 100 pounds. It had a mouth full of sharp teeth and was extremely pissed off.
The eel was later estimated to be sixty years old. Bruce said it came at him and Steve, Jr. like an anaconda, rearing it’s head up and striking at them like a rattlesnake. It was highly agitated and quite energetic.
In the midst of thrashing around, the creature fell down below onto the floor between the two sleeping men, Erik and Ken. When they heard the thud and turned on the light, the eel raised it’s head right above Ken’s face. Erik rolled over and grabbed his 9 mm pistol. Steve Jr. started yelling. “Don’t shoot the gun in the boat! We’re 120 miles from land!”
Next thing you know, all four fishermen were on the deck and the gigantic eel had sole possession of the bottom of the boat.
The four needed to work up a plan of action, so they drank beer while considering a strategy. It was determined that Steve Jr. would distract the eel because he had drank the most alcohol and believed he was bulletproof. He opened up the sliding door down below to see what the “monster” was doing. As the door opened, the eel came up the two steps biting at anything along the way. The four brave men then ran to the wheel house like women and slammed the door shut. They never did identify which one of them screamed like a girl.
Inside the wheelhouse, they started calming down and decided they would drink a couple more beers. Then they hatched a new battle plan. Steve Jr. went out on the deck to get the beast’s attention. The eel attacked and Steve Jr. climbed up on top of the captain’s chair. Ken threw a blanket on top of the giant eel while Erik and Bruce beat the hell out of it with a steel gaff and a large ice chest lid. After the creature was finally subdued, they put it into a large ice chest, and closed the lid on it.
The four brave sailors all got themselves a beer and were laughing at the situation when the lid of the ice chest was suddenly knocked off and the eel sprang out onto the deck and resumed his attack.. Bruce stated that the eel was clearly out for vengeance. The four men each picked up something and the fight was on. After beating the creature with gaffs, ice chest lids and fire extinguishers again, they once more subdued the massive carnivore and put it back into the ice chest. This time, they tied the lid down and put another ice chest on top of that one.
Eighteen hours later they returned to the dock and started unloading the boat. None of them was anxious to open the lid to the ice chest, in fact, they did “rock, paper, scissors” to determine who would pop the lid!
Above is a picture of Bruce Gordy with the eel that he caught and bravely fought in that epic and desperate battle for control on the high seas. (Steve Hoyland, Sr.)

[tuffr2]

The many fish like creatures that are in the Ocean. You just never know what you are going to catch.



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[35S]

I love free diving spearfishing especially over deep remote reefs in the middle of nowhere.

The sharks is always a factor.

This picture particularly fancied me.

Video: Mako-Versus-Marlin Encounter | Marlin Magazine

The power in the tail of that shark is just aw sum.

[hodgmo]

Here's how real men fish:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZQF83kf-a4

[duker52004]

It would seems to me that being towed behind a boat would just accomplish a sailor's budget enema... As a diver, I do prefer being UNDER the water as opposed to surface sports. As for shark attacks, statistically I believe more people are hurt and killed as pedestrians than from attacks.

But my big question would be: if it CAN possibly invite a life-threatening danger, why do it? Have to agree with Ann T, and say there comes a point when darwinism will take over...

[goat]

Originally Posted by Blue Crab

I saw Jaws when it came out. I was high on marijuana, and the opening scene scared me spitless for years. However, I moved on and after 50 years of diving with a hellava lotta sharks, they've never bothered me underwater.

That said, 7 or 9 people got bitten in the surf this year here in NC. And I recall some Aussie that's been bitten twice. What are the odds of that?

Aussies taste like vegemite. Sharks love vegemite. No mystery there.

goat