Spearfishing With Sharks - Adventures on the Taxman

There is an old spearfishing saying, “No sharks, no fish” 

Spearfishing With Sharks

Spearfishing on the east coast of South Africa in summer can be a wild affair. The moment the pelagic fish arrive they seem to bring with them hoards of sharks. Or is it the other way around?

This past year the diving was short lived with two cyclones wrecking the conditions for most of the summer. Followed up by massive flooding in April which then canceled any hope of diving through winter. And it seems like we are still wallowing in the murk 8 months later.

The diving we did however get in the summer was action packed and the fish really seemed to be here enforce. And those who found the odd clean gap between the cyclone swells got real lucky.

I managed to get one good day out off our home grounds at the beginning of April, just before the floods hit. The sharks were wild, and in some places seemed to be shoaling. Ryan and I got a bunch of really good fish, and we somehow didn't lose any fish to sharks. We had a bunch of fairly close encounters that got the heart pumping, making for some entertaining videos.

The vis however was really marginal, and the weather was overcast and gloomy. So I only filmed a bunch of my dives with the a gopro 7. I never had any intention of using any of the footage. As the gloomy green water did not make for great 'eye candy'.

A few months later going through the footage and realising that the footage was really action packed I decided to put an edit together. I had not filmed any B roll footage to add to the edit. So I decided to try something a little different and do a 'blow by blow' run down of each dive filmed and try add in as much value as possible, commenting on techniques and situations as they happened.

I hope you enjoy this video and running commentary of each dive as it happened. Who knows maybe this will be the start of a series of videos diving with Ryan on the Taxman.

Cheers

Chris

Shoaling Hammerhead Sharks

I recently got back from a dive trip in Mozambique where I dived this one place with loads of sharks. The one spot had hundreds of shoaling Hammerhead Sharks down between 25-30m. You could not see them from the surface but once you got down below the shoals of fish they were there in huge numbers.

Great White Comes Too Close - FULL STORY

Great White Comes Too Close - FULL STORY

Being attacked by a Great White shark scares the crap out of all of us spearfisherman. The Eastern and Western Cape in South Africa has extreme concentrations of these awesome creatures. But as awesome as they are, they are not what you want to see when spearfishing.

The original video clip "Great White Comes Too Close" created a huge stir on the internet so we went and got the full story. Richard Leonard went to Eugene van Wyngaardt the man who captured this amazing footage to get the whole story and the rest of footage not shown on Youtube.

I dig the part where you can hear Eugene screaming #$&% through his snorkel.

Coatesman

Great White Shark Off Christmas Bay

The Great White Shark 'Courage' not far from Christmas Bay KZN

Where were you spearfishing on Wednesday 3rd July??? Well hopefully not off Christmas Bay on the Dolphin Coast!! Because you might have bumped into 'Courage' the 12'6" long, 1372lb (856.5kg) mature male Great White Shark!!
If you had, I think you might have needed much 'courage'. I shark that size in 3-5m water is enough to make you crap yourself to death, let alone the fact that it is a Great White!!

Follow Courage Click Here 

On the other hand... when you are not crapping your self, it is quiet cool to see where these beasts have been roaming. Great White sharks are serious travellers, travelling for thousands of kilometers between continents. I am happy with that as long as where I dive is on of the layovers on their prowling route. 

I know sharks don't 'really' eat people, and I am the first to say not to worry about the sharks. But the thought of spearfishing in the average murk we have with a Great White is daunting. Just thinking about the idea makes me respect the spearfisherman who dive around the Western and Eastern Cape coastlines. No wonder they hide in the kelp hunting 'Hotties' .... I would also be too s*%t scared to venture out :-)

To follow some Great White sharks in your area go to Ocearch Global Shark Tracker
But may I suggest that 'ignorance is bliss'

Coatesman

Spearfishing Shark Attack

This past week there were rumors of a shark attack. They ranged from some one hearing of an attack to a 5 meter Great White attacking a spearfisherman to a diver being swallowed by a Great White. I called the local sharks board guy on Thursday morning and at that stage he had not heard anything so I fobbed it off as stories.

That was until I got this email from Fourie Combrinck

Every Spearfishermans worst nightmare

On the 4th of May at about 8am we launched from Glenmore Beach on the lower south coast. It looked like to what was going to turn out to be a perfect day for some diving, flat see and only a light S Westerly blowing. Our late start was due to the problem that we could not get two stroke marine oil at the local garage the reason for this was  the ski boat compos which took place over the long week ends.
After diving on some spots in the Glenmore erea without any success we both decided to head towards one of our favorite spots in the Palm Beach er ea. I noticed a lot of activity in the water which I could make out to be red eyed sardines while turns were bombarding them from the air.
After anchoring and in a flurry to kit up we were soon both in the water because after the long spell of dirty water we where both eager to shoot some fish.The visibility was plus minus 6 to 7 meters and the temperature quite warm for this time of year according to me My dive buddy Trevor Burger beat me to it an soon bagged a nice bronzy. After he landed his second fish and me only seeing a big shoal of pinkys I drifted of to the southern side of the reef, about 20 to 25 meters away. After another fruitless down on which I only came across some black tails and a barbel I surfaced to see Trevor siting on the boat. He shouted to me to get to the boat as there was a shark in the vicinity. This was strange to me as we both have encountered sharks before with out them hassling us.
I was surprised to hear Trevor say that he was bitten by the shark. According to him he shot a banky (finger fin) at about 10 meters and on his way to the surface felt the shark biting on to his lower left leg and shaking him twice before letting go  and swimming away.He only saw the shark after it let go of him from behind and was unable to recognize the species, but we both suspect it to be a dusky as we have encountered them in the erea before. Again I was surprised by the speed of these animals underwater how quickly it attacked and disappeared.
Trevor bandaged his leg while I raced back to Glenmore from where my wife Lindy took him to hospital.
After some serious stitching (58) and crimps four days later Trevor was released from hospital  but like a true spearo cant wait for the wounds to heal so that he can go diving again
To all the people that lend a helping hand on the beach we want to say thank you and to the ouk that saw two spearos being attacked by a 5,5 great white in the same erea...sorry I know nothing of it.

This is not the kind of thing any of us enjoy hearing about, and sends shivers down my spine. Trevor sorry, this is heavy ... I guess on the bright side there is no disabling damage and you have one serious cool conversation starter next time your in the pub trying to chat up a blonde. God speed with your recovery and hope to see you in the water soon.

Coatesman

Shark Attack at Tiffanies!

Dale with 1 time half chewed off fin!

Quinton White sent me this mail about a shark 'attack / bite' at Salt Rock on Sunday!!

On Sunday a couple of us returned to Tiffany’s only because the day before had 100’s of good size snoek. Unfortunately Sunday only had bad viz and between 5 of us only 1 couta was spotted. We decided to get out of the water, Dale, Craig and myself swam in together, I was through backline first and dale followed, once you were through back line you we were on a sand bank, I managed to get over the sand bank quite quickly, and dale was still on the sand bank 4m away from a surfer. Dale got jerked about a meter or two back wards and was under the impression someone was fooling around when he lifted his head out the water him and the surfer was looking at each other not knowing who did what, later when we tried to put the puzzle together, it cam out that the surfer thought that Dale’s fin hit him the same time Dale jumped up. The scary thing is that is was only waste deep water and we think the only culprit that it could be is a Zambezi with a reaction bite in white water. Would be interesting to send the fin to ORI and see what they say. I have attached a pic of the fin.

Shark Attack on Mark Ragotzki

I received this feed back from Fernando fro Centurion Freedivers with regards to Mark Ragotzki's unfortunate shark attack. I also spoke to Jeremy Williams from the Dive Factory who spoke to Mark and Rob. He said that the Zambie came in at a rate of knots and chomped on Marks foot, and did not give Mark much time to respond. Not the kind of thing we like to hear or think about!

Glad to inform Mark is doing well and in hi spirit. Went to visit him last night at Sunninghill Netcare Hospital in Sandton, to convey everyone’s sentiments… he says “THANKS GUYS FOR EVERYTHING”. He told me the whole story which I’ll note down so everyone is up to speed as to what really happened.

Rob, Mark and the third gentleman’s name I can’t remember were aprox 2hrs out to sea looking for big game fish. They stumbled onto a reef in the middle of nowhere that rose from the ocean floor to aprox 15m below the surface. They decided this reef was worth taking a look so Da Boyz got into the water, Mark started his decent and identified the usual fish species that are commonly found where big game fish lurk, went through a school of baitfish and headed down to the reef below. He spotted a Zambi swimming around in a non threatening manner and made nothing of it … saw a Kakaap, shot it and began to surface. Once on top, he called the boat over to assist him with the fish. Rob steered the boat to the location and began to pull the fish in, still the Zambi wasn't interested. Mark told me the speared fish was about 15m away from them when he saw the Zambi charging him and heading straight for his legs. His immediate reaction was to pull his legs up and the shark whacked his left ankle, shook him around and left the scene.

Mark climbed immediately on board, bleeding from the ankle as Rob hauled in the Kakaap which remained untouched by the shark. Another two suspenseful hour boat trip back to land where DAN came to the rescue and airvaced him back to SA. Mark told me that if it wasn’t for DAN, things would have looked a lot worse.

Mark’s only conclusion for this attack is “territorial”, the shark was clearly not after the speared fish. I reckon those sharks in these remote areas have never seen a human, therefore the chance of these sharks coming to investigate are very good. The sharks around South Africa are use to human interaction and know we are not a threat to them and not on their menu, reason why we have become a little laxy around sharks???

The wound was very well wrapped so I couldn’t see the extent of  damage. The top of his left foot has no feeling but the soul of his foot has, which is a good sign. I also had a squizz at his toes and they have a normal healthy colour which means good blood circulation. Given the circumstances, Mark looks well and I’m sure he’ll be fully recovered in a very short while. The doctors are keeping him for observation to make sure no infection sets in … that’s the last thing you want at this stage of the game. He’ll be going for surgery on Friday to see how much dead flesh there is to be cut out and to verify how things are healing. This surgery will be the first of a few to come.

Hope I was “detailed” enough to get everyone up to speed, feel free to pass this piece of news onto everyone that may know Mark or has herd of the incident and are a little in the dark.

Cya later,

Fernando.

 It would be interesting to find out more about the DAN insurance that Mark had. They flew in a small jet with doctors on board to take Mark back to an SA hospital.

Coatesman

Spearfishing Update

Hi guys,

Sorry for being so quiet, I have been away and my mobile internet conection took a dive. And when I got back my home internet was also problematic and I am online for the first time in days.

The Cape trip was very good, I met some amazing people, the whole tuna hunt did not go eexactly as planned ...but thats how it goes.
On the the other hand I experinced almost all the sides of the Cape. From my dive at Struisbaai and seeing a Great White to the west coast and shooting a Yellow Tail and Hottie!

 Some West Coast "Tail"

The westcoast was nice and chilly, on the ride out some of the water was 10deg ... fortunatly we landed up in a balmy 14deg so it was only my toes and hands that I lost feeling in!

The weather did clear enough to get out to the canyon to look for tuna. The first day was a little rough but our skipper landed up with a 12kg longfin tuna. I got some great footage of Blue sharks and saw a Mako zipping in and out the chum line.

The second day was calm but the fish were very quiet, we saw acouple more sharks and some seals, but thats about it.

All in all it was a great trip and I learnt alot from the guys  ..... and realised how hard it is to dive in cold water!!

Other sadder news is that Mark Ragotzki - Dive Factory JHB has been bitten by a shark in Vilanculos while diving with Rob Allen. He is in hospital and it sounds like the doc's have saved his foot and he is recovering. I dont have any details about what happened yet. .....thoughts are with you Mark, get well my friend.

Gee this is a sober reminder of the dangers out there!!

Coatesman

Epic Aliwal Shoal Shark Photography

Jon Cooper took this underwater photo of these three Sharks on Aliwal Shoal this week.

The conditions on Aliwal Shoal have been epic, and this photo of these sharks is proof enough. I think this pic is an award winner if I ever saw one ... absolutly amazing!!

I mean a Tiger shark, Whale shark and a Black tip shark in the same pic in near perfect composition. 

Flipp'n epic shark photography!!

Coatesman

Zambezi Sharks

There have been a number of reports of some large sharkes on our coast recently not unuseual for summer. There have even been sightings of Great White Sharks!! Now thats a little disterbing! But for the most part its been Zambezi and other smaller Greys and Milkys.

Quiet a few spearfisherman have been harrased and lost their fish to sharks, and one skiboater said that they had to move from a FAD last week as a super large Great whaite was chomping everything.

Interesting that there have been 2 articles in the news on Zambezi's this week already. One a World Record Zambezi was caught in the Breede river, and the other a fatal attack on a life guard in the Kei.

Killer shark identified as Zambezi after examination of lifeguard‘s body

A ZAMBEZI shark was responsible for attacking and killing a Port St Johns lifeguard at the weekend, Natal Sharks Board head researcher Geremy Cliff said yesterday.

He said warm waters along the Eastern Cape coast in summer attracted the sharks.

Seasoned lifeguard Sikhanyiso Bangilizwe, 27, was attacked by the shark on Saturday afternoon while swimming with a friend at Second Beach.

He was bitten on the shoulder, right arm, back and buttocks.

Cliff said an examination of Bangilizwe‘s body had established that a Zambezi (bull) shark had attacked him.

Read More - http://www.theherald.co.za/herald/news/n17_28012009.htm

World Record Zambezi Caught in the Breede River

Dear all,

I write to give you the details of our research expedition to the Breede River during the week January 19-25.

The purpose of the expedition was to determine whether reports of Zambezi (bull) sharks in the Breede River could be confirmed.  Scientifically, confirmed reports would be extremely relevant on a global scale as this would represent the most south-westerly distribution of bull sharks in Africa.

Joining us on the expedition was Dr. Steve Lamberth and his team from MCM, Hennie Papenfuss from Big Fish Safari and a team of four from SASC.  We fished for 3 days with no luck & were rewarded on the 4th day when Hennie caught a bull shark on his line.  After an hour and a half struggle with the fish (during which it towed him 2.5km further upstream), Hennie managed to tire her enough to bring her close to shore for landing.  Our team then brought her carefully to the shore, where we were able to collect all the required data.  

We measured her, tagged her with two acoustic continuous tags and one spaghetti tag, and gathered genetic samples in order to determine whether bull sharks in the Breede River represent a distinct population from those found elsewhere in South Africa.  

She is a world-record breaking shark measuring 4 metres total length, weighing in the vicinity of 550-600kg.  This is the largest bull shark known to science - the previous maximum size was thought to be 3.5 metres TL.  We also suspect she was heavily pregnant and may very well be using the Breede as a pupping ground.  Scientifically speaking, this discovery is huge and groundbreaking.

Following the tagging, we proceeded to track her for 43 continuous hours.  She spent the majority of the time in the estuary, with only a few hours in the surf zone just outside the river mouth.

Read More - http://www.sealine.co.za/view_topic.php?id=15131&forum_id=1

Coatesman

A Day Filming Sharks

Flip its Monday, I am desperately trying to get the wheels in my head turning ....... but it feels like the hand brake is still up!
Despite the wild weather the week end was an interesting one. I landed up on a film shoot filming sharks, and other cut away sequences for a documentary with a mate Graeme Duane.
The sea was a disaster but when you need the shot .. you have to go. So in less than epic ...... way less!! conditions we headed out to Aliwal Shoal getting launch sequences and us pounding our way out to sea on film. We go a couple shots down while looking for Raggies, but alas no Raggies!

With no toothy critters we headed off to Ell Skins and found the some guys baiting sharks for some tourists, asked if we could jump in and have a look.
Shark soup!! It was amazing, ever seen a cloud of Chub attacking a burly trail? Well take that scenario and instead of Chub you've got Black tips, some over sized Dusky's and for good measure a Tiger Shark.

The aim was to film Graeme filming the sharks while freediving, I cant say that I was not distracted for awhile just filming sharks, sharks everywhere. Under you, over you .... into you ...flip it was mayhem! Eventually Graeme and I got busy and nailed some shots.
Its a freaky thing when your eyes are glued to the viewfinder on the housing. Your world is only out in front of you, and you have to forget about whats going on behind you. Its the nudge or that 'thing' brushing between your legs, that reminds you that you are actually in the middle of this thing and not looking from the outside in.

The highlight for me was nailing a shot of Graeme filming a Tiger Shark. We had gone down to film Graeme doing his thing, when a beaut Tiger Shark came in, swam around Graeme and then right up to me. The Tiger had a brief look at me and then turned and swam between the two of us. I know the German crew were aiming to get that shot with a Raggie Shark, but I was stoked.

Personally I think Tiger Sharks are way cooler that Raggies!! Any way time is ticking and .....its MONDAY!!

Later

Coatesman

Earth Touch - 24/7 Documentry

With the dive been so bleak I land up running, training, and being down right bored!! We were supposed to hit Zululand this weekend for some spring time action. But the only action that will go down is kite boarding!!

Anyway a mate of mine is involved in a most unique project called Earth-Touch.Com It is a documentary channel that is ....almost live! By this I mean that its not archived stuff from 3 years back, you can go and watch something from all over the world that happened today or yesterday.

The project is still in beta phase but you can go and check it out. Earth Touch
or go and check out one from a couple days ago Earth Touch Sharks


Coatesman

Filming Great White Sharks

My mate Graeme Duane from DigiStream has carved a name for him self in the film industry
when it comes to filming Sharks in particular Great White Sharks. Sharks however its not the only thing gets up close and personal with. Go check his blog some wild things going on there!!

Coatesman

Its a Hard Life!

This week looks like a pearler, I got in last nite and water is nice and clean. I took my 9 year old son Braidy for a dive hoping to get him to get a Garrick. No Garrick but we saw a rather large snoek, it did want to get speared and darted away with out Braidy or myself getting a shot off.

Snoek - They are such bad sports!

We still had fun pulling some buggs, playing with an Octopus and watching life underwater pass us by.

I should have dived this morning, but work has been a bit hectic. But I am not too stress as it looks like we might dive every day this week. A light west today and light variable winds till the weekend. So lets see what happens!!

Other News-

Wahoo Winter Game Fish 2007 - The winter Game Fish is only a week and a bit away and things are hotting up!! The guys are already storming the shop sorting out their kit for the comp.
Iain and crew were up at Vidal this weekend and he dropped a Marlin. So having your kit in top condition is paramount.
Late July going into August is a good time to be up there coz anything can happen. Some times the Wahoo are on but most the time you are after the large return cuta. I know of a number of guys that highlight this time of the year for Vidal, so it will be interesting to see what fish are going to come out on the day.

Shark Week - Just something of interest... Discovery Channel has a whole week of shark programs in Shark Week. Some of the shows are premiers and are showing for the first time. There is one called Deadly Stripes .. shot off Aliwal Shoal with Mark Addison. I will be making a plan to see that one for sure. Check this link- Shark Week