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Old 04-03-2015, 08:54 PM
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Default Free Diver Attacked By Shark Off Jupiter

Reportedly two and perhaps three commercial spearfishermen were free diving shooting cobia with Hawaiian slings (more likely spearguns), off Jupiter this afternoon in 50 ft. of water. Two divers were returning to the boat with a cobia. Once the fish had been dropped over the gunnel into the boat, a bull shark reportedly attacked one of the divers. This was indicated to have been said in Spanish to a person acting as interpreter at the dock.

It was reported bit the man's shoulder area and torso. The call came into Palm Beach County Emergency Services at about 1 pm today, April 3, 2015. Paramedics were quoted in one news report as saying the man was also bitten "slightly" on the head suggesting multiple bites may have occurred. The 18 ft. boat was said to show signs of considerable blood from the mans' wounds. The victim was awake, sitting upright and talking at the marina.


Traumahawk helicopter inbound


The boat came into Jupiter Inlet to meet an ambulance at the U-Tiki restaurant he was in turn transferred to a Traumahawk helicopter for transport to St. Mary's Hospital.


Bull shark
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bull_shark

Related content:
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/ne...inlet-o/nkmXF/

http://www.wpbf.com/news/1-person-ai..._source=Social

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/pa...403-story.html

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Cobia can swim with sharks, particularly bull sharks even large rays in the interest of picking up table scraps. Here is a video from 2013 showing spear fishermen from Lake Worth, FL chumming and placing drift lines with fish attached to bring in bull sharks and their side kicks, cobia in order to shoot them from directly beneath the sharks as they swim by. In this case reportedly one bull shark had 30 cobia in tow.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-n_3oAIXk2o

"Ryan, Lars, Kegan and I departed the Lake Worth Inlet on March 17, 2013 to go slay some cobia. We set up our drifts in 100-120' in areas where the bull sharks have been present. We used flashers and kept a steady flow of chum with frozen sardines. Within 10 minutes of getting in the water Ryan spots a bull shark 65' down with 30 cobia in tow. He dives down, shoots, and scores a nice one. On the following drift I jump in the water first and start deploying the flashers. While doing so I spot a bull below me. I made a tough dive (no time to breathe up) and chased the shark as he is swimming away. I was unable to close the distance but decided to take a hail mary shot anyway and miss. Later on Lars and I spot another bull with 3 cobia in tow. Lars sets up on the fish but there is delay in taking a shot. Turns out there was an issue with his gun that cost him a couple seconds. Not knowing this I decide that I'm going to take a shot. We pull the trigger on the same fish at the same time, but Lars does so a fraction of a second before me. He scores a nice fish. Now I've got 2 misses on fish and am more determined than ever to get one. I end up spotting a bull 65' down and make my dive. I had plenty of time to breath up and was feeling great. I started my dive, spotted the fish I wanted, got within range, placed my shot and scored. I quickly swam back up to the surface. The sharks weren't too aggressive on the fish we shot this day but I wanted to retrieve my fish as fast as possible. As can be seen in the video there was a shark that swam towards my shot fish, but the most spectacular thing about that was all the cobia the shark had in tow! My fish was the last of the day as our crew had our limit of one per person. Kegan was also along and shot a nice cobia too, however I was driving the boat at the time so there is no footage. But the cool thing about his fish was that it was the first time he pulled the trigger on his new Koah speargun and he lands a great fish - nice job."

It is not known at this time if the spearfishermen today were employing similar tactics or not. It is worth noting that the commercial fishing regulations for cobia are quite strict, Minimum Size Limit 33” fork length and Daily Bag Limit 2 fish per person per day, maximum 6 per vessel. I guess attracting the sharks is fairly reliable and the cobia often follow along, still it seems a lot of risk for just two fish each? It looks like cobia retails for about $17. per pound. So, you catch a 40 pounder, end up with 14 lbs. after cleaning? Say wholesale is $6. per pound, you end up at about $90. per fish? Throw in fuel, time, medical insurance deductible and there are more reliable ways to make a better buck and in my experience enjoy your time in the water. Or maybe it is just getting amped up with the chance of getting chewed on which is the big equalizer?

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Here is another example in which an FAU student in the spearfishing club there shot a 60 pound cobia swimming directly beneath a good sized shark.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Fr_TD1kBlg
"Diving into water with a school of 12-foot plus bull sharks is crazy. I don't even feel safe being in a boat when bull sharks are in feeding mode.

For Farrell Tiller, diving with bull sharks means cobia. As the East Coast of Florida migration of cobia passes along Palm Beach, he goes out in search of bull sharks, because cobia swim with the aggressive bulls. When the cobia are swimming with the sharks, Tiller heads into the water to get a shot.

"When I see the fish my worries go away," Tiller explains. "We've been doing this long enough we can get a good feel of the sharks body language and how they are going to act and react with us in the water. That being said, they are wild animals and there's no telling what they may do."

To watch each others backs, Tiller heads into the water four divers at a time. Everyone looks a direction to make sure no one is at risk of being attacked from behind. Many of Tiller's friends are in the FAU Spearfishing Club who also partake in the cobia carnage. Pictured with Tiller (left) are Chandler Beck, Colin Page, Roberto Ruiz.

"We've never had any serious injuries, but have lost a few fish and shafts to sharks," Tiller says. "Gain more experience spearfishing and free diving before trying this. It is a dangerous sport and there's a lot that can go wrong.""
http://outdoors360.com/article/spear...o#.VR9Rb7rfjww

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Here is another clip involving spear fishermen luring in sharks, this time a nice sized tiger shark in order to plink the accompanying cobia. The cobia may hang below the sharks like remora waiting for some stray food to show up. In this case they are shot for their trouble. The following still shot from taken from the video clip.


Cobia being shoot off a good sized tiger shark.
https://www.facebook.com/KoahSpearguns/



https://vimeo.com/40968486


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I came across a video clip of scuba divers spearfishing on a deeper ledge off Jupiter with a subsequent encounter with a bunch of bull sharks while shooting some schooling jacks. In this instance the sharks had a chance to take a bite and with some vigor.


"01/11/13 Jupiter Deep Ledge Bull Sharks attack spear gun and speared fish"


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Last edited by ricki; 04-04-2015 at 07:07 AM.
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