NorCal Kayak Anglers
Dive Zone => Kayak Diving and Spearfishing => Topic started by: bigeyedave on February 23, 2006, 11:59:27 AM
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I wish I could tell you the shark siting was just SQWAFISH but this time it was for real. I was diving yesterday with Clark Hale and Roy Irwin at Reef Campground. It was a beautiful sunny day, minimal swell and real nice vis for Fort Ross, better than 10 ft. We started the day in shallow water and worked our way out to some pinnacles in about 45 ft. of water, maybe 300 yards off shore. The day was perfect and we were finding some nice fish. We were on boogey boards and we were staying pretty close together. I never saw the shark, but Clark and Roy both got a good look at it. Clark was on the bottom under me and the shark cruised by him just after he shot a fish. He was under me and I heard his gun go off. I swam off to the right a little dove. When I came back up Clark was up on the washrock and was yelling, "Get out of the water , Come on, come on , get out, get out, grab Roy" I turned and started to swim for the rock and at about that time Roy got cruised while he was on the surface. All three of us piled up on this washrock and stayed there for about 40 min. until we hooked arms and swam in together trying to stay together and as big as possible. We never saw the shark again. Thank god. Just a heads up for you guys who may have been thinking about Fort Ross this weekend.
It's good to be whole.
Dave
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WOW! Is this your first shark encounter / sighting?
Wouldn't it be safer to paddle out with your yaks instead of boogey boards?
Glad everybody made it back safe!
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That sucks, wish you'd gotten to see it too.
I hope my sightings have been gotten out of the way at the monterey bay aquarium... Fort ross is known for sightings, but no attacks that I know of. Stillwater cove had one attack on a scuba diver, and presumably some sightings as well. With the crappy vis there, I bet there are a lot of drivebys that go un-noticed.
Generally if abalone isn't open I go south instead of north, after better visibility. But come april I'll be diving fort ross for sure.
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Just glad to hear the mascot passed on eating any of you guys. I have still never seen the taxman...even from a boat...looking to keep it that way!!!
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Note they where on boogie boards not kayaks :smt003
Glad you guys made it out safe but bummer you didn't get to at least sneak a peak.
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I feel fortunate to have all my parts. I don't even want to imagine how many times I have been cruised and never had any idea. If this thing had wanted us it would have been over in seconds. I'm glad it either knew we weren't seals or just wasn't hungry. Either way it worked out. The whole three in a row side by side thing was just a plan to get in the middle, except it didn't work out that way. Roy ended up between Clark and I so he was really the guy with the best odds. Bill you are absolutely right about kayak vs. boogey boards. I will be on my kayak without fail from here on out. I also won't be wearing my dead bleeding fish hula skirt much anymore. Interestingly enough I had, for some unknown reason, strung all my fish on my boogey board that day. That is very unusual for me. But I am glad I did it. I think dead fish straight away to the kayak is my new motto.
Dave
aka: sharkbait
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Make sure to put them in a bucket/cooler or plug your scupper holes when you put the fish in the kayak too. Don't want blood and gore drooling out the scupper holes while you're paddling and diving nearby.
Did the 4' diameter size estimate include the 30% bigger that everything looks underwater?
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I cringe every time I hear of a shark attack. I am right there with you when you said you have no idea how many times in the past the tax man may have cruised by you. I try to think never and keep my fingers crossed.
I am VERY glad you guys made it out of there safely.
I can only imagine the discomfort of swimming back to shore.
Congrats on keeping level heads. How fast were you guys kicking back anyway? Slow to minimalize water motion, or fast as hell to get outta there?
In my opinion, sharing your experience could be very helpful to anyone else in a similar situation. Thanks.
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file a report @ www.sharkresearchcommittee.com.
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That sucks, wish you'd gotten to see it too.
You're an idiot!
I hope my sightings have been gotten out of the way at the monterey bay aquarium... Fort ross is known for sightings, but no attacks that I know of. Stillwater cove had one attack on a scuba diver, and presumably some sightings as well. With the crappy vis there, I bet there are a lot of drivebys that go un-noticed.
just because there isn't any attacks doesn't mean anything. All it takes is one.
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hey jerky, take it easy on us man! we are not all idiots. ok well maybe i am.....
from what i have heard, people who have seen GWSs dont stop going to the ocean and doing what the love but change the way they do it and have a greater appreciation for it.
its rare to see a shark in person and statistically speaking and even more rare to be attacked by one.
sure all it takes is one encounter to get chomped but look at it this way, you are safer swimming in the ocean than you are when driving down the local freeway or road to your favorite dive spot.
shark sightings are pretty rare and they make the news because its not a usual occurrence. for example, in parts of south africa and australia shark sightings are frequent and dont usually make the news. there are places where sharks routinely share the lineup with surfers.
im not saying i would wear a wetsuit marinated in blood or float myself on a boogie board the shape of a fat seal but with a little common sense most folks will be fine.
call me an idiot but i still dive fort ross cove even though each year someone somewhere in there sees a GWS.
if i happen to see one and change my mine i'll make a post and call you all IDIOTS!! :smt005 :smt005
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call me an idiot but i still dive fort ross cove even though each year someone somewhere in there sees a GWS.
I was calling bohemeth_punk an idiot for wishing a sighting on someone else. Just because everyone was safe, doesn't mean it was a safe condition.
if i happen to see one and change my mine i'll make a post and call you all IDIOTS!! :smt005 :smt005
But maybe you are an idiot. It's MIND, not mine.
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Jerky, enough with the idiot calling.
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I think he needs a hug :smt002
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No doubt, Jerky.
In three posts one was a smart-ass remark, and in the other two you called people idiots.
Not a good first impression.
Must be how you got your name? :smt006
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Jerky, enough with the idiot calling.
Who you callin Jerky?
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Jerky... you might consider dropping the "y" from your name and just call a spade a spade.
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jerky's trollin and he's gettin some hits! :smt005. usually best to ignore the troller.
hey john f. chen, p-spark posted an analysis that shows that diving is more dangerous than diving, even if
you only include the shark attack part of it. it's towards the end of the GWS thread. check it out.
If I was a diver, I'd tell myself that the shark danger part of it was small compared to other possible accidents,
but it might be the case that you are blissfully ignorant of the dangers. maybe best to keep it that way
and not read p-spark's re-posted diver analysis of attack risk.
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They also felt that the odds of seeing a shark (as a diver) were comparable with the odds of being bitten by one. I kind of doubt that, but I do put stock in their assertion that hour/hour, diving is more dangerous than driving.
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well shoot then!
i guess i will have to spend more time driving than diving from now on!
wait, lucky for me i have a terrible commute and long drives just to get to the water!
who knows what life has in store for anyone. i guess in the grand scheme of all things wonderful in life someone could theoretically jump in for the first time into the ocean and see a shark and the guy just behind him making his 5000th dive totally miss it.
i guess only a higher power would know when and how.
i'd rather see great white seabass.... :smt007
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one thing is true is that the math of probability does not include history.
a lot of people think that if you flip a coin 99 times and get heads each time
that you are more likely to get tails on the next one, but you aren't, it's still a 50% chance
for that next throw. the coin does not remember what it did the last 99 times.
it only knows it has a 50% chance on each throw (fair coin).
this thinking applies to GWS attacks or helicopter skiing accidents,
and other situations where the risk is small but the event is catastrophic.
also true for situations where the reward is high like sturgeon fishing.
If you take that risk again and again and again, chances are good you will suffer. But if you
get through a whole pile of risk events, it's not like you have worse odds going forward, your
odds are the same as everybody else for each trip.
So everytime I make it home alive from something, I'm sure to crack a beer because I lowered
my total odds against for that event happening in my life.
So seeing a GWS once does not protect you from further incidents. Likewise, not seeing one
does not make it more likely you will see one in the future. All that matters is how many more
times you plan to take the risk.
Best,
J
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Hey, I was just scanning some photos and realized I've got a (non MBA) shark sighting under my belt too. This one was only 8ft though...
(http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/albums/album02/sighting.jpg)
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They also felt that the odds of seeing a shark (as a diver) were comparable with the odds of being bitten by one. I kind of doubt that, but I do put stock in their assertion that hour/hour, diving is more dangerous than driving.
Per capita drivers vs. Per capita divers...diving is more dangerous, I'd wager
but I do quote the driving to the beach is more dangerous to my wife.
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We've been diving the last several years with a electronic "Shark Shield' by 'seachange technology'. The free-diver and scuba units both go for like $500? :smt013 Dove the Farallons 2x last yr. for scallops and as long as you wear the unit by the instructions you don't get shocked. However the instructions state you shouldn't wear one if you have a pace-maker. The first time you get bit :smt010 by the unit you'll know why. We basically wear the unit whenever and where ever were diving here in Northern Cal. The latest shark book (Shark attacks in the North Pacific?) is a real eye opener on how many attacks there have been here in Cal and never mind the sightings. BTW my twin brother lives in Pacifica and will be fishing/diving from a paddle-board there this summer and hopes to see you guys. We built a 24' ply/epoxy Alaska skiff several yrs. ago and give us a shout when you see us on the water, boat names 'Golden Ones'. Bob
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Cool. Any pics of the boat?
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The one thing that I will change because of this incident is,..... I will increase my time on the kayak. This is a good thing. I put in for the big fish/ab pool and now I will probably always be on my kayak. This increases my odds of winning. If it wasn't for this I would probably still shore dive more because it is often easier and quicker. If the washrock hadn't been there it would have been much worse. If I had a kayak, at least I could have climbed out on it and paddled away. Just seems like a good idea for a lot of reasons.
Dave
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Mooch, that was on the spot you fished with Alan Tani
Paul, where did you launch and land? I've been looking around for a place to launch in that area but had no luck. Did you launch North or South of the point?
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Yes posted on our diving at Dux. This was probably in reference to diving one of those pinnacle rocks on the inside of Dux where alot of people lose tackle. Conditions were shitty and very little tackle. Just too much area for the gear to spread around in so not exactly like there's a honey-spot waiting for someone IMO. :smt003. Thanks Bob
hey lukdiver
Was that you who was diving Dux Reef this past season? I remember reading some dive posts on coastside and giving somebody the heads up about the gw action heating up there. I was thinking man this guy's got moxy but then it seemed like he just hadn't been aware what was going on
You'd have to pay me a lot of money to get me to dive that spot In fact if I was diving at all these days I'd be wearing something crunchproof
I met a guy who took a ride in a gws mouth out at the Farallons, he had some nice rows of scars to to show for it