A SCUBA diver was forced to fend off a reef shark while culling
lionfish in Grand Cayman. The dramatic incident was captured on video camera by
the diver, who kept his cool, as the shark moved in to try and take his catch.
The short video clip, posted on YouTube by Jason Dimitri, was shot
at a rarely dived site close to the Blow Holes in Grand Cayman’s East
End.
The shark, which appears to be around five feet, first bumps the
diver as he attempts to spear a lionfish. It then
follows him as he retreats towards the surface and he is forced to smack it on
the nose with his culling spear.
In the clip, which lasts three minutes and 26 seconds, the diver
drops his container filled with lionfish and the shark bumps him one more time
before swimming away to investigate the container.
The video had attracted more than half a million views by Monday
morning and had attracted news attention from the U.S. to
Australia.
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As an amateur diver, I have to say this shakes me up a little. I’ve been down to this same site a few times and have dived all over Cayman and at different sites on other islands and I’ve only seen one shark and it was a nurse shark that was only laying in the sand. Had this been me, I would have probably had a heart attack. Kudos to him for keeping his cool. I am supposed to be going again in a few weeks and still want to go, however, I can admit I’m a little nervous now. Isn’t this an unusual encounter?
Take the DoE culling course as this diver made some serious errors in judgment in the course of his culling. I didn’t see a buddy with him to start, and culling lionfish when he knew in advance that there were reef sharks in the area is most unwise as the sharks will obviously be drawn to the blood. Not immediately dropping the lionfish container was another mistake as the container draws the sharks as well.
Perhaps this diver will want to consider another sport. Ocean Frontiers last weekend culled 131 lionfish without incident.