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08/10/2006: "VIC Snowie LEY ........ holds a large parrot fish"
20 August We departed Tweed Heads 4am for Victoria Point where we had trouble starting the outboard. After a new set of spark plus was installed it ran OK. From Victoria Point we headed across Moreton Bay in the plywood boat over glassy calm water.
The sky was blue and sun was shining. The trip across the bay, past Amity Point to Flat Rock is about 25 miles each way. There is a treacherous sand bar near Amity Point.
We anchored at Flat Rock most of the day. I was first in the water. Ron promised us we would see black kingfish and sure enough up from the bottom came three or four big beauties.
(The first I’d seen, these slender and long fish have been mistaken for black sharks by novice divers).
I couldn’t get close enough to them for a shot and to the bottom some 60 or 70 feet they vanished, never to return again.
(Well educated in the hazards associated with divers and spearguns. Some fish do know the difference between a diver with and without a speargun).
There were plenty of sawtail around and also a big black ray.
Then the sharks appeared. The first one I saw swam under me He was only about five or six feet long. Snowie shot a sawtail and another two whalers were trying to take the fish so Snow swam back and got the powerhead off Ron.
He hit one just back from the gills and it shot off into the deep. I took a couple of photos of one swimming under me and another shot of one just swimming away.
I hit one with my big gun and rig and the spear hit just in front of the dorsal but a little to one side. He tore off into the deep water taking my spear, gun and 65 feet of nylon rope and plastic buoy. We didn’t see the gun or float anymore after that.
At one time there I had three whalers swimming around under me, two of them were about six or seven feet long the other was about eight foot. That was the most I saw together at one time.
I grabbed the powerhead and tried to get close to a medium-sized one that kept out in deep water. I would take a breath and dive to the bottom some 60 or 70 feet down and look around. No shark. Then on my way up again he would always come in from 100 feet of water and have a look and turn away. We just couldn’t get near him.
Took the boat around the other side of Flat Rock. Water was much clearer here. Ron and I took a few underwater shots.
We got onto another medium-sized shark and Ron loaded up his powerhead. I managed to dive and take a close-up of him before Ron 'shot' him. He then swam away and when he returned he came straight up from the bottom and came straight at the tip of my spear.
Suddenly Ron appeared and BANG hit him somewhere in the guts. The water was filled with mutilated bits of shark. The (bull) whaler swam off into the deep again and we lost him. Then we all contented ourselves with the spearing of a few more fish.
(Re Ron ‘shot' him. I think this referred to taking a photo. The bull shark that was shot in front of me was not an injured one, to the best of my memory.
At the time I thought it was about to bite. I was anxiously jabbing toward it with my speargun – as advised by European pioneer shark encounter experts Hass and also Cousteau – but this had no effect.
Snowie thought it was a bit funny. He had a profile view. I was watching the shark and not Ron who was swimming in from behind me on my right hand side.
When the powerhead exploded the contents of the sharks stomach filled the water. At the time I felt as though Ron had saved me from being bitten but did not say anything to this effect as that might have been seen to be a bit ‘gutless’.
A far more serious shark encounter was to occur in later years, at Lihou Reef for both Snowie and Ron Taylor, which we’ll document separately).
Snowie got a couple of blues (groper), two nice parrot fish and some sawtail. I got a spanish mackerel less than 20 pounds and the rest of the catch was mainly sawtail.
Got one cray (lobster) at Shag Rock then headed home after a good day diving.
21 August Well there wasn’t much fishing done today. Dirty plugs in the Mercury
Kept us at the ramp for about three hours today. However everyone took off their shirts and we all got a good sun tan in the warm sun.
We had one pound of strawberries and ice cream for dessert tonight.
Snowie and Ron went up the street to the shooting gallery to see who was the best shot, they were betting for milk shakes.
