Sharks and Yaks

After hearing about the tragic news out of Hawaii it made me think more about sharks and the unique situation kayak fisherman put themselves in. I think kayak fisherman could learn a fair amount from the surfing community about avoiding conflict with sharks. There are certain times of year, locations, and water conditions when it simply is best to let the apex predators be apex predators. The difficulty for kayak fisherman is that we usually want to fish where the sharks are because we are after the same prey base. I've not had a lot of experience with sharks in a kayak but I had one particularly scary run in with a Bull Shark at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba while fishing for red snapper. The shark bumped the rear of my kayak several times before I was able to make it into shallow water near the mangroves.

It doesn't take much work to find a series of near misses by kayak fisherman on YouTube. There is the famous chompy video which does a fair job of showing the immense power and speed with which sharks employ in attacking prey .
There is also a video of a hammerhead investigating and apparently taking a test bite on the aft section of a kayak .
I think the closest call I've seen on video is this one where the shark takes a bite out a fish while it is being lifted out of the water nearly getting the fisherman's hand
 .

While sharks probably are not as big of an issue in the PNW as elsewhere. Linglinghero's recent encounter with a Great White in southern Oregon demonstrates that it is something we need to be aware of. I was wondering if we as a community could develop a list of tips to avoid conflict with sharks based on our own experiences.

I'll give it a start:

1.) Keep your legs and arms in the boat as much as possible especially when bringing your catch on board.
2.) Avoid drawing attention to yourself e.g. don't paddle/peddle towards sharks if you see one
3.) If a shark is circling your kayak stop pedaling or paddling. My experience with bull sharks is they are drawn into the disturbance of the paddles/peddles if you just float there they get bored pretty quite and move on.  I can easily imagine a shark biting into you mirage drive and the kayaker being throw from his boat by a large shark. The only time I broke this rule was when a shark bumped my kayak turning me in the water that is when I decided to get the heck out of there.
4.) Fish with a buddy or buddies which is a good thing to do anyways!
5.) Learn basic first aid.

Feel free to add to the list. I'd also like to here which species of shark kayak fisherman have had runs in with in the PNW. I've frequently encountered Blue Sharks while out tuna fishing but have not encountered a shark near shore yet.

Having just recently encountered a white shark...I don't know if pedaling/paddling would make a difference if they wanted to investigate further. I thought for a split second I should pull my drive and use my paddle. I thought it would make too much noise and possibly make the fish more curious.  I chose to slowly and smoothly pedal my way toward the power boat that wasn't too far off.  The shark followed me most of the way. It didn't seem aggressive. ..just curious. I thought maybe I should use my paddle to prod the shark if it got too close but I thought that might startle the fish and a sudden thrash from the shark could send me off my revo and into the drink.  Not somewhere I would want to be...
Also I had my feet off the sides before I noticed the shark behind me. Who knows how long it was checking me out before I finally noticed. If it wanted my feet it could have had them at any time.

I guess some preparedness might be smart but there's really not much you could do if you found yourself suddenly at the mercy of a great white. You're out of your depth on their turf.
I'm going to try my best to not think about it and consider it a lucky encounter that I probably won't experience again.  Famous last words!

You need to remember that your in their turf. Alot of them are just curious about this strange thing in the water giving off weird signals.We feel by touch, aka hands where as sharks feels with its under side of its nose.Much of the time they come up look not sure and then rub the side of the kayak and satisfied and leave, but take in consideration, did the fish I brought on board rub the side did I spill some scent,maybe from last time I did'nt clean the blood off good enough. All this and more comes into play.For the most part just beware of your surroundings and listen to your inner voice. When launching pay close attention to the other animals or lack of. I now you just drove 2 or 3 hours the weather is sunny and you can't wait to get out there,as you get into your kayak you get this funny filling-- listen to it .Trust me I have scrap a few days of surfing because of it. GW here along the oregon and washington coast like to surprise their pray. So if confronted turn towards it watch it keep an eye on it .Once it has figured out it does'nt have the elememt of surprise it will more an likely leave.Paddling away sounds great but think of this -prey swims away. Nov and Dec is the mating season of GW with Oct being salmon season which inturn the salmon shark come in close. For the most of it I'm more worried about the sea lions.

Just a couple observations/thoughts on my part.

The primary food source for GWS on our coast is seals and sea lions.  They concentrate around the nurseries and are keyed in on that food source.  I once took a dive charter out to the Farallon Islands to sit in a cage in the water all day staring at the green water.  That boat didn't use chum at all.  They claimed that they used to but they found that using plywood silhouettes was much more effective than fish blood and guts.  They theory was that the GWS were much more focused on seals than fish.  Of course, there are many accounts of GWS's taking fish from a person line on the west coast, so take the above with a grain of salt.

Keep an eye on the seals.  If you're in an area that is holding them and they bug out or aren't there when you expect them ... leave!

The charter also stated that the "kill zone" was from the edge of the kelp in ~40' of water out to ~70' of water.  Of course that is where we like to fish.

If a GWS approached me on the water, the first thing I would do is shut off my FF.  There are many accounts of sharks being attracted to electrical pulses.

If your sharky senses are tingling ... leave.

-Allen

I do not have much to add - only two questions - but I wanted to bump this thread up and say I hope others continue the discussion.

First Question: I agree that avoiding a confrontation and mitigating risk is job 1. That said, do any of you carry "bang sticks" or similar in your kayaks? I am really not interested in a bunch of opinion about "waving a gun around in a boat" or whatever stupid comments people make about this type of question. Those who know how to properly deploy and use these devices see it only as another tool, and I'm curious if other kayak fisherman take them out or have experiences using them from a kayak. This question could also apply to subduing a halibut or shark when targeting them for harvest.

Second Question: I have heard that injured (bleeding) sharks will disappear quickly, because they know they have turned from predator to prey. Does anybody know if this is true? If so does it make an argument for sticking a shark (like with a straight gaff, or dive knife) that is actively attacking your kayak?

I really, really hope I never have to deal with any of this! But it's good to think scenarios and risk mitigation.

The only people I know who carry such devices when fishing/ yaking do so due to concerns about other two legged creatures.

I worry that having a gun with me would leave me with a difficult choice if left in a position like Ling Lings experience - where I am scared brainless by a merely curious beast.

As far as I know, the one you see is not the one to worry about.

Also, myth busters did a really interesting piece on the effectiveness of various bullets and water.  Not sure what you are packing, but I seem to remember that high velocity ammo breaks up on impact.   Maybe a musket would work?

The only people I know who carry such devices when fishing/ yaking do so due to concerns about other two legged creatures.

I worry that having a gun with me would leave me with a difficult choice if left in a position like Ling Lings experience - where I am scared brainless by a merely curious beast.

As far as I know, the one you see is not the one to worry about.

Also, myth busters did a really interesting piece on the effectiveness of various bullets and water.  Not sure what you are packing, but I seem to remember that high velocity ammo breaks up on impact.   Maybe a musket would work?

I think the risk related to accidentally discharging a bang stick or firearm is far greatly than the likelihood of it actually being used effectively against a GWS. I'd run a shark shield way, way before carrying a bang stick or firearm. Like others, I worry about the ones you don't see. If you watch Shark week and can think of how you could defend yourself against a GWS ambush attack......well, you're a hell of a lot smarter than I.

http://www.sharkshield.com/buy/surf7/SU1000A

Eric, I saw that same myth busters and as I recall pretty much every round lost most of it's energy within a foot of hitting the water.

A subsonic pistol round (e.g. .45ACP) would be more effective than a rifle or or magnum pistol round, assuming the shark was more than a foot or so below the surface.

Wouldn't the angle of a sitting kayaker discharging a firearm create risk of uncontrolled ricocheting? 

After watching a few attacks by GW's, I can see myself asking the shark to wait while I dig my gun out of the hatch. To me, the best advice above is to be aware of your surroundings and bug out when that inner voice pipes up.

My two cents worth,

Wobbler

Huh, interesting.  I have heard bang sticks used to describe guns of all sorts, but I just read an article about ones designed for sharks.   

Interesting stuff!   

I would love to hear some personal accounts.

Maybe I'll just carry some bananas. Works for salmon.

From what I know about shark attacks - which is very little - the victims are usually taken completely by surprise. Seems like if a shark presents himself to you he is likely just curious. That's not to say I wouldn't shit my drysuit if I saw the landlord's fin.

From my experience as a long time NW surfer; I've seen several sharks while surfing.  While it made me pucker, I never felt that I was a prey item.  The two people I've met who've been bitten by GW's were both taken by surprise from below.

Marine predators don't usually signal their prey that they're going to attack.  That would limit their success rate.  Therefore, all the firepower in the world isn't gonna help you. 

-Spot-

Huh, interesting.  I have heard bang sticks used to describe guns of all sorts, but I just read an article about ones designed for sharks.   

Interesting stuff!   

I would love to hear some personal accounts.

Yes, I meant the specific underwater on-contact mechanism, not a general term; I should have been more specific.

From my experience as a long time NW surfer; I've seen several sharks while surfing.  While it made me pucker, I never felt that I was a prey item.  The two people I've met who've been bitten by GW's were both taken by surprise from below.

Marine predators don't usually signal their prey that they're going to attack.  That would limit their success rate.  Therefore, all the firepower in the world isn't gonna help you. 

-Spot-

I agree that most attacks are by surprise. Obviously in those situations nothing is going to help you. The attacks I'm thinking of are the YouTube videos where the sharks are actively harassing kayaks - nipping at them, bumping them aggressively, etc. Given the low incidence of report of what I would call "full force" attacks from below on kayakers, my suspicion is that these other situations are much more common, and so possibly more useful to try to plan for.