Spearfishermen go after prey the hard way

[Adrian Kelland]

Originally Posted by Bantam

I was up in Scotland this weekend just gone for a spearfishing expedition, however, there were no fish

We did an initial recce and found it was still too early in the season and most of the fish we did find were way too small.

So being responsible, we ended up just freediving for the weekend.

Mark.

No scallops either?

[Bantam]

Originally Posted by Adrian Kelland

No scallops either?

It was bloody barren. Kelp and small sand eels, a couple of decent sized (but too small) lobbies, and a few small crabs. Saw a few small wrasse within the kelp but only a couple of inches.

There were a few interesting jellyfish though - mainly saw moons, but there were a few which looked like moons with quink injected into them - strange looking and apparently related to the lions mane.

Also saw a couple of comb jellies (complete spheres about the size of a golf ball) which were very beautiful.

(NB Was at Pennan, Rosehearty and Boddam - near Peterhead / Fraserburgh area)

[Mr T.]

OUT THERE: Diving, fishing combo a dangerous delight

8/6/2005, 8:22 a.m. CTBy LM OTERO
The Associated Press


THIRTY FEET BENEATH THE GULF OF MEXICO (AP) — Floating atop endless blue water, Don Moore takes deep, deliberate breaths, calming his mind and lowering his heart rate.

Then it's time to drop. And to fish

Pushing the human mind and body to their limits, Moore excels in freedive spearfishing, one of the oldest and purist of extreme sports. As long as humans have been chasing their next meal, swimmers have been pushing themselves to see how long they can hold their breath and dive down after dinner.

With only the oxygen in his lungs, Moore and his 4 1/2-foot spear gun descend into the Gulf of Mexico in search of just the right fish swimming amid the supports of offshore oil rigs 45 miles from the Texas coast. When he chooses a target, his challenge is to aim his outstretched right arm and hold his line throughout the shot, all without spooking the fish — and while relying on a single profound breath taken before his plummet.

"Like a dance," Moore calls it, describing a slow and relaxing ballet between hunter and prey.

When perfectly choreographed, the fish instinctively swim closer to him while he keeps descending in a calm, smooth, controlled dive, careful to avoid the sudden movements or eye contact that would scare away the fish.

"You see the fish swimming through the water. You try and adapt to that environment," said Moore, a 45-year-old accountant transplanted from Oregon to Portland, Texas.

Freediving has gained popularity in the past few years. In Mediterranean countries such as Italy and Greece, top freedivers are treated like heroes. Tiger Woods has been doing it for about five years. It was the first thing he did after winning the Masters in April.

"It's nice and quiet down there," Woods said.

The sport is growing in Texas. Moore is at the forefront of the push, helping found the South Texas Freediver Association six years ago.

On this dive, Moore and his frequent dive buddy, Can Osten, have taken Moore's 28-foot Kevel Cat boat to one of their favorite spots amid the oil platforms. They picked this one, which is among the farthest they visit, because of the clarity of the water and weather conditions on this day.

The bottom is 250 feet down. Once in the water, Moore spots a promising school of amberjack about 40 feet down.

Moore sinks just below the school of silvery-green fish and the dance begins. As a few swim closer, he turns toward them. His gun comes up and the amberjack gracefully veer away, offering the broadside shot sought by all hunters.

Moore picks one fish and squeezes the trigger. A series of high-tension rubber bands propel the spear shaft like a laser. His shot is perfect, hitting mid-body, just behind the gills, passing through the animal and also spearing a second fish. This is a first for Moore: two fish with one shot!

It will taste wonderful cooked over a Texas mesquite fire.

For spearfishermen, freediving is the most productive way to catch fish. Spearfishing can be done using scuba gear, too, but the bubbles from the equipment tend to scare away the fish.

Mike Miglini's Out To Sea Adventures offers both kinds of spearfishing trips from Port Aransas. He considers spearfishing the ultimate hunter sport because of "how close you have to get to the animal in an environment you are not meant to be in."

"It makes it all the more challenging," he said.

Woods has tried spearfishing both ways. Smiling, he points out that he prefers doing it the hard way, freediving, adding that he can hold his breath nearly four minutes. That's a very respectable time considering six minutes is when possible brain damage becomes an issue; most recreational divers are pleased to make it for two minutes.

"You definitely can get some bigger fish because they can't hear you coming," he said.

After a round of golf in Texas this past May, Woods was much more animated discussing his underwater hobby than his last 18 holes.

"I love fishing and I love diving. You just combine the two," he said.

The upcoming freediving world championships, a two-event competition in Switzerland and France in late August and early September, will highlight a sport with mind-boggling records by both men and women.

Tom Sietas of Germany stayed underwater on one breath in a pool for 8 minutes, 58 seconds in 2004. Tanya Streeter of Austin, Texas, set the women's record for depth on one breath with a 535-foot dive in the Turks and Caicos in 2002.

But Audrey Mestre, a renowned diver and the wife of freediver and author Francisco "Pipin" Ferreras, died while attempting a 561-foot dive in the Dominican Republic in October 2003.

Safety is a major concern for all freedivers. Aside from avoiding sharks, jellyfish and other harmful sea creatures, there's always the fear of shallow-water blackout, known as SWB. It is the sudden loss of consciousness within 15 feet of the surface when expanding, oxygen-hungry lungs literally suck oxygen from the diver's blood, causing a blackout.

The body's thirst for oxygen is most intense when surfacing after a long dive. Underwater, the freediver must fight the body's reflex to take a breath caused by the buildup of carbon dioxide in the blood. The diver's diaphragm muscles, which control breathing, contract. If the diver succumbs to the breathing reflex, water gets into their lungs, beginning the drowning process.

"Sometimes, I feel like, `OK, I'm suffocating,'" Osten said. "When that happens, you tell yourself, `Just look up. The sun's out there. It's coming closer.' Practice helps a lot to calm yourself."

For freedivers who also spear fish, the dangers are multiplied. Moore lists some of the complications as distraction, being pulled by the fish and forgetting how long you've been down.

"Your biggest fear is getting tangled up down there and not being able to reach the surface," he said. "If you shoot a big fish, it can wrap you up in the line of the spear gun."

In 2001, a solo spearfisher from Portland died after becoming entangled in an old net. After a freedive, he never resurfaced to his wife waiting aboard the boat. His body was recovered an hour later by a recreational boater.

Last year, champion spearfisherman Gene Higa died while competing solo during the U.S. National Freedive Championships in Hawaii. He was found dead in 80 to 90 feet of water. Fellow divers speculate that Higa drowned due to SWB.

Moore and Osten take many precautions, starting with the fact that they go out together. Although Moore said most spearfishermen "like that alone feeling," the chances of survival go way up when there's someone else around keeping watch — such as during those moments before surfacing, when tension is high but patience is a must.

"If you look up and see somebody watching you, that really calms you down," Moore said.

They also carry aboard their boat oxygen and a satellite phone; they're so far out in the Gulf that VHS radios and cell phones would do them little good.

The buddies remain sharp by practicing weekly at a pool with fellow members of the South Texas Freediver Association in Portland. Moore and Osten can hold their breath for nearly six minutes, enabling them to reach depths of 80 feet.

They do "static" exercises, such as holding their breath while floating on the surface, and "dynamic" drills, which test how far horizontally they can go underwater in a swimming pool. These workouts build a freediver's endurance and ability to stay calm during a dive, keys to conserving oxygen in the blood system.

"You realize the limits of your body," Osten said. "The thing you don't want to do is freak out and swim hard. At some point, if you are really pushing it, you definitely see that if you give yourself 10 more seconds, you might die. ... Panic is the worst enemy down there. If you panic, you're done. The practice is the key factor."

Moore and Osten make a good tandem. Moore is more fisherman than diver, while Osten is more diver than fisherman.

"Freediving to me is much more mental than physical," said Osten, 38, who began freediving while growing up in Turkey along the Mediterranean Sea. "Depth is the main focus, to see my limits, and the feeling of being down there is so peaceful to me."

Going down together also helps them team up against the fish. Moore said amberjack and cobia "are attracted to the two of us diving down and up."

What makes them most successful is following the eternal fisherman's rule about underwater structures attracting fish. The encrusted metal beams of the oil platforms off the South Texas coast serve as a magnet for sea life on the relatively featureless Gulf of Mexico ocean bottom.

"Most places you spearfish, you're just over natural terrain so there will be a limiting depth. There is not a whole lot of structure on your way down," Moore said. "But here, on an oil platform, there are fish that hang out at all different levels. That is probably one of the most unique things."

The only limit is the diver's — how long he can hold his breath.

"You could go down and spear a fish at any depth you're capable of," he said.

___

On the Net:

South Texas Freedivers Association: http://www.stfreedivera.org

International freediving association: http://www.aida-international.org