March 13, 2009 -- A two-hour wrestling match last June between a spear-fisherman and a tiger shark in the Gulf of Mexico puts the spotlight on spearfishing, which some experts believe may have escalated the deadly encounter.
After stabbing the tiger shark multiple times, spear-fisherman Craig Clasen managed to kill the fish, which had reportedly charged and then encircled Clasen's companion Ryan McInnis, a videographer who captured the event on film. Photographer D.J. Struntz was also among the men and took photos of the bloody battle.
"I would have popped the shark on the nose first and then prodded it with a spear if I had been in a similar situation," George Burgess, director of the Florida Program for Shark Research and the International Shark Attack File, told Discovery News.
While Burgess added that he couldn't pass full judgment on what happened, having not been with Clasen and his crew, he said, "tiger sharks are not uncommon around oil rig platforms."
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That June day the fishermen were near Medusa, a rig located several miles off the Louisiana coast. The floating structure features some coral growth, supporting a mini-ecosystem with many species of fish, including sharks. Clasen and his group had just finished hauling up their mahi mahi and wahoo catches when the tiger shark began to maneuver around McInnis, who was distracted filming some squid.
"My first thought was, 'Wow, it's beautiful.' But then I thought, 'Oh my God, I'm in a bad situation,'" McInnis later told Discovery News.
McInnis says he called for help, which led to the videotaped wrestling match between Clasen and the 12-foot shark.
"Tiger sharks are an aggressive species," Burgess said. "You need to watch out for them when diving. It's plausible the men were defending themselves."
"But, in this case, spearing may have created a more difficult situation," he added. "The spear attack could have aggravated the shark, which then appears to have come back with more aggressiveness."
From a conservation standpoint, all shark deaths are cause for concern, since many populations of the once-prevalent fish have plummeted to worrisome lows.
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources Red List, tiger sharks are "near threatened" and have experienced declines due to shark finning and other fishery-related depletions, such as when the sharks become bycatch in other targeted operations.
Lee Poston, a spokesperson for World Wildlife Fund, told Discovery News, "It is tragic when any shark is lost, as so many are incredibly endangered now."
Poston did admit, however, that the tiger shark encounter was "a pretty incredible story." He hopes the "popular image of sharks as vicious killers" won't be fueled by such a rare event.
Burgess further urges that spear-fishermen "only take as much as they are going to consume."
With traditional recreational fishing, he said there is always a catch and release option. This enables participants to spend time enjoying the activity, while only killing a small number of fish.
"Catch and release isn't an option with spearfishing," Burgess said, "so it requires even more selective activity."
Although Clasen and his companions say they symbolically took a bite out of the dead tiger shark, given their commitment to only killing for food, the species is not considered desirable for its meat.
"It's a very poor eating shark," Burgess said, deadpanning, "I doubt the spear-fishermen spent much time at the dinner table that night."
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