Q and A: Fisherman Recounts Tiger Shark Battle

March 13, 2009 -- On a sunny day last June, spear-fishermen Ryan McInnis, Craig Clasen, Brian Head and Cameron Kirkconnell boated 60 miles into the Gulf of Mexico in search of game fish. McInnis is a videographer. The group was accompanied by photographer D.J. Struntz, who was working with McInnis on a video about the sport.

The outing went as planned, says McInnis, until a 12-foot tiger shark approached the group aggressively, resulting in a two-hour wrestling match that ended in the shark's death. An account of their experience appears in the March 2009 issue of Outside magazine, and here, McInnis tells Discovery News' Jennifer Viegas what happened that day.

Discovery News: Please begin by explaining why you and your friends had gone out to fish at this site in the first place.

Ryan McInnis: Between the three of us, we have 60 years of water experience. We're not trophy hunters. We spear fish, which we believe is the most ethical way to put food on the table.

Editor's Note: The oil rig Medusa, near the site, has a coral reef that attracts multiple marine species.

DN: Did the day begin like any other for you?

McInnis: Yes. In fact, we'd gone to the same spot, several miles off the coast of Louisiana, for two days. And I should add that encounters with sharks are nothing new to us. I often dive in North Carolina waters, where I can see sharks every day and all day.

I have a degree in marine biology, so I enjoy, value and appreciate sharks. That June morning, I even swam with a silky shark, and we saw a hammerhead earlier.

WATCH VIDEO: Discovery News dives in with sharks and explains how you can too.

Related Content:

• Hang out at the shark hub.
• Jennifer Viegas' Blog: Born Animal
• HowStuffWorks.com: Anatomy of a Shark Attack
• More Discovery News

DN: What then happened later that day?

McInnis: We were just finishing our fishing for the day. Our catch was in the boat, so there was no bloody chum in the water, as other reports have suggested, and there weren't any struggling fish. I was filming a pair of playful squids near the surface. I didn't realize that a tiger shark was parked just 15 feet away. It charged me.

DN: How did you react?

McInnis: My first thought was, 'Wow, it's beautiful.' But then I thought, 'Oh my God, I'm in a bad situation.' I flattened myself and kicked toward the shark, trying to scare it off. I'm also a videographer, so I instinctively hit the record button on my camera. As an underwater filmmaker, I capture footage all of the time, so that was just my natural reaction. I figured that no matter what happened, I might as well keep filming.

DN: Did the shark retreat?

McInnis: It did momentarily turn away, but then it began to swim in tight circles around me.

DN: Do you think your camera or its light could have somehow provoked the shark?

McInnis: In hindsight, cameras maybe do emit an electrical field, as well as vibrations from the internal components moving, which perhaps increased the shark's curiosity, but that's difficult to say.

DN: Did your friends see what was going on?

McInnis: I yelled for help. D.J. and Craig were about 100 feet away. We gave the shark opportunity to leave, but it didn't. Craig had his speargun. He pulled the trigger. That didn't kill the shark, so he had to struggle with it.