Spearfisherman Fights Off 6-Foot Bull Shark In Gulf Of Mexico: Report

ANNA MARIA ISLAND, FL — An experienced spearfisherman recently fought off a 6-foot bull shark while diving in the Gulf of Mexico off Anna Maria Island. After shooting a red grouper in about 80-feet deep water, Mike Stowe turned around to find himself face-to-face with the shark, according to the Bradenton Herald.

“I was looking at my dive computer about 30 feet from the surface and next thing I know it felt like I was hit by a truck. I looked and saw a bull shark that was coming for the fish,” Stowe told the newspaper. “He came in mouth open, and my leg went in his mouth. It was a small one, probably a six-footer. I thought, ‘Holy (expletive) this thing just hit me.’”

When the shark looked like it might attack again, he shot it in the head “and put him down,” he said. “I don’t like shooting sharks, but some have been associating divers with food and if they’ve been fed before, it’s a bad lesson.”

Read more at the Bradenton Herald.

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