Man drowns after landing big catch while spearfishing off Phuket’s Bang Tao Beach

[Carl64]

Is a 10kg fish really capable of doing this?

I was thinking the same thing, I'm sorry for his death of course, but I have a difficult time picturing anything weighing 10 kg dragging me anywhere I didn't want to go.

I would like to see you swim with a 10 kilo weight going in an opposite direction that you wanted to go!

[Doc46]

I am a diver so I am ANTI-spear fishing... Now the fish 'bite' back, can't blame them

Very sad the guy lost his life, but in all honesty: som nam na! I know it is virtually unheard of (not only in Thailand), but a little thinking and logical reasoning might help

I am a little confused and also as a diver myself I fail to see the connotation between being a diver and therefore anti spearfishing.

I have to presume that you must also be a vegetarian.

I am a diver and therefor eat no fish or other seafood.

What the hell has eating fish or seafood got to do with being a diver????? To me same as a mechanic got nothing to do with driving a car or not )

[eezergood]

its sad either way - poor guys family

[jollyrog]

Yes a 10 kg fish (22 lbs in Americanese) depending on variety can drowned a diver who panics.

As a 30 year spear-fisherman (1962 - 1992) I've had many life threatening experiences.

Unless he was diving in more than 40' of water he was 'free diving' (no tanks).

He had his gun tied to his wrist on a short leash as he was after smaller fish. After spearing the fish he releases the gun and using both hands pulls the speared fish to him, grabs the spear, jams his thumb into the fishes mouth while threading a stringer through the gill plates and out the mouth. Then compressing the barbs on the spear head he threads it out of the fish and plays it out behind him, resets his spear and gun and continues hunting.

I think he shot a fish bigger than he was prepared for, got a good penetrating hit, the fish surged away jerking the gun out of his hand, pulling him along at speed causing his mask to rip off. He panicked and drowned.

FYI.......most spear-fisherman I've known eat everything they kill since they have a choice and it is very up close and personal much like hunting a deer with a knife.

RIP brother................

[LivinginKata]

Off topic troll posts removed. The topic is about the death of a man, not about eating preferences. Bit of respect here.

[Bpuumike]

a 10 kilo queenfish is very powerful and could pull a small diver under. Unfortunately many spearfishermen have drowned this way. I have seen a few big queenfish arond Phuket. What usually happens is the line on the speargun gets tangled around the divers legs and the fish goes under a rock. It happened to me in the Maldives in 1955.Fortunately I had a knife and cut myself free.

I always carry a diver's knife whether spear fishing or just plain SCUBA. You just never know what situation you might encounter.

[jpeg]

I am a diver and therefor eat no fish or other seafood.

What the hell has eating fish or seafood got to do with being a diver????? To me same as a mechanic got nothing to do with driving a car or not )

Being a diver, and thence developing empathy with the fishes, one would balk at killing them, if one were of an empathetic nature. Much like many slaughter house workers become vegetarian after finding a less barbaric way to make a living

[patongphil]

I am a diver and therefor eat no fish or other seafood.

What the hell has eating fish or seafood got to do with being a diver????? To me same as a mechanic got nothing to do with driving a car or not )

Being a diver, and thence developing empathy with the fishes, one would balk at killing them, if one were of an empathetic nature. Much like many slaughter house workers become vegetarian after finding a less barbaric way to make a living

OMG - empathy with a fish, what will be next?

[eezergood]

I am a diver and therefor eat no fish or other seafood.

What the hell has eating fish or seafood got to do with being a diver????? To me same as a mechanic got nothing to do with driving a car or not )

Being a diver, and thence developing empathy with the fishes, one would balk at killing them, if one were of an empathetic nature. Much like many slaughter house workers become vegetarian after finding a less barbaric way to make a living

exaclty how many slaughter house workers do you know that have become vegetarian? thats analogous to a mechanic not driving a car as he/she can see the damage it does to the machine.....

[stevenl]

I am a diver and therefor eat no fish or other seafood.

What the hell has eating fish or seafood got to do with being a diver????? To me same as a mechanic got nothing to do with driving a car or not )

Being a diver, and thence developing empathy with the fishes, one would balk at killing them, if one were of an empathetic nature. Much like many slaughter house workers become vegetarian after finding a less barbaric way to make a living

exaclty how many slaughter house workers do you know that have become vegetarian? thats analogous to a mechanic not driving a car as he/she can see the damage it does to the machine.....

Not exactly the same of course since fish are living creatures.

[eezergood]

)

Being a diver, and thence developing empathy with the fishes, one would balk at killing them, if one were of an empathetic nature. Much like many slaughter house workers become vegetarian after finding a less barbaric way to make a living

exaclty how many slaughter house workers do you know that have become vegetarian? thats analogous to a mechanic not driving a car as he/she can see the damage it does to the machine.....

Not exactly the same of course since fish are living creatures.

Hence the use of the term analogous.......

[davetrout]

Is a 10kg fish really capable of doing this?

wobby gong sharks in australia can do this. they crab your arm or leg and not let go.

game over

Edited January 2, 2014 by davetrout

[eezergood]

Do you need a license to go spear fishing?

[movsrus]

Is a 10kg fish really capable of doing this?

I very much doubt it. Must be more to this incident. Maybe out of his depth, can't swim, panic .... and why did he not let go of the spear gun.

Often people spearfishing will have a lanyard around their wrist attached to the spear gun. If the fish dove for the depths and the guy either freaked out or couldn't get the lanyard off his wrist he could have been drug down too far for him to make it up on the breath he had in his lungs. It has happened in the Philippines several times where people shoot a big fish that then goes for the depths dragging the victim down with them. Last year a guy in Mindanao shot a tuna while spearfishing with scuba gear and was drug down over 200 feet before he could get the spear gun off his wrist. He came up too fast and got bent spending time in a decompression chamber and suffered a partial paralysis.

[eezergood]

Do we know what the fish was?

[davetrout]

Do we know what the fish was?

maybe it was a thai mermaid who sucked him in

[mgreijm]

I see it as a stupid sport where people are put in a luxury position to beat an animal, same as bull fighting in Europe. Now the animal had the upper hand and this is a problem? Ha, as I said good job fishie

[Patron]

I see it as a stupid sport where people are put in a luxury position to beat an animal, same as bull fighting in Europe. Now the animal had the upper hand and this is a problem? Ha, as I said good job fishie

So,you think more about the fish family then the man's family.I don't know what too say. WOW

[mgreijm]

Animals suffer because of man - not the other way around, I want man to start thinking what they are doing

[Old Croc]

Animals suffer because of man - not the other way around, I want man to start thinking what they are doing

You and all your family are vegetarian?

[stevenl]

Animals suffer because of man - not the other way around, I want man to start thinking what they are doing

Agree with you in principle, but a thread like this is not the most proper way to convey this opinion.

[Yahooka]

A person lost his life and people are making jokes about it. Unbelievable. Well not unbelievable I guess as the majority here seem to think as long as it doesn't happen to them, it's funny or even worse if it happens to a Thai, they cheer. Shame on you.

Agree with you.. ... Some people here should most definitely engage brain before typing !!

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[eezergood]

Seriously, do we know what he was fishing for?

[IrishIvan]

Seriously, do we know what he was fishing for?

All the facts point to the fish being a large Barracuda

[eezergood]

Seriously, do we know what he was fishing for?

All the facts point to the fish being a large Barracuda

Thats what I would have had a guess at, but I know nothing about spear fishing so was just curious.

[seajae]

Having speared many fish bigger than this there has to be more to it. Most spearies go for a head shot, shoulder at worst and a spear through this part of a fish stops it doing much at all, just grabbing the shaft either side is all that is needed. Sounds more like he may have shot it under a ledge and not been able to retrieve it so he has overstayed what his breath allowed or tangled in the cord without a knife to cut himself free, the report just leaves us guessing. Either way this is a tragedy and anyone trying to make light of it is pathetic as are any divers that belittle it, most spearies have a lot of love for the ocean and only take what they want to eat, they do not simply take anything they can find.

Lets see some respect, a man died while doing a sport he enjoyed, not doing anything illegal

[grumpyoldman]

Having speared many fish bigger than this there has to be more to it. Most spearies go for a head shot, shoulder at worst and a spear through this part of a fish stops it doing much at all, just grabbing the shaft either side is all that is needed. Sounds more like he may have shot it under a ledge and not been able to retrieve it so he has overstayed what his breath allowed or tangled in the cord without a knife to cut himself free, the report just leaves us guessing. Either way this is a tragedy and anyone trying to make light of it is pathetic as are any divers that belittle it, most spearies have a lot of love for the ocean and only take what they want to eat, they do not simply take anything they can find.

Lets see some respect, a man died while doing a sport he enjoyed, not doing anything illegal

and a fish ended up with a spear in it while just trying to enjoy a nice day also.........

[Yahooka]

Having speared many fish bigger than this there has to be more to it. Most spearies go for a head shot, shoulder at worst and a spear through this part of a fish stops it doing much at all, just grabbing the shaft either side is all that is needed. Sounds more like he may have shot it under a ledge and not been able to retrieve it so he has overstayed what his breath allowed or tangled in the cord without a knife to cut himself free, the report just leaves us guessing. Either way this is a tragedy and anyone trying to make light of it is pathetic as are any divers that belittle it, most spearies have a lot of love for the ocean and only take what they want to eat, they do not simply take anything they can find.

Lets see some respect, a man died while doing a sport he enjoyed, not doing anything illegal

and a fish ended up with a spear in it while just trying to enjoy a nice day also.........

Probably better for the fish to being shot by a spear than caught in a net or a trawl.

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[grumpyoldman]

Having speared many fish bigger than this there has to be more to it. Most spearies go for a head shot, shoulder at worst and a spear through this part of a fish stops it doing much at all, just grabbing the shaft either side is all that is needed. Sounds more like he may have shot it under a ledge and not been able to retrieve it so he has overstayed what his breath allowed or tangled in the cord without a knife to cut himself free, the report just leaves us guessing. Either way this is a tragedy and anyone trying to make light of it is pathetic as are any divers that belittle it, most spearies have a lot of love for the ocean and only take what they want to eat, they do not simply take anything they can find.

Lets see some respect, a man died while doing a sport he enjoyed, not doing anything illegal

and a fish ended up with a spear in it while just trying to enjoy a nice day also.........

Probably better for the fish to being shot by a spear than caught in a net or a trawl.

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Probably better to drown doing what you enjoy than withering away with cancer or being run over by a cement truck.