“I’ve looked at the shore and I’ve realized, hang on, I’m 1/2 a mile off shore and there’s all this blood in the water, what now? ”
Predator and prey, the circle of life. Who needs that when I’ve got Whole Foods? We may have used our brain power to remove ourselves from the food chain long ago, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t recreate the predator and prey roles for fun. Is that ethical though? Is there something sick and twisted about shooting a spear through a fish for your own enjoyment and meal? After speaking with today’s guests I say absolutely not. The roles of predator and prey naturally give the predator a respect for its prey. A respect that the rest of us living outside the food chain may try to empathize with and imagine, but can’t truly appreciate. In a bizarre twist the rest of us are left with a respect for money, our source for food on the table. Let’s hear from a couple of would be predators about the virtues (and fun!) of picking up the hobby of spearfishing.
“It’s a very in the moment sport...you’re not thinking about work, relationships or anything like that, you’re 100% in the sea, diving, enjoying the experience.”
“Am I really gonna give away my food, my dinner, and everything I’ve done to give this to another predator in the ocean? When the challenge is on it’s like, ‘it’s you shark, or its me.’”
Interview Contents
4:10 – How Issac and Levi started spearfishing.
9:10 – Is spearfishing much more common in Australia?
11:20 – The different types of spearfishing.
12:40 – Is there animosity between the different groups of spearfishers?
15:30 – Tactics and techniques.
17:30 – The learning curve.
19:45 – Spearfishing and surfing.
20:25 - How the spear kills the fish.
22:15 - Killing the fish if you don’t kill it instantly with your shot.
23:10 – Killing a fish with spearfishing vs line fishing.
23:40 – Catching your own fish.
25:35 – The difficulty of dives.
27:00 – Backlash against spearfishing.
29:30 – Most sought after place to go spearfishing.
30:25 - Stopping a giant fish.
32:20 – Levi’s life threatening experience catching a huge fish.
37:30 – How has spearfishing changed you?
39:40 – Levi and Isaac’s website and podcast where you can get beginner advice for spearfishing.
Links
