Posted by jaws on June 13, 2001 at 19:46:19:
June 12, 2001
Don Paul Gaboury called me on the phone this afternoon to ask if I had heard the white shark attack story yet.
I told him that I had not. Don proceeded to tell this story over the phone.
Don saw Lyle Miller in person about automotive transmission work on Monday (yesterday).
Lyle told Don what happened to them on Sunday,June 10th, 2001, the day before.
Lyle and Bill McNair were diving off of McNair's boat at the back side of Catalina Island.
They have had good luck at Salta Verde Point spearfishing earlier in the season and again were visiting this dive location.
Bill McNair had just gotten into the water and was ahead of the boat.
Lyle had not gotten in yet.
The water visibility was 30-40 feet.
Bill spotted a school of yellowtail and dove on them.
He was underwater 'layed-out' in an aiming position waiting for the yellows to rise up closer when they suddenly parted revealing a large sea creature heading straight up toward him.
In a fraction of a second a medium sized white shark (15 feet long) was upon Bill with it's mouth wide open, teeth fully exposed.
Bill shot the shark in the dorsal side of the snout and remembers seeing that the spearshaft was embedded about 3 feet into the shark.
Bill was using a Riffe # 5 gun with 4 bands and a sliptip.
The next thing Bill remembered is being on the surface screaming.
Gaboury then related the story from Lyle Miller's perspective.
Lyle heard the scream.
He described it as a "primal scream".
He looked up and saw the shark on the surface leaving the scene towing Bill's red dive bouy.
Lyle thought that Bill had surely been bitten, but he could not yet locate Bill visually.
Soon, he saw Bill swimming furiously along side the boat.
Lyle was fearful that Bill had his legs cut off.
Lyle hoisted Bill aboard to see that he was completely intact.
Bill could not speak for some time as he was undergoing an 'emotional melt-down'.
End of story as related by Don Paul Gaboury to me.
Hopefully Bill McNair and Lyle will write the full documentation about the survival of this white shark attack.
Spearfishing freedivers that frequent Catalina Island have had many recent close encounters with large white sharks in the last couple of years.
Fortunately and miraculously nobody has been hurt YET.
It is our opinion that there is a very significant increase in the abundance of this MOST dangerous shark around Catalina.
The white shark enjoys a recent status as a 'protected species' as does it's natural prey, the California sea lion.
It's an ominous formula for disaster.
John Warren