Daraine Luton, Sunday Gleaner Reporter

Middle Cay in Pedro Banks. - Contributed

SHARKS ARE dangerous creatures and are so feared that many persons would not touch them, even with a long stick.

But for many fishermen, the shark, despite its vicious nature, is not going to stand between them and their livelihood.

The Pedro Banks, for example, is one of Jamaica's most fruitful fishing spots. With the huge cost involved in net and pot fishing, many persons on the cays have chosen to go the cost efficient, more lucrative, yet dangerous route, of spearfishing.

Spearfishers are able to target larger, reproductively valuable fish, including rarer species such as grouper, snapper, hog and angelfish. But this is the bright side of diving for a catch.

Face to face with sharks

Spearfishers, in particular, come face to face with sharks very often. Several have been attacked and have lived to tell the tale. A wide variety of sharks such as the tiger, bull, mako, white tip, nurse and the occasional hammerhead are found in Jamaican waters.

Dr Karl Aiken, fisheries specialist and lecturer in zoology at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, says, "Spearfishing is very productive, but you do so at very clear risk to your safety."

Twenty-two-year-old Kenroy Blackwood is a fisherman who recently escaped the jaws of sharks. He tells The Sunday Gleaner that he was attacked by nine sharks recently and were it not for Michael Hamilton, his diving partner, he probably would not have made it out alive.

"Nine sharks attack mi when mi down deh, and mi start fi juk one wid mi spear. But when wi a come up, mi si a big hammermouth ova me. Mi seh to mi self, 'Yes, a it dis'," Blackwood tells The Sunday Gleaner.

The more experienced diver, Hamilton says he was unaware of what was taking place beneath the surface. Hamilton had already returned to the boat having completed his shooting stint below. All this time, his younger colleague was in real trouble.

However, a sixth sense kicked in and hamilton re-entered the water, only to find Blackwood surrounded by sharks.

"Mi did have fi help fight dem off, and is so dem go weh," he says.

The Pedro Banks, according to Aiken, is home to many sharks because of the abundance of food in the area. He says, however, that in the last two to five years, fishermen have been catching sharks for their fins, which, it is believed, they use to make soup, and this has contributed to a decrease in the shark population there.

Developed sense of smell

Because of its highly developed sense of smell, a shark is able to detect a single red blood cell in a million gallons of water. As a result, spearfishers actually make themselves bait to sharks by shooting fishes in infested waters like those at the cays. Anthony Rose nearly fell victim to this.

He tells The Sunday Gleaner that he was also saved by Hamilton once, after he shot a fish and the sharks sensed the blood and attacked him.

"Wi used to dive together and is him save mi when some shark attack mi," Rose tells The Sunday Gleaner.

The attack he describes is similar to Blackwood's experience. The difference, however, is that the sharks chased him right to the boat, despite attempts to fight them off.

"Just as mi jump inna di boat, one a dem bite off di fish basket weh mi did have a mi side," Rose says of his lucky escape.

The attack, he says, happened months ago and he has not got over it to date.

"Mi dive same way because a spearfishing mi do, but mi stay far from dah spot deh. Everytime mi reach deh, mi feel frighten," says Rose, who has over two decades' experience as a fisherman.

Blackwood, meanwhile, has an unquenchable youthful energy. He tells The Sunday Gleaner that nothing is going to stop him from diving, not even the biggest shark.

"Mi nuh response fi nuttin when mi inna di water. Is work mi a work and is it mi love doing," the young fisherman says.

daraine.luton@gleanerjm.com