Local spearfisherman fights off a 6-foot bull shark while diving near Anna Maria Island

Mike Stowe has been diving in the Gulf of Mexico since the early 90s. In that time he has run into hundreds of sharks and knows how to best deal with them when they start to show signs of aggressiveness if he’s around the bottom, spearing fish.

“Normally they sniff around a bit, and if you can give them a couple jabs, they lose interest,” Stowe explained. “They’re pretty crafty. The juveniles are usually twitchy and aggressive. The bigger sharks are more laid back and kind of watch from a distance.”

When Stowe ventured with a crew of four offshore last weekend west of Anna Maria Island they started diving around 80 feet of water, encountering tasty bottom fish in good visibility.

“It was a nice day, we did four drops. Fish were plentiful with hogfish, mangs and red grouper. Visibility was probably 20 to 30 feet and with water temperatures around 80, it was nice not needing a wetsuit.”

The first two dives went down without incident. On the third dive, Stowe shot a red grouper and put it on his stringer. As he ascended to the surface the grouper dangled between his legs which has been his normal routine.

“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. 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’,” described the shocked Stowe, whose leg was cut badly.

“I got Mitch’s (Clark) attention and pointed the shark out which went toward him and started circling him. He then came back at me and looked like he was posturing to do it again. He already hit me once, so I put one in his head and put him down. 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.”

When he rose to the surface, the crew helped him get his wounds patched up. Luckily, the cuts were mostly superficial, thanks to the shark not biting down on his leg.

“I think he came in mouth open for the grouper. If he had bit down, I would have lost my leg. The lacerations are on my shin bone and behind it so my leg was definitely in his mouth.”

Stowe partially put the blame on himself for not being more aware of his surroundings.

“Since it was the third dive, I was really focused on my computer. I’ve been doing this for so long I think I got lackadaisical about this sort of thing,” said Stowe. “We see more sharks now than in the past and I think that’s a good thing, they keep the reefs healthy.”

When asked if the close incident would keep him from diving anytime soon, Stowe was quick with his answer.

“Well, I said we did four dives and that was dive number three. I was right back out. This won’t prevent me from diving or spearfishing, just keep me more aware,” he said with a smile.