3 Men Fight Killer Shark For 2 Hours

Three men spear fishing for tuna at the mouth of the Mississippi last June got much more than they bargained for -- a two-hour, life-and-death struggle with a giant, menacing shark.

The fight for survival was caught on video.

It ended with their having to kill the 12-foot tiger shark -- something they expressed deep regret over in an interview Friday on The Early Show, stressing that they fish for food and sport, and respect the water and the creatures living in it.

They've engaged in spear fishing for years, often together, and frequently encountering sharks. But this time was different.

Ryan McInnis, a filmmaker, was on hand to record fellow spear fisherman Craig Clasen as Clasen sought the tuna. Photographer D.J. Struntz was taking stills.

They told co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez their terrifying ordeal began when McInnis -- with only his camera in-hand -- started screaming for help:

29 Comments Add a Comment

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graemeduane says:: If you guys were aiming to raise the ethics of what you were doing, you've blown it now.

I'm a spearfisherman, and we deal with big Tigers almost daily in South Africa, hell, I film them too. This is just showboating at the expense of the shark, and these three guys know it.; reply

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CptRon20 says:: Http://www.obamamustsee.com; reply

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jlemory says:: When I first saw the footage online, I immediately thought posers/sensationalists. However, since that time I have reconsidered. It is really difficult to judge unless one is in a given situation. I know this, for I was attacked by an eight foot bull shark seven weeks ago, from which I am still recovering. When a possible predator approaches its prey, fish, human or otherwise, all cultural conditioning flies out the window. Then it becomes more primordial, where actions transcend philosophy. If I had seen that shark which attacked me before it actually did attack me, I am sure I would have done the same thing. As a matter of fact, I always thought free divers who carried knives to be posers. My position now is that steel is the only thing that is between death and serious injury, and the opposite. I am not suggesting a mass slaughter of sharks. I am simply saying that regardless of neighborhood, water or otherwise, we all have a right to survive. The shark was hunting to survive, and those divers killed it to survive. Last point is they certainly could have returned to the boat, but who would have been able to get in without an attack? The last guy? Don't count on it. The only thing I couldn't quite get was why the photographer was so steady. Was there no fear? if not, why?; reply

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TORMENTFAKTORY says:

Some of you people are completely retarded. All high and mighty about how you'd never kill the poor shark and how you think these guys are such bastards for doing so. The saddest thing is that you even probably made some feeble attempt at mentally putting yourself in their shoes in that situation but since you're SOO self righteous about what a good little green planet lover you are, you imagined the scenario playing out in such a way that you and the shark happily swam away from one another and nothing happened. I do not condone the senseless murder of animals for the sake of sport. I think it's one of humanity's most hideous traits, but there is a simple fact of life here dumb-*****. Survival instinct. FACT- Tiger sharks have killed or horribly maimed many divers. FACT - That shark was acting aggressively, ergo it was very likely that the camera man was going to be horribly maimed or killed if something was not done about it. Now, I don't care if your liberal ass was freakin' Buddah himself! People, (yes even you *******) have survival instincts! These guys are clearly NOT those brutal Japanese fishermen who catch sharks, cut off their fins, and then throw them back into the ocean to die. They were fishing for tuna which they were going to eat, (Yes, humans were designed to eat meat. Sorry 'bout that vegans, but we DO have canine teeth and an appendix, both of which are characteristics which only meat eating animals have. Sorry to burst your unrealistic, fuzzy little pink bubble, but the real world has a few little harsh realities you might wanna look into). The point is, until you can honestly say that you've been in the middle of the ocean with an aggressive 12' shark and had a speargun for protection, you cannot possibly tell me that you'd have reacted differently. So keep your unrealistic, uneducated, inexperienced little idealistic comments to yourself until you actually experience something like this.


Diverdave61 replies:: linkicon reporticon emailicon; Liberal? How did this turn political? IQ alert!

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cs4466 says:: Macho morons that have no business in the water. "We cut off a piece of flesh of the shark and ate it raw to show respect to the shark".

Barbaric. Had justice been served, these three would have been eaten.; reply

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RyanMcInnis says:

Here is the REAL story. I have nothing to gain from this other than attempting to give others facts fill in behind their opinions. If you knew anything about spearfishing/freediving you would have heard our names before as respected ambassadors of our activity. This incident was a rare and remorseful example of the risk we expose ourselves to by trying to ethically get our dinner. We have nothing to hide.

- This event happened 9 months ago, on a successful expedition for tuna. I did put the original footage of the shark in an episode of my podcast. I didn't bring light to the fact that it was killed because it's something we aren't proud of and the animal is very beautiful alive and swimming as seen. That's the type of content I try to capture on camera.

- The event played like this: I was at least 150 feet away from Craig/DJ who were handing guns up to Cam on the boat. I was filming squid at the surface, turned around, saw the shark broadside 15' away, pressed record, it charged and then turned away less than 1' from camera (elapsed time 7 seconds). No gun, no fish, no chum involved. I yelled for support, Craig/DJ sprinted over to me as the shark came back in. Floatlines were fouling the props so Cam couldn't operate the boat over to us. The shark began a tight circle to our right, fins down. Craig was in the middle, I was behind and to his left, DJ behind and to his right with an unloaded gun. It turned in towards DJ aggressively and Craig fired into it's gills(elapsed time 35 seconds). The first shark any of us have seen killed in over 60 years of combined open water experience. It took 3 more shafts, 'wrestling' it to the surface, tailrope and dragged backwards behind boat, then severing the spine with a knife to complete the kill as effectively as possible (elapsed time almost 2 hours). Leaving it wounded wasn't an option. DJ and I document life for a living, we continued taking photos and video during this because it's what we do.

- We ate a bite to try and show some respect to the animal, contemplated what to do. We took the jaws and tail to use for educational purposes. The photo of Craig displaying them was for scale of the size of the shark, he is smiling however it is from disbelief/shock not pride. DJ regrets that photo escaping his grasp because it is very misconstrued.

- The OUTSIDE article originated from DJ submitting other pics from that trip and was intended to bring light to spearfishing being an ethical practice and clean fishery. Once the shark incident was mentioned in conversation they insisted on running that in the story but promised to portray it accurately and I feel they did.

- An online article in the UK stemming from the OUTSIDE one ran last week and got 10 million hits the first day. We didn't know this was happening, and the article was grossly exaggerated and inaccurate.

- Thursday morning at 6am our phones were exploding from the networks calling to book us to get the story. We really had no choice because the facts had been lost and our primary concern was the fallout within the spearfishing community, let alone the rest of the world. If you're reading this then it was for respect for you that we went to New York.

- They asked for footage of the event and I gave DJ's agent only what I felt was appropriate for television. The impact shots and most graphic/bloody parts were not included because I already knew they would use anything I gave to spin it on us. The agent charged minimal licensing fees from the networks for handling the distribution. If I see a dime from it it will go to a good cause, rest assured.

- Several shows neglected to play the original charge from the event and said this shark wasn't being aggressive. Some wanted sensation and machismo, but others actually gave us a chance to shed light on what took place and also to defend spearfishing, CBS and NBC specifically. I'm sure we disappointed many of them with our humility and remorse for the situation.

It's over now and I'm looking forward to getting back to a peaceful life on the coast. It's so unfortunate that all this craziness came from the worst day of diving in my life, talk about irony. I have no doubts that what we did was justified, from beginning to end, and I have even more respect for the ocean now than before any of this (which I didn't think was possible).

Thanks for the input, support and objections, it's all part of being accountable for our actions and passionate about the sea.

Ryan McInnis


Diverdave61 replies:: linkicon reporticon emailicon; All of that sounds nice.....BUT, why did the shark have to be shot? A speargun could have been used to keep the shark at bay until the props were cleared (and if you are respected members of the freediving world, why are you so clumsy as to allow the props to be fouled?) I am no landlubber, I am an underwater photographer myself. I had an encounter with a beautiful 12 ft tiger yesterday, much larger than the one in the video. It would be an intimidating thing to have one charge for sure. I am having a hard time seeing how you couldn't avoid killing it. It looks like a criminal act.

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thetireguy1 says:: They sure had a lot of spears available to kill this shark! I mean, why would one film this
and not retreat if not in danger! They weren't human in killing this shark over two hours!
They were filming this for some great air time! Shame on them for killing a curious wonder
of the seas! They are all getting their 15 minutes of fame!Wow! It must make for good late
night home family video time!! Two hours being human to put this shark down and their buddy
who was able to film and communicate for help underwater, now that's a news worthy story!; reply

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Slrman-21001573651763300012869 says:: Someone should come into their home and stab and abuse them for two hours. Oh, but that would be illegal wouldn't it? Ihatesharks is not only uniformed but stupidly defending these liars because he CLAIMS he "knows them personally" I suspect he is also a liar.; reply

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Ordflyer says:: This is Cr@p! Why didn't these bozos just get out of the water?

The other two bozos were able to freely swim from their boat to kill this curious shark - they were in no danger if they calmly left the water.

Just ask any surfer - they have almost all seen them cruise by and leave...

These guys just killed a beautiful shark for a thrill... and now they are trying to make a fast buck from it...; reply

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GJoynerjr says:: These guys should be prosecuted for killing that innocent and magnificent Shark. They are liars. The Video cameramen and Still Photographer made no effort to return to the boat. As they claimed to be experienced divers you can see that the sharks body language didn't indicate it was in attack mode. If really felt threatened they could have deployed their SMB to alert the boat to come pick them. Experienced Spear Fishermen, Scuba or Free diving, always encounter sharks, and know that a good bump on the nose with the point of the spear gun or from the Underwater Camera Housing is enough to deter a nosy Shark. This really sucks that those guys went into that sharks domain with the intention to kill it and take a cool video and some awesome pictures. Shark Finners are killing Sharks by the 1000's daily for their fins. It is just unbelievable that these ignorant knuckleheads killed that shark and I think that they knew that shark resided in that area and went there to kill it. Shame on them they should be banned from the Ocean. I never wished for someone to be bitten by a shark before, but I wish this Shark had a chance to take a chunk out of each of their A##ES before they killed him.; reply