yucky poo....



It was a normal day in the life of Gilbert Espat; he was spear fishing like hundreds of other fishermen all over Belize. But it was not a normal barracuda that Gilbert came in contact with this morning. It was a ferocious one which reacted in self defence and inflicted two large and deep bite marks on his arm.

The victim of the unfortunate incident was kind enough to accept an interview while being treated on the operation table by Dr. Daniel Gonzalez of Ambergris Hopes Clinic. Gilbert Espat, fisherman and resident of the San Pedrito Area related to us what went on this morning.

“It was just another ordinary fishing day for myself and companions,” commented Espat. “We headed out at about 6:00 this morning at the Esmeralda Dive Site just outside the reef. My buddies and I were spear fishing. I saw this huge four-foot barracuda and managed to hit it once with the spear gun. I saw the fish going down and as I was about to hit it again it came swimming straight at my face. I had enough time to cover my face and that was when I felt two big bites to my arm.”
CLICK HERE for the rest of the story and some gnarly pics in the Ambergris Today

Spearfishing dive sites???

Yes common practice. You can dive on the site will taking in all the ocean has to offer and at the same time watch as it is shot in front of your eyes.

The Circle of life (or in this case the dead end)!

When I used to dive around some of the dive sites in front of town there would always be very large groupers around. Not so much anymore.

I keep getting a hosting site page when i try to click on the Ambergris Today link. Is anyone else getting this??

Carlos

I just love the irony of the "attack" headline, backed up by the self defense statement. If you're gonna shoot him, he might just not like the idea.

"Sometimes you eat the Bear, Sometimes the Bear eats you"

It's the chance you take when you spearfish.

Get well soon Gilbert.

He is lucky he wasn't killed.

Thank You , I was wondering if anyone was going to notice that. We cultivate relationships with the fish at these sites, name them and take the tourist to see our pets that have begun to trust us. The fishermen over fish their sites then start invading the dive sites where our trusting friends are. There isn't a law that says they can't.
I'm having trouble with my sympathy for this guy!

Wouldn't it be more accurate for the headline to read.....'LOCAL IDIOT FISHERMAN ATTACKS BARRACUDA: BARRACUDA FIGHTS BACK'

I'm now worried that I'll be mistaken for a tuna when I'm snorkelling.

Mermaid maybe, but not Tuna!

Colette,
Get a tatoo of a big mean shark, that will scare them away