FREE-DIVING SPEARS IN PADANG
In the deep waters off Padang, Sumatra, the free-diving spear fisherman lies motionless and alone 20 meters under the sea. The solitude of the ocean engulfs him, and it is broken only by the few brilliant shafts of sunlight that allow him to see what lies beneath.
The enormous prehistoric spear feels light in his hand and he steadies it, waiting for the giant dogtooth tuna fish to turn back toward him. The adrenaline flowing through his body is overwhelming.
The huge pelagic fish is less than eight meters away. Curious, it turns back to investigate the deathly still body. The diver takes aim and shoots, the spear moving like lightning through the water and hitting the tuna straight through the head. Blood floods the water.
In spear fishing talk, a 40kilogram doggie – the Holy Grail of fish – just got popped.
Free-dive spear fishing is an adrenaline sport like no other, and the waters surrounding Indonesia offer some of the best reef and open water hunting grounds in the world. Trevally, mangrove jack, Spanish mackerel and dogfish tuna troll theses seas, and free divers come here from around the globe to test their spearing skills.
Spears fishing for reef fish or pelagic fish require limited gear and no formal training. But it is not as easy to find a spear fishing center, and the number of people with the know-how to take beginners spearing is limited.
The sport is undoubtedly a bloody one, and its impact on marine environments has been questioned. But free-dive spear fishing is selective and conservative, and that most spear fishermen are well versed on the damage uncontrolled fishing can do.
While staunch advocates of protecting marine ecosystems, these divers are also diving for the rush. Safety is the key, but the biggest risk is shallow-water blackout which the body get starved of oxygen, and basically shuts down. The esophagus will close down and become unconscious. Then for a period of eight or nine seconds, if someone doesn’t realize what’s happened to him– he’ll actually drown.
