
Diver Craig Clasen grapples with a 12ft tiger shark to protect a friend
Craig Clasen was hunting yellow fin tuna with fellow fisherman Cameron Kirkconnell, photographer D.J Struntz (DJ Strunz’s portfolio) and film maker Ryan McInnis in the Gulf of Mexico when a 12 ft. Tiger Shark aggressively approached and circled Ryan McInnis in deep waters south of the Mississippi River’s mouth. Regarded by many as two of the world’s best free diving spearfishermen, Craig and Cameron have come into contact with thousands of sharks.
Craig Clasen immediately swam to his friend with his spear gun.
‘I positioned myself between Ryan and the shark and I tried to watch it for a second, hoping it would pass us by,’ explained 32-year-old Mr Clasen.
‘I noticed that the shark was getting tighter and tighter and just kept trying to get a back angle on us and behaving in an aggressive manner.
‘The shark made a roll and looked like it was going to charge us so I just went ahead and took the conservative route and put a shaft through its gills.
‘Cameron and I have been around sharks for years and we all have a lot of experience with them but this encounter had a different feel to it.
‘Down in my core I really felt the shark was there to feed. I didn’t want it to come to that.’
Craig spent nearly two hours wrestling with the giant 12ft shark, spearing it seven times and even attempting to drown the beast before eventually finishing it off with a long blade knife.

Craig Clasen uses his knife to kill a 12 ft. Tiger Shark
‘Once I shot it in the gills I felt a moral obligation to finish the job,’ says Craig.
‘I didn’t want it to go on any longer than it had to. I shot the fish like I would do any other fish and worked it up closer and did my best to kill it as humanely as possible.
‘I speared it in the gills which I knew would kill it and from that I tried to put a shaft into its brain as quickly as possible.
‘I shot it six times in the head with a spear and I wasn’t having much luck - it was a slow drawn out process.
‘Sharks are so resilient and so tough from millions of years of evolution they are just survivors.
‘The best way and quickest way to finish the job and kill the shark and recover it was to get a rope around its tail, drag it from the back of the boat and attempt to drown it.
‘In the end we had put a knife its skull once I got lose enough to it and use a long blade knife even after trying to drown it.’
Story at DailyMail.co.uk Transworld Surf
