Captain Shark-Killer 75 



we were out of business temporarily until it got light enough to see to mend 

 our net. 



"While I was making the coffee, I heard the chug-chug of a motorboat 

 coming in, and from the exhaust noise I knew whose boat it was. Sure enough, 

 when the boat came abreast of our fire on the beach, I recognized it. My friend 

 stopped the engine, and hailed: 'That you. Captain Caswell?' 



" 'Yes,' I yelled back. 



"Before I could shout that there was coffee ready, he must have smelled it, 

 for his next inquiry was: 'How's coffee?' 



" 'Sure,' I answered. 'Come ashore and join us.' 



"The crew waded ashore, and even before they reached the fire I could tell 

 there was something wrong. They just didn't have that air fishermen have when 

 they've finished a good day's work. 



"'What's wrong. Captain?' I asked my friend. 'Sharks eat up your seine, 

 too?' 



" 'Seine, hell!' he said. 'Look at me!' 



"He turned around. I saw that half his coat and the back of his pants had 

 been completely torn away. 



" 'What happened?' I asked. 



" 'Well,' he answered, still angry about the incident, 'I was holding the lead 

 line down in a swash below the Bell Shoals and we caught a seine full of sharks 

 along with the mackerel, and one of them took a nip at me. Them slickers cost 

 me six dollars and them dungarees cost one dollar and 90 cents— best duck 

 brand— and that flannel underwear cost me three dollars a suit. And I had a big 

 bandanna handkerchief in my hip pocket and he got that, too.' 



"Even the coffee didn't cheer him up. He was still grumbling about that 

 shark when he went back aboard his ship, getting more than his feet wet as he 

 waded into the surf." 



Captain Caswell, who retired after 42 years of fishing in the Gulf, developed 

 his own method for keeping sharks from tearing his seines. But I wouldn't 

 recommend it. 



"A fisherman often cruises for four or five days through all kinds of weather, 

 risking his life, health and the money invested in his rig," Captain Caswell said 

 by way of introduction to describing his anti-shark warfare. "So, when he finds 

 a 10,000-pound bunch of salable fish in his seine and a big shark tearing 10-foot 

 holes in it, he is pretty apt to take the most effective and surest method at hand 

 to get rid of the shark. 



"My particular method was to shove off in the seine boat, get within reach 

 of the shark and dive overboard for the dorsal fin. It's easy to grasp, being rough 

 and not slippery. Usually, it's not difficult to get hold of this fin with the left 

 hand, and to make myself secure I wrap my legs around the shark behind the 

 fin. The shark makes a lunge and at The same time starts to roll over. I take my 

 sheath knife and, reaching as far forw^d with it as I can. draw it strongly 

 across the muscles of the back of his neck. One slash with a good sharp blade, 

 7 or 8 inches long, usually cuts the muscles and cords that direct the shark's 

 movements. The head bends down, the wound opens and the loss of blood soon 

 weakens the shark. I get out of the water while the shark aimlessly rushes about, 



