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Territorial shark bites diver's spear gun in South Carolina

By Ben Hooper
A shark tries to take a bite out of a diver's spear gun off Hilton Head Island, S.C. Screenshot: SC Spearo/YouTube
A shark tries to take a bite out of a diver's spear gun off Hilton Head Island, S.C. Screenshot: SC Spearo/YouTube

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HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C., June 29 (UPI) -- A South Carolina spear fisherman shared video of his tense encounter with a territorial 6-foot shark that tried to take a bite out of his spear gun.

Erik Anderson posted a video to YouTube showing his June 10 shark encounter while spear fishing about 20 miles off the coast of Hilton Head Island.

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Anderson told the Hilton Head Island Packet most sharks are "just trying to make a living" and "don't want humans," but the 6-foot-long specimen he encountered underwater had other ideas.

"It was just too worked up from all the chum in the water" and "it really didn't like me being in there with him," he said.

"Whenever he came at me the first time -- and I was just nice and relaxed, but I had my spear gun up -- he actually bumped into my spear gun, and even though it happened really quickly, I could feel the force of the shark pushing me backwards through the water. And that really surprised me," Anderson said.

The video shows the shark swim away after the bump, but the predator returns after just a few moments.

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"I saw him coming so I had my spear gun up again and then he bit the end of my spear gun," Anderson said. "And for me, I was just like, 'OK, that's close enough. I think I'll call that good and get out of the water.'"

Anderson said the shark's interest in him didn't disappear when he left the water.

"So I swam back, and as soon as I got out of the water, he was right there at my feet circling me by the boat," he said.

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