Captain Bill commercially fished for sharks in Florida from 1967 to 1986. During his career, he captured more than 6000 sharks. Stayed tuned to his blog to learn the real deal on sharks, from a hands-on expert, not a desk-sitting scientist.
MEET CAPTAIN BILL
In the spring of 1967 at the age of seventeen, I ran away from my home in Pittsburgh and headed south to Siesta Key, an island off the Gulf coast of Florida. I gave up high school and shoveling snow for white sand beaches and bikini clad girls. Add to that fishing and scuba diving and I was in heaven.
I found work on local fishing boats baiting crab traps and working gill nets but I yearned to hunt sharks. They had been a fascination for me as a child and I wanted to learn everything about them. I was a teenager who had neither fear nor respect for them although they often fed on our catch, ripping apart our traps and nets. At first, I listened to the shark ‘experts’ (marine biologists). That sharks were misunderstood. Not dangerous. Their aggression was just toward other fish, that’s all. Although the commercial fishermen I worked with thought otherwise.
I found out first-hand the horror sharks could inflict. My German Shepard was ripped apart by a hammerhead one day while my girlfriend and I swam in shallow water off Siesta Beach. From that moment, sharks meant death .
Soon after that, I began hunting sharks. I sold their meat to bait shops for crab traps and I cleaned and sold the jaws. I also wanted to understand their nature, so I often captured and maintained various small species in tanks. My adventures allowed me to sell live sharks to Dr. Eugenie Clark when she operated Cape Haze Marine Lab on the southern tip of Siesta Key. When Dr. Perry Gilbert and Mr. Bill Mote took it over (and renamed it Mote Marine Lab), I kept live sharks in the open water pens Dr. Clark had left behind.
In 1970, I started Ocean Life, Inc., a live fishing business I operated both from Mote Marine Lab and a shop I’d renovated into a public aquarium in Siesta Village. Later, I sold live sharks to the Miami Seaquarium, Marineland in St. Augustine and the Aquatarium in St. Pete. The last pair of sharks I’d sold were to the newly opened Sea World in Orlando.
My live shark operation ended after a year long battle with red tide. Still, I was fortunate to have worked with great fishermen, like Captain Bob Hughs, founder and president of the Venice Shark Club (and who would be pleased to know I’ve met a girl who’s convinced me to eat raw oysters!). And the renowned Captain Bill Gray, THE pioneer in capturing sea life. He had been The Director of Collections at the Miami Seaquarium until his death in the eighties. (God bless you Captain, may you rest in peace in that big ocean in the heavens).
In the late seventies, my first wife, Cindy and I moved to Longboat Key, where I began commercial fishing exclusively for sharks. I long-lined for them and started a charter business out of the fishing village of Cortez, taking would-be thrill-seekers on adventures of their lives. I’d lower them into a protective, underwater cage so they could view sharks close-up beneath the waves. They actually paid me to scare the hell out of them!
After my divorce, it was through the drinking establishments and natural landscape of Cortez Village that people began calling me The Sharkman. There were other names, but that moniker stuck.
As I fished the shark-infested waters at the mouth of Tampa Bay ‘mostly off Egmont Key’ and relentlessly searched for love in the wrong places, I found that the two-legged sharks on land were as deadly as the ones I hunted offshore. Nevertheless, I met my second wife and we married on the beach – a story-book start.
Between 1967 and 1987 I captured and killed nearly 10,000 sharks of a dozen species. I’d compiled extensive notes on migration and year-round habits of the different species. From this I wrote a book. This first attempt was geared to help fishermen and divers learn the truth about sharks in Florida waters. I didn’t want to see the common, so-called facts of the ‘experts’ go unchallenged. I could easily disprove their ‘sharks aren’t dangerous’ theories by experiences on my boat, battling sharks while they cannibalized each other, watching them suck a sea bird down in one gulp, pulling dolphins and other animals from their stomachs. The job of sharks is to eat, anything and anyone.
It was another of these ‘expert facts’ that morphed into the ban on long-lining for certain sharks: that sharks were in danger of being over-fished. Because great whites and mako were on the endangered species list (neither shark is indigenous to the Gulf), limitations were put on long-liners. Of course, I could never understand how the sharks would know if they were ‘endangered’ or not; they would bite my bait no matter what. How was I to bring up an angry, toothy shark to my bow and not be allowed to kill it?
Regulators swooped down from Tallahassee, imparting new regulations on all fisherman. Developers ran rampant and the landscape of the historical fishing village of Cortez and the rest of Southwest Florida began to change. Like many fisherman, I was put out of business. With the added kick in the eye that every summer sharks would eat people. Yet it was the sharks that needed protecting. Not the people on the beach or the livelihoods of commercial fishermen.
Every shark attack I read or hear about sends a spear through my heart. I grieve for the parents of Jesse Arbogast and Jamie Daigle, for the couple chunked up in Australia, (from which the movie Open Water is based), for the families in Texas whose loved ones are victims of the increased attacks off the dead zone. I take these personally because I know with some truth and education, most of these shark attacks could have been prevented.
My fishing days over, my first manuscript languished on my closet shelf for years while I raised three sons. One day my eighteen year old found it, read it and bragged to my other two sons, “Hey, Dad’s written a book about sharks! It’s killer!”
So I thought I’d give it another try. This time with talented writer, Marisa Mangani, and written as narrative non-fiction about life, love and what has historically become the death of the commercial fisherman.
CAPTAIN BILL IS AVAILABLE FOR SLIDE PRESENTATIONS FOR YOUR CLUB OR GROUP. CALL: 941-330-7502
Meanwhile,
Good fishing, good loving and God bless you,
We’re a group of volunteers and starting a brand new scheme in our community. Your website provided us with valuable info to paintings on. You’ve performed an impressive task and our whole neighborhood can be grateful to you.
Cool!
Sharkman
Hey Bill,
It is great to see that you wrote this book. I had gone out several times with you in 1983 when we worked for Beach Place. I always tell people about the adventures of shark hunting.
Thanks
Mike
Dear Captain Bill: I am so glad to have found your website! Do you remember Bill “Gator” Ervin, Curator of Fishes at SeaWorld in Orlando? He was my boss. And do you remember Gerry and Mary Lou Klay of SharkQuarium in the Florida Keys? You might enjoy my articles about Marineland, Aquatarium and Miami Seaquarium at http://www.florida-backroads-travel.com. I would have loved to have visited your aquarium, Ocean Life!
I don’t remember the Seaworld guy unless he was the one I sold sharks to when they first opened. I did work with G Clay and I remember seeing a website about Marineland after it closed down. I will check out your website becasue , yes, those were the days.
Captain Bill
Dear Bill,
!
Really enjoyed reading your writings- I think you are an intelligent and sensible person who obviously has a lot of first-hand experience with sharks (as opposed to the shark enthusiasts/extremists, who, although I am sure they mean well, probably have not had even close to the amount of experience that you have). And I completely agree with what you say about the lack of sympathy given to victims of shark attacks – it saddens me deeply that this new “fad” of “save the world, look how cool and socially conscious I am” takes precedence over basic humanity and not so popular “lost life of a fellow human being”. Bottom line, as you say, sharks are predators who know what they are doing. I respect that sharks are just animals who are trying to survive, but, to share a somewhat drastic but relevant comparison: murderers are also just humans who are trying to survive, doing what they are *compelled* to do, but that does NOT mean that we should not get them off the street one way or another. It is not a justification to say: “Well, a murderer doesn’t kill everybody he meets, just two or three people, maybe even just one or two unlucky ones, so he should have the right to roam free”….the point is that we KNOW he has the primal urge and immense potential/ability to kill, and this should be enough cause for us to take action and fight for our right to a safe society, just as it is enough for us to fight for a safe ocean! And regarding what you say about the “eco-sharks”, I also believe there is truth to this – I have traveled around the worked working in several different non-profits for years, and it is so evident that the exploitation and manipulation of peoples’ humanity is a sad but common practice in matters such as these. I am liberal, I recycle, I use natural products and am against animal resting for cosmetic purposes – I am by no means ignorant or unsympathetic to the environment/world affairs/human rights, ect. But this shark thing is just going to far, and I am so glad that you are exposing it for what it really is. Sorry about the rant, and thanks again for your writing
Hi Bill,
I think it was in the 1970 es that my brother and I rescued the calf of a Pygmy Sperm Whale off Jupiter FL beach. The mother and calf had ben attacked and bitten by sharks . My brother, James petted and talked to the whale over ten feet long until it quited down. He then bridled it up . At one point a sea lifted it up and it went down on brothers foot, bruising it.I backed the boat up to it and we towed it in to Jupiter inlet to Dubois camp just inside the inlet. We tied it to a stake and then called Captain Bill at the Miami Sea Aquarium. He picked it up with a special equipped boat. Over the phone he told me that if it lived from its wounds they would pay me something. It died. I saw no whale mention to his credit. Can this be confirmed? Thank you.
John Messick
Holy Shit, it took you jut 40 years to learn that sharks are dangerous!!!!, man I wish these eco lunatics had mind’s as sharp as that.
Why do you kill sharks? I mean yes, one killed your dog, and I understand the companionship you and your dog must have shared – I’ve lost some furry friends over the years, one due to cancer so I know how you feel – but I don’t think that should give you the right to kill over 10,000 sharks. Over 100,000,000 sharks are captured and killed each year and adding to that doesn’t exactly help the situation. I know you have your understanding of sharks, but they really don’t mean to kill humans. Sharks are colorblind, and they mostly see shadows, so when your dog was kicking aroung in the ocean the shark probably thought it was a distressed fish – sharks have an organ on their nose called the ampullae of lorenzini that detects electrical currents – and had no clue that it was a dog. Truthfully, it probably mistaked it for a small seal and went for it, as seals are part of sharks’ main diet. In reality, there are more injuries associated with toilets than sharks. Please don’t let more sharks suffer, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve cried because of sharks being killed. I don’t know if anyone ever explained that situation to you like that before, but I hope I succeeded in politely getting my message through. Thank you for the time I hope you took to read and think about this.
To Kittiechick,
I found your post so passionate and, as you stated, you hoped you could politely get your message across. So I’ve decided to respond. I will do so as politely as I can. But trust me, after 2 decades of debating eco-loons and PETA fanatics, it will be a daunting task! Why do I kill sharks? I’ve spent 4 decades as an avid ourdoorsman, a hunter, a fisherman and scuba diver. I raised my three sons making a living as a commercial shark fisherman and I am pround of my profession. Sharks were only a part of my catching sustainable resources. The loss of my German shepherd had nothing to do with it, that only reinforced what I already knew: sharks are predators, at the top of the food chain.
Now I wish to educate you on a few facts: I’ve spent many years capturing sharks for public display as well as for scientific study so through those years I’ve had close exposure to marine curators, biologists and managers of many aquariums — Marineland, Miami Seaquarium, Seaworld of Florida and San Diego, etc. I’ve also done business with many marine scientists. Often, my wife and I were invited to exclusive parties with Bill Mote, Perry Gilbert, Stu Springer, etc. so if I seem harsh with the scientific community, it is not unjust. You see, many of these people confided to me that they regard the general public as ignorant and gullible, and any ruse would find the wealthy as easy targets. “Send us your money and we’ll save the oceans!” I once asked Dr. Gilbert during a party while the alcohol, etc., was flowing, if there really was a potential cure for cancer using sharks. “There is no real evidence one way or the other, but we’re scientists and we can say what we want. Nobody can disprove our theories, but it’s a great way to raise funds!” He went on to say that part of the game is to appeal to the public’s sense of passion to save animals. Why do you think PETA, the PEW Foundation, Humane Scociety, etc., tug at your heart and wallet with those catch commercials? Like: “Sharks are essential to a healty eco-system” and “100,000,000 sharks are killed each year.” My God, even George Burgess even admitted that number was pulled from the air. A bold lie, only good for its shock value!
These lies and deception are crippling our economy. Nearly 90% of our seafood in our country is needlessly imported, to appease the green lobbyists of our nation. Even those Catch and Release fishing tournaments are nothing more than an attempt to give contestants that Feel Good sensation at setting the fish free. Fact is, sharks and most game fish suffer lactic acid saturation in their bloodstream which poisons their muscle tissue during the battle. Few fish, even sharks ever survive once released. Nobody in the eco -community wants to admit this.
I find it interesting how people who feel such pain and sorrow over the death of a wild and dangerous predator seem unmoved at the death of humans, especially children. One gets a different perspective upon seeing a corpse at a morgue, or interviewing a parent when they relive the tragedy of losing their child due to a shark attack. How can these individuals agonize over the death of animals but trivialize shark attacks as something less than an injury associated from falling off a toilet?
Sharks are not stupid, they know what they are attacking, it’s not mistaken identity. (Besides, there are no seals in Florida). So next time you cry over a dead shark, I can assure you he doesn’t care. But those eco-”sharks” do: remember send us your money, we must save them!” Da da, da da, da da dum, da dum….
Captain Bill Goldschmitt
Captain Bill,
I wish to thank you in educating me in what I didn’t know, and now, as you said, I wish to educate you on a few facts. I don’t know why people would want to expose animal cruelty to make money, and I definatly agree that the general public is ignorant and gullible. However, I also know that no matter what the Humane Society, PETA, etc is trying to get out of those tear jerking commercials, animal cruelty is real. People cry when they see that a puppy or kitten died but when they hear that a shark died they think ” Good, one less to worry about.” Beleive me I’ve heard someone say those exact words.
But that’s not what I was trying to say in my earlier comment. What I wanted was not for you to “educate” me of the real situation, but to listen. So please listen ever so carefully now:
The statistic of how many sharks are killed each year might have been “a bold lie”, but it isn’t exaggerating the reality of shark killings. You said that you find it interesting how people find such pain and sorrow over the death of a wild animal; I find it interesting that people can simply not care that they are destroying one of Earth’s greatest species. Not only that, but people can haul a magnificent beauty onto a boat and not think twice about hacking off their fins. And then the nerve to throw the shark back in the ocean! How would humans like it if they were on the other side of the fishing line, and they had a hook tearing through their mouth and a machete ripping their limbs off? I know you must hear this alot, but shark hunting is just plain wrong. And yes, you can trivialize shark attacks as something less than an injury from a toilet, but that’s simply because that is a sad reality. And another thing, yes, sharks are not stupid, but what makes you so sure that they know what they are attacking? Like I said earlier, they are colorblind and can barely see in the murky ocean waters, and I said nothing about seals being in Florida (I was simply speaking of sharks in general). Sharks, let me tell you, do care. I might sound all tree-hugger when I say this, but I believe that sharks, along with all animals, have feelings. You said in a video on this website that the look on your dog’s face was pure fear, and so that’s what makes me wonder why you said that sharks don’t care; can’t they experience fear also?
I apologize if I seemed less kind in this comment, as I am extremely passionate about sharks and I get extremely aggravated on the topic of hunting them. But remember this the next time you are about to end a shark’s life: there is a seventh grade student out there who can’t wait for the chance to expose shark hunting for what it really is.
How’s it going you old hoot?
Hi Bill;
Long time no see. Having trouble reaching you through facebook or email. Living in Georgia for past 19 years. Write back or call me 678-949-7593
Bill,
Great writing. Very enjoyable. I’ve hauled more than a few sharks out of the “briny deep” myself. We’re from Pensacola, but spent almost ten years living in the Big Bend. My 13-year-old is an aspiring marine scientist, and I’ve shown him your blogs. He’ll be keenly interested in hearing from an “old salt” like you.
On a personal note… I’ve always been amazed at the numbers of sharks I catch – inshore and off shore. We’ve eaten a lot of great-tasting shark steaks. Mostly, I’ve just released them back to their watery home.
Great work. God bless.
Jeff
Thanks for your comment, Jeff, glad you appreciate my site and writings. How refreshing to hear from someone other than an extremist!
Captain Bill