Vic Hislop is a shark fishing extradonaire who has captured some the very biggest white sharks in the world.
Some of Vic Hislop's Autobiography (relative to 1993)
I was born in 1947 in the small country town of Stanthorpe in Queensland. At the age of 7 my family moved to Redcliffe, a seaside suburb in Brisbane, where I spent most of my life.
I have always been a keen fisherman. When I was 13 years old one of my friends father and six other men disappeared when their trawler sank. Two days later some human remains including one mans arm, were found on the beach.
I wondered then, “What is out there?” and with the thought my life as the “Shark Hunter” began. By age 15 I was finding out, hiring boats, I started catching sharks. As the years went by the sharks got larger and larger and my thirst for knowledge became more intense.
I am now considered the world’s leading authority on the dangerous species of sharks, having gained my experience the hard way with over 30 years in the field. During that time I have caught and studied more large sharks than any person in the world.
In my younger days as a shark hunter, I began to realize that most of the books, films and news stories about sharks were completely wrong and differed greatly from what I was learning. This proved that a lot of so called “experts” were writing stories from behind desks and through the study of harmless sharks in tanks.
I have spent my lifetime studying the dangerous sharks such as Great Whites and Tigers at close quarters and compiling a vast knowledge of these predators.
These days I am called on from around the world to deal with certain “problems”, anything from sharks damaging professional fisherman’s equipment to actual shark attacks. In the case of shark attacks I cannot deny my expertise in these most horrific circumstances.
I have, over the latter years, compiled two unique and essential shark shows – one at Cairns and the other at Hervey Bay, Qld. These shows are my way of sharing my knowledge of these killer sharks.
I feel the need to enlighten people and make them aware that while we continue to deplete the oceans of shark’s food source, we will see the appearance of the large dangerous sharks coming closer to shore, resulting in the loss of more human lives. The world cannot continue to thin out the entire food chain without thinning out the end-of-the-line-predator, and that is exactly what is happening. Then, and only then, when the world knows the truth about killer sharks, will I begin to relax.
I may even take up fishing as a hobby.
End:
Note: Vic now operates two shark exhibitions. One in Airlie Beach and one in Hervey Bay. He is actively engaged in making adventure documentaries in the far north of Australia in places like the Gulf of Carpentaria.
Vic is also somewhat of an engineer having successfully built 4WD stretch limousines and a tailor made Everglades fan boat that is capable of being driven from land into the ocean or visa versa. This was used in one of his adventure documentaries with great success.
MORE OF THE COMPLETE STORY AND PICTURES TO COME.
SOUTH FLORIDA SHARK CLUB -President SFSC-Founding Member est 1983 SFSC-Website Administrator BIG HAMMER SHARK TOURNAMENT -Founder Rene Memorial Sharkathon -Founder NMFS Shark Tagger
Some of Vic Hislop's views.
You will find a lot of misinformation about Vic Hislop on the internet. You will see absolute lies and fantasy perpetuated by people who don't know Vic Hislop, who have no idea of who he is and what his opinions really are. Here are some questions and answers which clears up some of the misinformation that abounds on the internet about Vic. Today Vic spends his time operating his shark exhibitions in Airlie Beach and Hervey Bay and is actively engaged in producing adventure documentaries on remote areas in Northern Australia, fishing and four wheel drive adventures that have little or nothing to do with sharks.
The same people who rubbish Vic Hislop (right down to ridiculing his moustache) do little else. You rarely see them debating in shark forums about current modern day government shark contractors and for the most part these people simply post on shark related forums and do nothing to actively save the creature they are stating is endangered.
Does Vic Hate Sharks?
No, I spend a lot of time swimming with the more harmless species. The ones I hunt I find find fascinating. I know I will never learn enough about them to satisfy my curiosity. Mind you I don't like the damage they do. When you spend a lifetime cutting dolphins and other marine life out of their stomachs, it makes you think. I guess it is like asking a fisherman if he hated Flathead or Bream.
Does Vic still actively hunt sharks?
No it has been many years since Vic made a living out of being a shark hunter.
Has Vic ever been in a mental institution?
No....this is one of the absolute lies that is found on the internet perpetuated by people who do not have their facts correct and have not done their research.....the Australian shark hunter who was in a mental institution was George Mastrosavas from South Australia. George was a fisherman who actively killed Great Whites that were ruining his livelyhood as a fisherman. He worked on a boat that cleaned fish in a place children swam and his boss did not take any notice when George pointed out they would attract sharks to that area....a young boy was attacked by a Great White near their boat and died as George tried to drive him to hospital. George felt responsible for the boys death and later drove his car into a motorbike obeying voices in his head. His interview is recorded in the article Fatal Shores published by the Sydney Morning Herald Feb 3 2001.
Why does Vic claim there are government cover ups and that the Australian Shark Attack Files are not correct?
Vic points out that it is only witnessed shark attacks that are recorded and that many attacks go unoticed. Body parts washed up are recorded as drownings even if severely mutilated by sharks. The general public does not have access the the Australian Shark attacks file and John West the keeper of the files has never made an appearance at a shark attack scene that Vic has attended.
While the official web page gives some statistics you are not allowed to view the attack files themselves. If you phone Taronga Park Zoo and ask to see them you are told that only scientists can share the knowledge and that they are the property of John West. If you are a reporter or a member of the public you cannot view the files.
Vic also points out that you cannot obtain a missing persons list of people missing on or in the water here in Australia. Vic managed to obtain a list of around 100 people who went missing in the Port Phillip Bay region over a ten year period, but points out the list was kept by a member of the South Peninsula Rescue Squad of Victoria and not the government. Vic does not claim that all the people on the list were all taken by sharks however points out that in many cases the body was never recovered....which...as he points out can be the trademark of the large predatory shark....there is no body to recover...it has been consumed.
He correctly points out that these hundred or so people are on a list that only deals with the Port Phillip Bay region over the ten year period, and that there would be similiar lists for the entire coastline of Australia. If you take this list and apply it to other bays and coastlines around Australia then it makes you wonder exactly how many people do actually go missing on and in the water never to be seen again.
Does Vic want all sharks killed?
Yet another false claim doing the rounds on the internet. Nothing could be further from the truth. The underlying theme of Vics Shark Exhibitions is very much a conservation theme. Vic points out that if only the smaller fish are taken the large sharks are robbed of their natural prey and will turn to other species as a food source. Vic is very much against longlining and pointed out many many years ago that an ecological disaster was in the making if we overfished the fish stocks without thinning out the larger sharks as well.
While scientists still do not really know Great White numbers (and never really did) an intended ban on the shark fishing industry in Western Australia is at this moment being considered due to "an impending ecological disaster".....which of course is exactly what Vic warned of decades ago.
Did Vic kill harmless species such as the Grey Nurse Shark?
No Vics work and study only involved sharks that were known to attack humans. He never hunted the harmless species. Ron and Valerie Taylor killed Grey Nurses during their career Vic didn't.
Did Vic know about Great White migratory habits before modern day scientists?
Yes.....Vic always claimed the shark migrated long distance if you read Vics information from back in the 90's you can see him describing their migratory habits. Australia's CSIRO has found with the aid of Satellite tagging technology that Great Whites do indeed travel extremely long distances. Of course Vic knew this many many years ago and made it public knowledge. He figured it out without the aid of sat tags.
The thing that stands out about the satellite tagging conducted today by the CSIRO and organisations world wide is that the majority of sharks tagged are juveniles. If you think about it juvenile sharks are less likely to return the same results as a mature LARGE Great White Sharks. They are more likely to hug the coast in their search for small prey relative to thier size.
LARGE Great White Sharks need to hunt LARGE prey not small fish so it stands to reason that a LARGE Great White is going to have a completely different behaviour than a small juvenile Great White Shark. The satellite tagging involves bringing the shark onboard or placing the sat tag by a pole.
The fact that relatively small Great Whites have only been tagged to date reflects that it is easier to tag a small Great White......a Great White in excess of 17 feet long presents a dangerous and difficult situation for the people placing the tags, it cannot be brought on board.
This author feels that the true habits of a mature Great White Shark is yet to be discovered.....and it is the LARGE sharks that Vic Hislop talks about.
CSIRO researchers seemed surprised when one of their tagged sharks was tracked as far north as Rockhampton in Queensland however Vic regularly caught Great Whites when it was legal to do so in the waters around Fraser Island and also just off a beach south of Bundaberg. This was many years before the satellite tagging program started. Vic correctly points out that the Great Whites follow the annual Humpback Whale migration every year.
Why does Vic dislike Great White Cage Diving operators like Rodney Fox?
Vic feels the industry is irresponsible and putting humans at risk of shark attack. He feels Great Whites are learning to recognise the human shape as a food source and that cage diving operators are in fact training large sharks to attack humans. He correctly points out that sharks are good learners and if you burley the water....attract the sharks they are in feeding mode when they get there and they see humans in the cages.
He also points out that in the past film makers have stuffed wetsuits full of fish to get film footage of a Great White tearing the human shape to pieces. He again.....correctly points out this is training the shark to recognise the human shape as a food source. These sharks migrate long distance so can be thousands of miles away cruising past a beach full of people swimming...and recognise the human shape from their conditioning at cage diving locations.
("Sharks are good learners. Some have been trained to swim through mazes and seem to learn as well as rats, pigeons and rabbits." - The Cousteau Society magazine, Dolphin Log, July, 1990.)
Can I pay Vic to take me out to catch a shark?
No. In fact Vic has never taken paid charters for sports shark fishing. Vic never conducted sports fishing, his passion and his interest was in the sharks themselves not in playing them for sport. When you are dealing with sharks the size that Vic did it is a very dangerous situation. Sharks in excess of 15 feet in length can sink your boat. Vic was a professional shark fisherman and safety being paramount the objective was to catch, kill and examine the shark....record the stomach contents and retain cartlidge for donation to scientific research.
The safest way to do that was to lay a bait attached to a floating drum with the bait specifically tailored to the type of shark he wanted to catch and to the size of the shark he wanted to catch (very large). Safety being paramount, the shark would be shot in the head, thereby reducing the danger presented by an extremely large shark to both the boat and the occupant.
What is the largest shark Vic has ever caught?
Vic caught a Great White at Port Phillip Island which was 20 foot 8 inches (6.1 metres) in length....and weighed 2.47 Tonne. Vic also says he has hooked but not landed much larger sharks some of which he had to cut the line with an axe as they would have otherwise sunk his boat by the stern.
Why does Vic claim that large man eating sharks will smash themselves to death in captivity when Great Whites and Tiger Sharks have been held in aquariums around the world?
Vics claim of man eating sharks smashing themselves to death was 100% correct at the time he made the statement and is still correct today. Vic was talking of LARGE man eating sharks. The sharks you see in aquariums are not the large sharks Vic was talking about.
Even so no Great White has successfully been held in captivity. Monterey Aquarium holds the record for a very small Great White held for a matter of months but as the shark grew it attacked other sharks in the aquarium and pictures were released on the internet of the damage the shark was doing to itself by smashing into the walls of the aquarium. It had a badly damaged nose which was flat and displaying a wound. The aquarium had to bow to public pressure and the shark was released. Other sharks being held in aquariums are relatively small sharks also. Advances in technology will probably allow them to be held for longer periods but at the time of his statement Vic was absolutely correct....and in regards to LARGE predatory sharks in captivity he still is correct.
(Comment from a misguided poster on a popular shark attack forum)
If I could say one thing to Mr hislop if (sic) would be I dont think he fully understands what the food chain is.
This is a very odd comment considering the fact Vic has always had an understanding of the marine food chain, has always warned of the overfishing of our fish stocks and has always been against practices such as longlining. He pointed out a long time ago that if we overfish the large predatory sharks natural prey that it will force the sharks to turn to other sources of food.
(Comment from another misguided poster on a shark attack forum, interestingly enough this person lives on the Isle of Wight in England (not known for Great Whites), has never owned a boat such as the ones mentioned, and once had a short holiday in Australia and feels he knows more about Australia than people who have lived here all of their lives....and someone who has hunted sharks for over 30 years........)
Gotcha used to talk about many small boats having their occupants eaten after being deliberately overturned by large sharks, despite leaving no trace of the attacking shark. No dent, no bash, no tooth mark. We are talking about multiple people in small boats such as 14ft aluminium dinghys etc. My argument was that if a shark hit a boat with sufficient impact to throw 2 or 3 people in the water then there should be telltale marks on the boats.
This person is talking about the author of this website and this author has never talked about many small boats having their occupants overturned and eaten, the author simply pointed out that it is entirely possible that this is what happened to the occupants of the many small boats found floating empty in areas known to be inhabited by Large sharks.....as pointed out by Vic Hislop.
This person obviously has no idea at all of the fact that a small aluminium boat is easily moved in the water, the natural "give" of a floating object makes it difficult for the occupant of the boat to maintain his/her balance.......a LARGE shark ramming the boat can easily knock people into the water and never leave as much as a dent or scratch. Like your own body a sharks body is soft, so a fisherman standing up in a small boat can easily be thrown into the water from a small impact. Anyone who owns a small boat such as the boats that Vic talks about can tell you this. This author has owned 3 such boats and used them regularly.
These people seem to think that a person maintaining their balance in a small boat are not easily thrown into the water by an impact.
If you think about it thousands of Australians put to sea in small aluminium boats 12 feet, 14 feet and 16 feet in length every weekend around Australia. A Great White grows in excess of these sizes and can weigh in at two tonne. The fisherman are burleying simply by placing bait on their hooks and many others actively burley by putting fish scraps and tuna oil in the water to attract the fish they are after. Of course the shark can smell all this......is attracted and arrives at the scene to find a small boat.
The scenario is not at all impossible and is highly likely. If you are in a small boat and a Great White arrives much larger than your boat.....it is not hard to realise that the sheer size of the shark, excited by the smell is going to investigate the source of the burley......the small boat.
An unsuspecting fisherman in the boat can easily be thrown into the water by a shark of this size....with no damage to the boat and no tell tale signs of what took place.....all that is left is an empty boat, not capsized and floating with no occupant.....just another missing person.......assumed drowned.
These boats are built with a sturdy ribbing making it hard to place a dent in the hull unless you hit a solid object made of rock, steel, coral or a similiar solid construction......a shark made of flesh does not have to exert much force to knock a person out of a boat who is trying to maintain their balance......a large shark can simply swamp the boat and the floatation devices common in boats thesedays will leave the boat floating empty.
Food for thought don't you think?
(his comment was backed up by another poster)
The one that got me is the three people missing (note: she is talking about Vics list of missing persons in Port Phillip Bay), did the shark eat all three people?
One person missing, well, I guess it's possible, maybe not without evidence that the boat was hit by a white or large shark. But I can't by (sic) a shark knocks three people into the water and eats all of them.
This person assumes that perhaps there was only one shark and gives no thought to the fact there may have been more than one shark at the scene.....assuming this was a shark attack....Vic certainly didn't claim it was, the three people missing were simply part of the list of missing people over a ten year period in Port Phillip Bay.
Vic's safety rules for avoiding a shark attack!
Sharks can be anywhere. There will always be attacks. Our only defence is to use common sense. Obey my simple rules and lessen these attacks.
Attacks happen simply when people are in the wrong place at the wrong time. This doesn't mean being at the right place at the right time will save you, but it will certainly make you approximately 80% safer.
Spear Fishing:
Just because you have never seen a large shark, doesn't mean a thing; they are there. Forget little reef sharks and the hundreds of small sharks; it's being able to scare these sharks off which makes spear fisherman over confident.
When spear fishing you must tow a small boat or float to put your fish on immediately. It many only happen once in your lifetime, but when you see a large Tiger Shark or a Great White, it may be too late.
Swimming:
Try for clear days and clear water away from river mouths, especially after rain. Don't swim where people have cleaned lots of fish and avoid places where someone has recently disappeared. You could become meal No2.
Large sharks come close to shore after Stingrays, turtles and dugongs. They are like any large predatory animals. They don't feel as secure without cover. This means they will attack things that are foreign to them, "you", much quicker in dirty water.
Jet skiers and windsurfers, if you are well out and fall, don't just lie there having a rest, get going again. If, for example a large Tiger is circling, you will never see it. Why give it extra time to get used to you?
Fisherman:
All boats should have bouyancy. It's outrageous that most boats, even under survey, sink like rocks. All boats should be bouyant so that if the bottom half is knocked out you should be able to enjoy a cuppa while waiting to be rescued.
My Dad always taught me to test the bouyancy of my canoe and dinghy. There would be a lot more people still alive to day if they had learned the same lesson. All trawlers and large boats could be fitted with strong balloons below deck to fill automatically when triggered with salt water. Small boat owners if you don't think the bouyancy is good enough, tie 25 litre plastic detergent drums anywhere they fit and are out of the way. There is no need to go to great expense, just make sure to tie them securely.
There would be nothing worse than your bouyancy device leaving you; like bouyancy being held under a floor with only a few screws.
Consider you are swamped in huge seas. The pressure could rip out the floor and down goes your main hope of survival. No thought is given to people left hanging onto wreckage thesedays - probably because they are rarely found. Lifejackets and rubber rafts are great until a shark turns up.
A letter to Vic posted in the guestbook
Andrew Cook Friday, 28/02/03, 2:57 AM
Hi Vic, nice to see you on the web, you most probably do not remember me but I certainly remember you, you sort of helped me regain my sanity after a close encounter with a Tiger Shark off Green Island (Cairns).
Back in March/April 1993 I was traveling around Australia and loving every minute, towards the end of our trip we were in Cairns and decided to take a trip out to Green Island for some snorkeling. Being somewhat naive I asked the guys on the boat what precautions I would need to take etc. while swimming in the reef.
Their reply was along the lines of, no worries, just swim where you want. Well this is what I did only to be confronted by a huge beast in front of me in about 2 metres of water. It was huge, I have never ever been so scared in my life, I just froze watching it in what I can only guess at being a distance of 20 metres.
As it turned towards me something inside me took over and I just swam for shore ( I must have been 50 yards from the beach)running the last 10. There was no one to witness this as my wife and I had gone straight to the opposite end of the island to the jetty and the beach was deserted and my wife asleep on the beach recovering from sea-sickness.
To cut along story short, I went from scared to relieved to angry and on the return journey as I asked the crew about what they had told me they told me it was a reef shark that I had seen and when I did not accept this explanation they proceeded to make fun of me in front of the passengers.
As I now know a reef shark is not 4 metres long! I spent the next several days in Cairns talking to various people about my experience however the locals seemed to treat my story with faint amusement. Finally as we were driving up north we passed by Vic's place and on the spur of the moment stopped by.
As I entered Vic was there and as I blurted out my story he said something like ' ah, they always come to me in the end' I spent several hours drinking coffee and chatting about sharks with Vic, he proceeded to tell me the stories of the cover ups that go on in the area as to not hurt the tourist industry and so much info on sharks that I now know that these guys on the boat put my life in danger by taking such an attitude as to tell me I could swim anywhere and touch anything.
Although Vic was quick to point out that shark attacks are rare, especially in relation to car accidents etc. the danger is there. Anyway I hope I didn't bore anyone and once again a thank you to Vic, and I really do believe that he knows what he is talking about!!!! To finish off I will leave you with the quote Vic left me with.... SHIT HAPPENS
SOUTH FLORIDA SHARK CLUB -President SFSC-Founding Member est 1983 SFSC-Website Administrator BIG HAMMER SHARK TOURNAMENT -Founder Rene Memorial Sharkathon -Founder NMFS Shark Tagger
now that guy in my book is amazing
Vic is contreversial for sure but one best authorities on monster sharks and how to catch them .Here are a few more of his pictures.
now that's a shark jaw collectiion
Vic with Doug Mitzi another Australian shark fisherman that owns his own shark fishing website
SOUTH FLORIDA SHARK CLUB -President SFSC-Founding Member est 1983 SFSC-Website Administrator BIG HAMMER SHARK TOURNAMENT -Founder Rene Memorial Sharkathon -Founder NMFS Shark Tagger
I remember whenDiscovery channel's "shark week" first started in the 90's this guy was the star of the show, the best of the entire week and I remember recording all his episodes .Today many out there critcize what he did and his attitude towards sharks as killers gets him bad press but he was one of the best ever catching sharks where the biggest roam---- Australia.
Iquhuah <a href="" http://slkjfdf.net/">Agzuvono</a> ;" zte.iphl.southfloridasharkclub.com.yic.mz http://slkjfdf.net/