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“Diving is my passion,” Batts says. “I’m 65 years old and I
still get just as excited about it.”
A lot has changed in the course of his career. One notable
and not-so-welcome difference: there are more big sharks where
he dives.
“I definitely see more great white sharks than I’ve ever seen,”
he says.
Some years have gone by without encountering a single one,
but last summer he saw three.
Divers have a healthy awareness of the danger a shark pres-ents.
After a successful shot, they become a neoprene-covered
creature pulling bloody fish — shark food — behind them.
Batts says his scariest moment came when he had a drawn-out
encounter with a great white five years ago.
“I went down with a tank about half full to finish a
day of diving. I shot three fish and as I came back up
slowly to decompress, I saw this huge white shark circling,”
he says.
Batts instantly dropped his catch — a hard thing for a fisher-man
to do in any scenario except one like this.
“Instantly, that white shark was all over me, she didn’t even
care about the fish,” Batts says. “We stayed suspended in the
water 20 feet from the surface for eight to 10 minutes.”
The shark was so close he could have easily poked her with
his speargun, but it wouldn’t have fazed the massive creature.
Batts didn’t head for the surface for fear the shark would charge.
“I knew I was at that creature’s mercy and there was nothing
I could do about it,” he says.
Finally, the boat following his bubbles appeared overhead and
spooked the shark.
Opposite page: After returning from a trip
offshore, Randy Batts (green shirt) and his crew,
Cory Crumpler and William Thomas, unload
their catch at Swan Point Marina in Sneads Ferry.
Clockwise from upper left: The Orion’s first catch
of the grouper season. The tools of the trade:
wetsuits, SCUBA gear and spearguns on the
Motts dock. Matt Moore with lionfish caught on
a difficult trip in the winter. Jonathan Kent with
some large African pompano.
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PHOTO COURTESY OF ALBIE SOLANO PHOTO BY ALLISON POTTER
PHOTO BY ALLISON POTTER
PHOTO COURTESY OF ALBIE SOLANO