San Diego spear fishermen of today come from a lineage that began in the ’30s, with the Bottom Scratchers of La Jolla. Today there are less fish but the equipment is superior. Nevertheless, it’s easy to drown when a big sea bass takes you for a ride through a kelp ball.
Ryan and Volker talk about watching a blue whale feed and free diving nearby.
Video posted October 8, 2013
Stories this video appears in
From La Jolla's Bottom Scratchers to today's scuba divers
October 9, 2013
More Bottom Scratchers with spearguns
Free diving to Tombstones
A first-person view of free diving to Tombstones, an underwater memorial off the coast of La Jolla for free divers who have died.
Finishing a day of free diving
A first-person view of the end of a day spent free diving off the coast of San Diego, including the disarming process for a rubber-band speargun.
Spear fishing without air tanks
Ryan and Volker discuss the process of free dive spearfishing. Ryan relates the story of his largest catch, a 50-pound white sea bass, which was also his closest brush with death.
Free diving methods and equipment
Michael Timm from Dive America explains basic the methods and equipment used in free diving.