U.S.A. Women's Spearfishing Team, Part 2: Melody Engle

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Artemis

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Melody Engle is the captain of the U.S. Women's Spearfishing team, which is headed to Sardinia next month for the Spearfishing World Championships. She tells us what it's like to condition for World's, how to master your mind as a freediver, and how her own headgame was influenced by a background in competitive figure skating and skydiving. Plus -- targeting fish, stone shots, and the ecology of the marine ecosystems we depend on. 3:00 The best tasting fish is a fresh fish 5:30 Speara - woman who spearfishes 8:00 A typical spearfishing outing; Determining 'drop' location based on quarry 10:00 Where to aim on a fish... a "stone shot" 11:00 Distance from fish when you shoot + you ARE the reel... you have to swim the fish to the surface 12:00 The quality of your shot can influence how quickly sharks pick up on that animal's demise 13:00 A good spearfishing friend fends off a shark (!) while you get your fish to the surface 15:00 Diving for a Cause + Ted Harty's freediving course 19:00 Getting into freediving in your 50s (with a background in figure skating and skydiving) 21:00 Being captain of the U.S. Women's Spearfishing team 24:00 U.S. Women's Spearfishing Team headed to World's in Italy in September: World Spearfishing Championship 2021; Plus, if you have any to spare, their GoFundMe page is still active. (Plus... it's a WINNING team!) 26:00 The U.S. Women's Spearfishing Team is relatively new compared to teams in other countries. Follow them on Insta @usa_spearfishing_womens_team and Facebook @USAWomensSpearfishingTeam 27:00 How team members are selected 27:30 U.S. Women's Spearfishing Alliance - conservation & camaraderie 33:00 Shooting a 68-pound yellowfin tuna in Costa Rica 37:00 Decline in Florida hogfish in the past couple years 38:00 Reef-safe sunscreens (like Stream2Sea) 43:00 A high-level competition mindset is about disciple, mastering your nerves, being present 46:00 What's the fate of the fish caught during spearfishing tournaments? Fresh fish are sacred to many 50:00 Ciguatera poisoning 55:00 Freediving + black out risk 58:00 Do you have a boat? It's an obstacle to entry for many