A three-woman diving team smashed over 900 lionfish off the coast of Florida in only 24 hours!
Team Hang On consisted of a former biological scientist, an environmental specialist with the state Department of Environmental Protection, and one who makes her living selling lionfish catches to restaurants now has the ultimate bragging rights in the Sunshine State for at least a year.
After crushing 926 of the intensely invasive fish in a tournament that lasted two days, from 5:30 a.m to 5:30 p.m., the three woman of Team Hang On were announced as winners.
But as it was said by one of the team members, Rachel Bowman, it wasn't easy:
"On two separate dives, my Zookeeper was completely full." (diving in "miserable" 2 to 4-foot seas at a depth of 140 feet) "It was so shallow. I'm used to being in thousands of feet of water"
The 'Zookeeper' she referred to is a capturing device which can grab up to 80 pounds of fish on a single dive.
The three-woman team composed of Rachel Bowman, Meaghan Faletti, and Nikkie Cox caught almost a quarter of the 3,868 lionfish captured during the two day event while diving almost 40 miles off of Pensacola.
Divers interested in competing in lionfish tournaments can check www.myfwc.com/fishing for more details.
Cover photo via Facebook/Lionfish World Championships
NEXT: WHEN A HUNGRY GROUPER WANTS YOUR LIONFISH, JUST GIVE IT TO HIM
