Scotttyd
Contributor
so true. Sometimes I feel like we are spending to much time and energy fighting darwin.
Moray Eel attack?
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so true. Sometimes I feel like we are spending to much time and energy fighting darwin.
This thread has given me plenty of amusement on a some-what uneventful day at the office! The thing which stands out the most is that the vast majority of these encounters have arisen from bad diving. It amazes me that a DM with a responibility for the safety of others would prod around holes trying to snag an octopus. Crazy stuff!
... and now for my most memorable 'critter' experience.
After two weeks diving at Protea Banks with numerous sharks, we'd become quite accustomed to the company of a particular female Tiger Shark. After a while you learn to recognise various patterns or scars on individuals and this girl had a big white patch on her dorsal surface, between her fins. This girl didn't have a bad cartilage in her body and portrayed the demeanor of a curious and playful puppy. She'd approach very slowly from above, come within maybe half-a-metre and lose her nerve and swim off. She very gently nibbled one guy's camera too. Basically, she had a heart of gold and was never threatening.
I'm digressing, but I don't want people to think of her as some kind of evil monster.
We did one baited dive where the girl had been happily beating the bejeezus out of the bait bucket for an hour, with a couple of Bull Sharks circling patiently below. As time passes on each dive, you find yourself getting more-and-more used to their presence, and the same can be said of the sharks. Anyway, my buddy (one of four of us, including the DM) isn't the smartest person on earth and after an hour of this dive, for no reason at all decided to forget about his surroundings and simply stare at the bottom for a couple of minutes. He was a couple of metres below me and about ten-to-fifteen metres away horizontally and I saw him doing this. I just remember seeing this stupid 'Tottenham' tattoo he has on the back of his neck. I looked up towards the bait bucket which was a further ten-metres from me (I was in between both) and in terrifying slow motion, saw the Tigress clock my friend staring at nothing. She turned around and swam straight for him, not aggressively, but intently, he was miles from anybody but me and I knew exactly what it was going to do... nibble him on the head! I finned like I'd never finned before to race the shark to him and I think I managed to discourage her because as I grabbed for her I managed to touch the top of her Caudal Fin and she turned two inches from the back of his head. He looked up just in time to see a load of stripes glide past him (it must've been too close to even make out the shape of her) and gave me a massive grin and two thumbs! I don't know what I intended to do once she had hold of him because I had no knives or anything. I'd probably have poked her in the eyes or grabbed her gills. Either way, me and the DM (who'd witnessed (and photographed) the incident from a completely helpless vantage point) gave him hell's fury all the way back to the beach head. In fact I bullied him so relentlessly for it for so long that he sulked out of diving the next day!
Probably the most exciting experience of my short diving life, but not one I'd like to repeat!
... and now for my most memorable 'critter' experience.
After two weeks diving at Protea Banks with numerous sharks, we'd become quite accustomed to the company of a particular female Tiger Shark. After a while you learn to recognise various patterns or scars on individuals and this girl had a big white patch on her dorsal surface, between her fins. This girl didn't have a bad cartilage in her body and portrayed the demeanor of a curious and playful puppy. She'd approach very slowly from above, come within maybe half-a-metre and lose her nerve and swim off. She very gently nibbled one guy's camera too. Basically, she had a heart of gold and was never threatening.
I'm digressing, but I don't want people to think of her as some kind of evil monster.
We did one baited dive where the girl had been happily beating the bejeezus out of the bait bucket for an hour, with a couple of Bull Sharks circling patiently below. As time passes on each dive, you find yourself getting more-and-more used to their presence, and the same can be said of the sharks. Anyway, my buddy (one of four of us, including the DM) isn't the smartest person on earth and after an hour of this dive, for no reason at all decided to forget about his surroundings and simply stare at the bottom for a couple of minutes. He was a couple of metres below me and about ten-to-fifteen metres away horizontally and I saw him doing this. I just remember seeing this stupid 'Tottenham' tattoo he has on the back of his neck. I looked up towards the bait bucket which was a further ten-metres from me (I was in between both) and in terrifying slow motion, saw the Tigress clock my friend staring at nothing. She turned around and swam straight for him, not aggressively, but intently, he was miles from anybody but me and I knew exactly what it was going to do... nibble him on the head! I finned like I'd never finned before to race the shark to him and I think I managed to discourage her because as I grabbed for her I managed to touch the top of her Caudal Fin and she turned two inches from the back of his head. He looked up just in time to see a load of stripes glide past him (it must've been too close to even make out the shape of her) and gave me a massive grin and two thumbs! I don't know what I intended to do once she had hold of him because I had no knives or anything. I'd probably have poked her in the eyes or grabbed her gills. Either way, me and the DM (who'd witnessed (and photographed) the incident from a completely helpless vantage point) gave him hell's fury all the way back to the beach head. In fact I bullied him so relentlessly for it for so long that he sulked out of diving the next day!
Probably the most exciting experience of my short diving life, but not one I'd like to repeat!
Hank49
Contributor
I think you're making a big mistake in thinking that the shark is smart enough to be "friendly".
ScubaFeenD
Contributor
Agreed. Sharks are sharks. Like every other animal that hunts they can be aggressive. That doesn't mean human should harbor ill feeling towards them, but at the same time don't try to anthropomorphize them and make them out to be little puppies when they clearly aren't. They are majestic animals to be protected and admired, not put on a leash and played with.
Friendly isn't really the description I was looking for, I was doing my best to ensure it wasn't painted as evil. That said, she really did look like a big puppy with fins. Bigger teeth though.
I'd suggest that my buddy's mistake was becoming too comfortable around her and not considering her a potential threat. It nearly cost him his life. He was sternly and frequently corrected over the next twenty-four hours!
I'd suggest that my buddy's mistake was becoming too comfortable around her and not considering her a potential threat. It nearly cost him his life. He was sternly and frequently corrected over the next twenty-four hours!
Sounds like a shark forum story
mbalmr
Contributor
Just because you didn't punch the eel in the face or corner it with a baseball bat doesn't mean the eel didn't feel threatened. I'm sure if all day long people kept grabbing at me while I walked by them I would get fed up and lash out as well. Best bet is to interact with wildlife by LOOKING AND NOT TOUCHING!!!
craracer
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One of the guys taking video on our dive got a wake-up call:
YouTube - Eel Attacks Dive Travel Camera in Aruba
YouTube - Eel Attacks Dive Travel Camera in Aruba
Mixedpuppy
Registered
A FEW THINGS LEARNED FROM OAHU
1.) Obvious provocation such as poking, prodding, touching, or just getting plain too close for comfort for the eel may intice a bite. The Undulated Morays (Yellow-green heads) tend to be some of the most defensive. I had a DM who almost got bit by one after poking at it with a metal rod, it came completely out of it's hole a few feet and made a few lunges surprising him. Literature from experts cite the Viper Morays tend to be very defensive. I've only seen one.
2.) When a food source is involved, all bets are off. I've seen 2 large Yellowmargin Morays fight over an octopus one of them caught on the Sea Tiger Wreck. They were trying to eat it and fight eachother at the same time. They're normally calm animals but this made us keep a wide distance. Reports from spearfisherman and even film and photo shows they can get very aggressive when you are handling a fish and especially octopus. A front page photo and article in Hawaii Fishing News showed a spearfisherman with an extremely large 6-7 ft moray. He claimed it came up towards him and his catch so he shot it. I'm sure the situation is debatable.
3. In several years of working ER in Oahu, I have never seen and much heard of significant moray bites coming into the ERs. Not saying it hasn't happened.
4. Be smart, avoid temptation, if it wants your fish/Octopus give it to him, give the animal some respect and he'll leave you alone. You're in his house, not the other way around.
1.) Obvious provocation such as poking, prodding, touching, or just getting plain too close for comfort for the eel may intice a bite. The Undulated Morays (Yellow-green heads) tend to be some of the most defensive. I had a DM who almost got bit by one after poking at it with a metal rod, it came completely out of it's hole a few feet and made a few lunges surprising him. Literature from experts cite the Viper Morays tend to be very defensive. I've only seen one.
2.) When a food source is involved, all bets are off. I've seen 2 large Yellowmargin Morays fight over an octopus one of them caught on the Sea Tiger Wreck. They were trying to eat it and fight eachother at the same time. They're normally calm animals but this made us keep a wide distance. Reports from spearfisherman and even film and photo shows they can get very aggressive when you are handling a fish and especially octopus. A front page photo and article in Hawaii Fishing News showed a spearfisherman with an extremely large 6-7 ft moray. He claimed it came up towards him and his catch so he shot it. I'm sure the situation is debatable.
3. In several years of working ER in Oahu, I have never seen and much heard of significant moray bites coming into the ERs. Not saying it hasn't happened.
4. Be smart, avoid temptation, if it wants your fish/Octopus give it to him, give the animal some respect and he'll leave you alone. You're in his house, not the other way around.
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