Moray Eel attack?

[ams511]

I was diving once in Key Largo with a dive operator called Capt. Slate. This guy was know for feeding baracuda with a fish in his mouth. Well some fisherman caught the baracuda, so he couldn't do that anymore. So he would pull a green moray out of a hole and pass it around to the divers. I declined. He had a divemaster video tape the whole thing and then you could buy the video tapes.

 

[idocsteve]

I was diving once in Key Largo with a dive operator called Capt. Slate. This guy was know for feeding baracuda with a fish in his mouth. Well some fisherman caught the baracuda, so he couldn't do that anymore. So he would pull a green moray out of a hole and pass it around to the divers. I declined. He had a divemaster video tape the whole thing and then you could buy the video tapes.

I'm still waiting for the punch line.

 

[Thalassamania]

I learned the following things from a Grand Cayman hotel owner who had the biggest moray I've ever seen living in the reef right off his establishment. I've followed his advice and fed many morays without incurring any damage:

1. never attempt to touch them.
2. do not go toward them in their hole, coax them out to you.
3. move slowly and deliberately.
4. wear Kevlar gloves (I mean it).

 

[101recon]

I've kept Morays in aquariums for over 20 years.Believe me,some of them have attitude!Some species have very sharp teeth and 5 are known to be poisonous.Some species are also aggressive.Most have poor vision and hunt by smell and vibrations in the water.

I've had several Morays that were gentle and could be fed by hand.A few even liked to swim around my hand and through my fingers.
I've had others that were very aggressive to anything near them requiring a divider for tank maintenance.Even the small ones can give you a serious bite requiring stitches.I know.

I haven't seen a Moray in the ocean yet.But when I do,it will get plenty of respect from me.

 

[Mike Boswell]

When I was about 13, a friend of mine stuck his hand in a hole to grab a lobster, felt a bite on his finger and jerked his hand out. He had four or five lacerations the full length of his middle finger, all the way to the bone.

Morays are very stong, they have very sharp teeth, and some of them don't have a sense of humor.

 

[Dave1981]

Can we re-name this thread 'The idiots guide on what not to do while diving'

I half expect the next response to be something like 'I was just holding my breath on an ascent riding a stingray and using my spare air when all of a sudden it attacked me for no reason. Anyway I stopped hitting it in the face with my split fins and decided to surface on my own. To top the whole thing off I got an over expansion injury even though I did a stop at 5 meters to cut off and collect some nice coral for 3 mins. It just goes to show that it can happen to even the most cautious divers!'

 

[drrich2]

Thing is, a LOT of people would've been tempted to touch the tail of an interesting marine animal swimming by, and would've done it. A very human thing to do. Moray eel, sea turtle, etc...

This is all the more an issue with moray eels, since we hear of dive leaders of groups handling morays (which have gotten somewhat acclimated to humans) and thus people may get the idea that morays just 'look tough' but are docile. I mention this because way back when on this board I saw a thread where a moray eel tore into the arm of a dive leader; I think it was one of those 'lead the group around & show them the eel & mess with it' scenarios, if memory serves.

Glad you got away without injury.

Richard.

 

[merxlin]

I believe if the moray had attacked you, you would know it. There WOULD be marks in your wetsuit, and you. They are dumb, can't see, and feed based on reflex. Something moves and they strike. Yet they can follow a fish for 5 minutes and never catch it. We have eels all over out here and most divers give them a wide path.

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

Lots of Morays here in Hawaii. Unless you really, really know what you are doing, look, but don't touch. Do not get "in their face".

Yes, people get "attacked" by morays. But I think a better word is "defensive responce" or "feeding behavior" rather than an attack. Like many have mentioned, they have poor eyesight, are probably pretty territorial, and likely cannot distinguish a friendly diver trying to pet them from a predator trying to eat them.

Years ago I had an "encounter" with a very aggressive moray while spear fishing. We were free diving, in 20-30 feet of water off the Kona coast. I was pulling a stringer with speared fish. The moray came out of the reef, and began a chase of the fish scent. He could not be convinced to retreat, was too aggressive, and sadly ended up on the stringer too. Again, this was not an "attack" by the moray on the diver, it was "feeding behavior"

Best wishes.

 

[H2O 70]

Years ago as I kid was was snorkeling in Hanauma Bay in HI. I was following a free swimming Morey and it disappeared into a pretty big coral head. A couple of minutes later I swam down on the other side of the coral head to peak into a hole. A Morey 'attacked' me and tore my face mask. I had unknowingly put my face into its face.

I volunteer at our local Aquarium as a diver and part of our duties is feeding the fish. We have two Morey's that we feed. One is Oscar and the other is Felix. We feed them on a 12" pole or open the food bag and let them put their heads in there and figure out what they want.

Oscar will often come out and swim around the exhibit. If Oscar wants to get friendly with you, you let him. I've had him wrap around my head like a turban...and giant green turban.

In all the years those two have been on display and diver has never been hurt or 'attacked'.

Their vision is not the best, but they do have a descent sense of smell.

The do have some sharp teeth and their teeth lean towards the back of their mouth.

LeadTurn SD pretty much summed it up. As with anything that has sharp teeth, just respect it and don't touch them. For the most part I'd categorize these fellows as harmless.