My fears in the water!!!!

[TennisCoach]

Hello guys,

I am in the process of getting my SSI OW cert. But now that I see it so close I started to think about my fears underwater and I wanted to know if you guys can give me some advice about what to do?

I have to admit that I am terrified of the following: Sharks (all types), Barracudas and eels. I hear that barracudas and eels are very territorial and you should not invade their space, but what happens when you do it by mistake and all of the sudden you find yourself with a barracuda or an eel? What is the best response? What is the best action to take? I am not looking to ever feed shark or swim with them and the same goes for cudas and eels. :help:

Thank you in advance
CC

 

[grassyknoll]

I hear that barracudas and eels are very territorial and you should not invade their space, but what happens when you do it by mistake and all of the sudden you find yourself with a barracuda

I ended up divorcing her, but that's just me.

Really though, it is more of a matter of whether your fears are rational or irrational. Can they be overcome through insight, education and familiarization? If yes, you will probably be fine, if no, then you may need to then look at whether your fears could result in panic which would endanger you and those you dive with.

Just my .02 psi.

 

[paradicio]

Fear of potentially hazardous marine life seems to be a pretty common cause of concern in new divers. It also seems to be the first fear I see conquered as new divers become more experienced.

Did you know that, annually, more people are bitten by other people in New York City alone than are bitten by sharks world wide?

Barracudas are more likely to attack something they're more likely to be able to take down themselves than a 5 - 6 foot tall diver who's blowing insanely loud bubbles and generally causing a commotion everywhere he/she goes.

And that toothy open mouthed eel is more likely to swim away into a hole than attack you.

Lets face it, we're just not on the menu. And as long as we're respectful, careful, and not stupid...well with the exception of the occasional freak accident we should be ok.

You can see how close this eel let me get to it in order to take this shot. And I've seen many many closer shots of eels, barracuda, and yes even sharks taken by members of this community.

So go out, dive, and let yourself relax and enjoy the sport. Who knows, you may even be lucky enough to get to see some of the creatures you're a bit afraid of right now.

Dive safe!

 

[shakes91]

Go out relax, marine life is not that curious of you. You will be more curious than they will be.

 

[Guba]

all of the sudden you find yourself with a barracuda

I'm voting for her!

Seriously, though, all of us here on SB could tell you the same thing (Relax, study up and educate yourself about the creatures in question, get familiar with them, etc...)but in the end it's up to you to decide whether chance meetings with these organisms are going to cause a dangerous situation for you. By that, I don't mean that they would harm you...but you could react to them in a way that would be dangerous (panic).
I'll admit, they can be a bit unnerving. In the Gulf of Mexico, we commonly have to dive through a cloud of barracudas that cruise under the boat before we can get to the bottom. It also gets your attention when one swims right up to you in order to check you out. Just keep in mind that they are, for the most part, harmless and are just seeing who is visiting. If you can hang onto your nerves long enough to get to know these creatures, you shouldn't have any trouble later on when you encounter them.

 

[rstofer]

I have always felt that the sea creatures I encountered were more than willing to share space. OTOH, I don't try to feed sharks, I don't torment eels, I won't play football with a Stone Fish and I certainly won't pet a Lion Fish.

Sea snakes bother me but then so do land snakes. The only time I have even seen a sea snake was in Thailand (I think) and it was about the diameter of a regulator hose, perhaps 18" long, white with black stripes and it was cruising the bottom of the reef. I stayed away and it kept cruising.

In some areas, Jelly Fish are a problem. It isn't unusual to find yourself surfacing through them if you aren't looking up. Unfortunately, looking up is thought to be related to breath holding. Be careful.

Read every book you can find about the sea life in your dive area. Among other things, the information is just nice to know.

Richard

 

[dkktsunami]

Hello guys,

I am in the process of getting my SSI OW cert. But now that I see it so close I started to think about my fears underwater and I wanted to know if you guys can give me some advice about what to do?

I have to admit that I am terrified of the following: Sharks (all types), Barracudas and eels. I hear that barracudas and eels are very territorial and you should not invade their space, but what happens when you do it by mistake and all of the sudden you find yourself with a barracuda or an eel? What is the best response? What is the best action to take? I am not looking to ever feed shark or swim with them and the same goes for cudas and eels. :help:

Thank you in advance
CC

You simply need to be philosophical and realistic about your fear. Is is possible that a barracuda or shark could hurt or kill you? Yes. Is it likely? Absolutely not ........... you could probably spend the rest of your life attempting to commit suicide by marine animal and be unsuccessful. If you need to fear something, think about your automobile ride to the dive site - dangers encountered here are far greater especially on I-95 in Miami. Your fellow man is far more dangerous to you than a marine critter.

 

[tstormdiver]

I look at marine wildlife the same as I do terrestrial wildlife. They are awesome to observe, in their natural habitat, but I give them their space. They are wild animals. The same as a wolf, bear, deer, raccoon, hawk, snake,...or any host of wild animals you may encounter anywhere. Let me ask, Do you refrain from hiking a trail because you're afraid you may step on a snake? Or cross the path of a wolf? See what I'm getting at? Yes, there is a potential that an animal can hurt you, but it is highly unlikely unless you are extremely careless, or threatening to, or harassing the animals. Sure,... there are animals that attack out of opportunity, but that is extremely rare, but I can almost bet you will find a vast majority of animal attacks (terrestrial or marine) are simply the animal defending itself. The biggest thing is just to be aware of your surroundings, perfect your buoyancy, and move about as a visitor & an observer, not as if you own the place. Most marine animals are more afraid of you (as a big bumbling, noisy, bubbling thing trying to move through the water). Would you stick around for something like us, if you'd never seen anything like it before? When you dive, enjoy the beauty,... the nature around you. The predators & their prey are part of that natural beauty. Don't miss out on some wonderful sights & opportunities to learn about the natural world because of some "what if's".:cool2:

 

[Doubler]

Movies like Jaws and the Deep have added to irrational fears in new divers. My lovely bride was SCARED to death of sharks so I took her to Socorro Islands. First dive 90 feet at a Silvertip shark cleaning station this big 8 footer swims right up to her and stops about 3 feet away. She looked at it, eyes all wide, and the shark just turned away and swam back to the rocks and I hear WOW!. We get back on the boat and she said it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen underwater and when can we go again. Fear gone.
The things that always get you underwater are the things you never worry about like Fire Coral, Bristle Worms, Hydroids. Get your bouyancy right and these aren't a problem. Trust me you are not alone in your fear. Write back in a year, with a few dives under your belt out in the wonderful ocean, and I'll bet this fear is replaced by awe.

Dive safe and enjoy

Jim

 

[TSandM]

We don't look like anything they eat. One of the big sadnesses of diving is how utterly IRRELEVANT we are to most everything down there. Unless we threaten it, it pretty much ignores us. If you don't corner things or sit on them or stick your hand in holes, the most likely way you're going to get hurt by marine life is to get stung by fire coral on an upline, or run into a jellyfish tentacle.

If you are merely apprehensive about these things, you can almost certainly desensitize yourself to them. If you are truly terrified, to the point where you lose control of your actions in the presence of animals you fear, that's not a good thing for a diver.