barracuda attack august 5

[richard ruschman]

My friend and business partner, coral scientist Tom Goreau, was snorkeling Cardona Reef last Thursday with his teenage daughter. They saw a three foot long yellow barracuda and observed it for about 5 minutes. As Tom turned away, it came for him and ripped off the little finger and about one-third of the palm of his left hand. Tom says the attack was totally unprovoked. He had mamximun DAN coverage, and DAN covered the flight to Miami, hospital, surgery with no hassles. Tom will probably leave the hospital in about 10 days to return to his home in Boston. Contact info for get-well wishes can be found at his non-profit's website (Global Coral Reef Alliance).

 

[slee416]

....and sharks get all the bad rap. Sorry to hear about your friend. Hope he is recovering alright.

Any chance this would be less likely had he been diving and breathing bubbles? Not trying to start anything against snorkeling...just curious.

 

[ggunn]

My friend and business partner, coral scientist Tom Goreau, was snorkeling Cardona Reef last Thursday with his teenage daughter. They saw a three foot long yellow barracuda and observed it for about 5 minutes. As Tom turned away, it came for him and ripped off the little finger and about one-third of the palm of his left hand. Tom says the attack was totally unprovoked. He had mamximun DAN coverage, and DAN covered the flight to Miami, hospital, surgery with no hassles. Tom will probably leave the hospital in about 10 days to return to his home in Boston. Contact info for get-well wishes can be found at his non-profit's website (Global Coral Reef Alliance).

Was he wearing a watch or other shiny/reflective ornamentation on that hand? I have heard of them going for jewelry and cameras; it's hard to imagine that a three foot long barracuda would seriously consider a full grown human to be food.

I hope that Tom is better soon.

 

[mstudley]

Was he wearing a watch or other shiny/reflective ornamentation on that hand? I have heard of them going for jewelry and cameras

Is this really true? I have heard a lot of people claim that this is true but I haven't really seen facts about it.

 

[ggunn]

Is this really true? I have heard a lot of people claim that this is true but I haven't really seen facts about it.

I have read some supposedly firsthand accounts, one by a guy who raised his camera to get a shot of a barracuda, and the picture he got was of the inside of its mouth.

 

[Tim Ingersoll]

Those things always make me a little nervous when they shadow you for a dive. First time I ever heard of an unprovoked bute.

 

[parrotheaddiver]

We have a poster here on this board that was hit by a barracuda in the face. It was on a night dive he feels it was possibly the reflection off his mask cause by a dive light. He doesn't remember the attack but he said it tore his face up.

Here is a link to his story scroll down to Barracuda attack
http://scubaboard.com/t33429.html

 

[Sue-ba]

I was snorkeling at coz last summer just off the beach, trying to get my littlest daughter comfortable with the water. There were hundreds of little silver fish hanging around me and about 5 ft away, a 2 1/2 ft barracuda.

I was not concerned really, except that I had Chrome fingernail polish on my toes. I was digging my toes into the sand whenever possible because I swear, he was stalking me! I just knew he thought my silvery toes were some of those little fish that could not move as fast as the rest.

 

[Texas Diver]

After reading all this stuff about barracuda attacks I just told my wife I am getting rid of my yellow silicone mask and the stainless steel springs on my fins! I am buying all black stuff. Hey, so sometimes I may over react, but better safe than sorry.

Was the guy who got his finger and palm bit off wearing a ring? I read somewhere else on this thread that a guy was bitten on the arm in an unprovoked attack by a turtle? I never heard of turtles biting anyone?

So now I am on the lookout for sharks and barracudas and turtles too? Cripes, I will never complain again about being stung by those little spongy creatures that sometimes hang around the surface of the water or being bitten by mosquitos during a surface interval.

 

[Otter]

It will be interesting to hear (1) if its true, and (2) if true, was he wearing any jewelry. I was diving in Palua with a school of literally hundreds of Chevron Barracuda ALL around me and didn't have any problems.