barracuda attack august 5

[sharky60]

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.

I'm always a little nervous around them with my camera (and very few things make me nervous underwater).

I've heard similar accounts and usually make sure to move extra slow around them, both raising and lowering my camera when shooting them.

---------- Post added December 27th, 2013 at 10:30 AM ----------

Dive watches that are made of stainless steel are still used by the watch industry. Should I be concerned about wearing these types of watches when diving? From what I have been reading, that might be a bad idea. If anyone is an expert on fish behavior, please feel free to chime in.

I always wear my watch inside the cuff of my wetsuit.

I started doing this when I was in the Navy & did some work underwater around some rebar and scratched the crystal on my watch.

When I started hanging out around barracuda on a regular basis, I figured it was a good policy to continue.

 

[Sideways]

Yeah, I'm with you Sharky. I'm cautious with them, and after reading this thread I'll even be more cautious. My watch is under my wetsuit, I guess the item that concerns me most is my new mask, it has silver trim and clear silicone.

 

[cvchief]

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Cause it can easily become this

Jeez. That makes me want to get one of those bicycle helmets with the little mirrors. That sob was coming in on their six. Who knew barracuda play the knockout game?

 

[Skittl1321]

Jeez. That makes me want to get one of those bicycle helmets with the little mirrors.

Seems like a mirror would do more harm than good in this case.

Barracuda: "Ooh shiny!"
Diver: "Well, at least I can see the inevitable attack"

 

[DandyDon]

Once in Belize, I thought it'd be fun to take a ziplock of dry catfood down and feed the fishes. I opened it on the reef and instantly surrounded by triggers & cudas, and the angles & butterflies vanished. One cuda followed me the rest of the dive. Others thought it funny, but I was wondering what part of myself to cover?

For me I feel safer scuba diving because it seems there are more places I can go- I can move in all directions. Snorkeling (since I'm not really a 'free diver') I can move side to side, and that doesn't give me much room to get out of the way. I also feel like the air on scuba gives me more time to think out a problem then the breath holding of snorkeling if I'm stuck under water. I really do not like snorkeling.

I have not seen a barracuda, and am glad of it.

:laughing: The little ones will move, but the huge ones on the deep Florida Keys wrecks just snarl. With 100 ft narcosis, it's spooky. They look like 100 pounders at that depth.

Jeez. That makes me want to get one of those bicycle helmets with the little mirrors. That sob was coming in on their six. Who knew barracuda play the knockout game?

That last place you want anything shiny is on your face. Used to be a diver who posted her named Cudabait who was wearing a mask with transparent sides in Utila on a night dive, and he thinks the cuda saw a reflection. He lost a large chunk out of his face, came out with eyeball dangling, was treated in the first aid shack on the remote island, survived to make it back to Houston, and had years of surgery rebuilding his face.

 

[Karibelle]

I find it somewhat amusing that we're worrying about barracudas to the point of putting our shiny bits inside our wetsuit, but are okay with the feeding of nurse sharks here on the island.

 

[Skittl1321]

I find it somewhat amusing that we're worrying about barracudas to the point of putting our shiny bits inside our wetsuit, but are okay with the feeding of nurse sharks here on the island.

I wouldn't do that either, but it seems safer than feeding the bull sharks across the channel...

 

[Sideways]

I find it somewhat amusing that we're worrying about barracudas to the point of putting our shiny bits inside our wetsuit, but are okay with the feeding of nurse sharks here on the island.

True... but folks did get seriously injured during these Cudda incidents, it opens my eyes to how I will photograph them and approach them.

 

[DandyDon]

I find it somewhat amusing that we're worrying about barracudas to the point of putting our shiny bits inside our wetsuit, but are okay with the feeding of nurse sharks here on the island.

One of the reasons I have always opposed feeding dead lionfish to predators is that the latter come to associate divers with handouts.

 

[Mike]

I find it somewhat amusing that we're worrying about barracudas to the point of putting our shiny bits inside our wetsuit, but are okay with the feeding of nurse sharks here on the island.

feeding I think is okay (not really), it's the smooching or a horny nurse shark that you gotta look out for

fast forward to about 1:15 for the sexy parts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9Fc-TvUdwk