barracuda attack august 5

[Hank49]

This one charged me three times, clipping my knee on the third pass. Not a big one but aggressive. He came up at me once and jumped out of the water about two feet.
I probably should have had a few stitches put in but I made some butterfly bandages and it healed up nicely. Razor teeth. You couldn't have sliced my wetsuit and skin any cleaner with a scalpel.

Oh, did I mention that I had speared it before it charged? The shaft passed all the way through so he could maneuver pretty well with just the shooting line. Then, after he hit me I pulled him up on the boat and he slipped off the shaft. My son dove down to get it and it was dead on the bottom.
I've shot a few since then but I am more wary now. I'd shot probably 100 before this one. And some much bigger.

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[Cudabait]

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?

: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.


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.

:shocked2:

My Friend Dandy Don, of many years, is an excellent weaver of embellished prose. Understandably, after time things facts seem to change.

Brief personal update: I have continued to dive and teach scuba since the attack on February 22, 2003 (10 years). I continue to be in touch with others who have experienced unprovoked barracuda attacks with varying degrees of severity. I still have both my eyes, as evidenced by my beautiful profile picture.

My diving buddy, of choice, is my wife, a Master Scuba Diver. (LaCuda) on this board. She dives more than she posts. We are going to Roatan West End for two weeks in March. We shoot a lot of video and still underwater photos. Most of the long-time divers on Utila still know me by my nickname "CUDA".

At one point in time I tried to get Scubaboard to move the post about my barracuda attack from "marine life" to "barracuda attack". However, they did not do it.

Suggest, if interested, you read the original thread here: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/marine-life-ecosystems/33429-barracuda-attack.html

If a 'cuda decides to attack, just relax and hope for the best.

 

[Sideways]

:shocked2:

My Friend Dandy Don, of many years, is an excellent weaver of embellished prose. Understandably, after time things facts seem to change.

Brief personal update: I have continued to dive and teach scuba since the attack on February 22, 2003 (10 years). I continue to be in touch with others who have experienced unprovoked barracuda attacks with varying degrees of severity. I still have both my eyes, as evidenced by my beautiful profile picture.

My diving buddy, of choice, is my wife, a Master Scuba Diver. (LaCuda) on this board. She dives more than she posts. We are going to Roatan West End for two weeks in March. We shoot a lot of video and still underwater photos. Most of the long-time divers on Utila still know me by my nickname "CUDA".

At one point in time I tried to get Scubaboard to move the post about my barracuda attack from "marine life" to "barracuda attack". However, they did not do it.

Suggest, if interested, you read the original thread here: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/marine-life-ecosystems/33429-barracuda-attack.html

If a 'cuda decides to attack, just relax and hope for the best.

WOW....read your report, scary stuff!! Can only imagine the force of impact that caused the Cuda's jaw to break. OUCH!!!!!!

 

[DandyDon]

Good to see ya' again, Cudabait. Sorry if I got the story wrong... :blush:

 

[Brules]

Cool stories though..!

 

[jfcl01]

On a recent trip to Coz, I was out diving-don't recall which reef-just swimming slowly, casually looking all around me, when I hear one of the other divers tap on his tank to get my attention. I look to my left, and out of now where (seemingly) there was a five footer just a few feet away from me, at about the level of my jaw. I have never had one actually approach me. I rolled over, away from the fish, and swam away. During the surface interval, I realized that I had clipped my shiny new silver swivel clip to the BCD ring on my left shoulder, and that's what he was sighting on. Kind of unnerving to think that the fish must have been watching it and slowly moving in, probably just moments away from a burst of speed when my friend saw him.

 

[PaulVS]

So my summation is thus:

The Three Things Most Likely To Injure You Scuba Diving In Cozumel:

1. Stupidity
2. Stupidity.
3. Barracudas

 

[Okie Mike]

I snorkeled through a school of several hundred barracuda west of Grand Bahama carrying a bag of recently severed lobster tails back to the live aboard. The school parted when I approached, closed in behind me and then opened in front with all fish staying about 10 feet away. Perhaps I should read more stories, but I have not really been fearful of them since my experience.

 

[Mike]

I snorkeled through a school of several hundred barracuda west of Grand Bahama carrying a bag of recently severed lobster tails back to the live aboard. The school parted when I approached, closed in behind me and then opened in front with all fish staying about 10 feet away. Perhaps I should read more stories, but I have not really been fearful of them since my experience.

I think this is more an issue of single cudas are the ones making trouble.

 

[ggunn]

This one charged me three times, clipping my knee on the third pass. Not a big one but aggressive. He came up at me once and jumped out of the water about two feet.
I probably should have had a few stitches put in but I made some butterfly bandages and it healed up nicely. Razor teeth. You couldn't have sliced my wetsuit and skin any cleaner with a scalpel.

Oh, did I mention that I had speared it before it charged?

I wouldn't exactly call the attack unprovoked, then.

My brother-in-law got nicked by a barracuda tooth when he caught one deep sea fishing and got a nasty infection from it. Hope you are OK.