I was attacked by a triggerfish- it is one of these reminders to us, human divers, of how vulnerable we are underwater. I was diving with a pair of blue-colored fins, and when I passed by nearby nest, a trigger fish got berserk on my fins. Honestly, I didn't see the nest and suddenly I felt a violent tug on my fins so I turn to see WTF it is and saw a little frenzied triggerfish. I tried to back away as fast as I could from the area, but apparently the trigger fish didn't think I was fast enough, so he just kept biting and gashing my fins. This barely 30cm fish was amazingly fast and he was coming at me from different sides so fast that it felt as of I was being attacked not by one little fish but by 10
He kept chasing me without letting-go for a few dozens of meters --> quite a long way underwater!
I wouldn't say these fish are harmless- he left very nasty teeth marks on the fins, one of them completely penetrated the fin (I have a nice hole with his teeth shape
). Sure, they just keep an eye on their eggs nest, but a diver can accidentally pass by and get attacked. I think the triggerfish interprets our very "slow retreat" (compared to any fish) as a threat...
Anyway, for me it was a reminder of how slow, weak and vulnerable we are underwater: Our senses are almost useless. We can barely see to a few meters distance with a very very limited field of view, cannot smell, hear or sense (taste is not so important while diving, ain't it?). Besides that we are very slow, don't have any teeth, spines, thick hide, camouflage or anything that can protect us from creatures as small as a tiny jelly-fish sting upto a shark. From this apect, we are a pathetic being in the water, so it is better to know and respect the fish beaviour and avoid any type of trouble...