Stalked by a Barracuda....

[Catherineskii]

This actually happened on two separate occasions whilst snorkeling (as opposed to diving), but I thought I'd post the question here anyway.... both times, the cuda spotted me, lurked nearby and then proceeded to stalk me all the way back to shore (I snorkeled out to a reef from shore, about 1/2 mile out). Both cudas were quite large, and it made me a little nervous to say the least. But do I realistically have anything to worry about in this situation? Has anyone else experienced this, and are there any incidence of barracudas actually attacking snorkelers/divers?

 

[sasscuba]

There are stories of them attacking but mostly they are just curious and will follow you. I have had one follow me for 2 hours snorkeling once and more often than not they will stay with you the entire dive. Never seen any aggression from a cuda.

 

[don Francisco]

In my experience Barracuda seem to be fairly curious & have often followed or paralleled me on on dives. In all but one instance they've, broken it off if I turned & approached them, so I don't generally consider them a serious threat (though I do close both hands when they're close).
In the one exception, a large barracuda was hovering diagonally between two coral heads in such a way as to block the passage. I made a few approaches, figuring he'd move, but he held his place while fixing me with a stare that seemed to say "go ahead, make my day". In the end, I wimped out and found an alternate route. dF

 

[SeaHound]

I used to dive with them in Pakistan where they were plenty! Never had any hostile encounter except once when filming I was encircled by hundreds if not thousands. They were going around me and my dive buddy in circle and the circle just kept getting tighter. My dive buddy fired his speargun on the thickest area of the circle but didnt hit anything. The shot dispersed them and we were able to swim away from them. I didnt think we were in danger at any time though.

I did hear about a boy in fisherman village there who was attacked on the calf / ankle and had a nasty bite mark. Never met him though.

 

[DM Gary]

I've heard not to wear shiny things in 'cuda waters. They have a tendency to nip at stuff like like that.

 

[vladimir]

Scroll down to post ten by Cudabait.

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/marine-life-ecosystems/33429-barracuda-attack.html

 

[Noboundaries]

Hmmmm, this thread got me thinking. We all know what's about to happen in the movie Jaws when that "da-Dun" music starts playing. Now, for a barracuda they'd have to play......oh, I don't know.........Good Vibrations from the Beach Boys?

 

[DiveBarbadosBlue]

Love the barracudas, especially this week. saw a school of 27++ yesterday followed us for the dive just in and out of our vis range. I've never seen an aggressive cuda, just curious and smart.
They are one of my many favorite fish. There is a pic on SB of a diver with a big barracuda up against the mask. Great shot

 

[Noboundaries]

Great, try to make a funny and while I'm writing there's a post about actual attacks. Okay, I'm a

 

[DiveBarbadosBlue]

Noboundaries...i like that your thinking