When Trigger Fish Attack!!!!!

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Rogersea

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Scuba Instructor
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Location
Tongo Poiint Basdiot Moalboal Philippines
# of dives
Ok, so I just got my internet hooked up and I am trying to figure out how to upload videos to this site, think I got it figured out...

Anyway if you have the time take a look at the below link it validates the warnings the divemasters sometimes give to Divers "watch out for the Trigger Fish"..

This Titan Trigger is getting a little too agressive with me :wink:

The clip was taken off Moal Boal, it is short but might take a moment to download..

Just added another clip to the board, short shot of turtle in Moalboal.

http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/141359/ppuser/96893

Cheers,

Roger

ScubaBoard Gallery - Killer Trigger Fish
 
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i keep on telling non-divers that filipino divers don't fear sharks (in fact look forward to seeing them)

the scariest fish in the ocean is a titan trigger... :rofl3:

chip has a 1st hand experience with that... has the teeth marks on his ass to prove it too... we think they were left there by zee but the titan trigger is chip's story and he's sticking to it :mooner:

Jag
 
Ive been harrassed by triggerfish in the red sea and I was just glad it was not a titan cause if it where it woulda had a chunk out of my arm. It was just a small blue and I didnt notice it till it actually bit me in my left arm. Fortunately for me it didnt get a good grip.

Guess thats what happens when youre too busy trying to get a picture of the other fish :p
 
The Diver I was with also got hit by another Trigger Fish on the same day, he had some pretty good abrasions on his arm from blocking the fishes attack on his mask...

Lucky for me it only hit my video housings port......:nailbiter:
 
Yes, during breeding season (May-June in the Philippines, YMMV) they can be pretty aggressive

They have a conical 'territory' so moving down and away from them usually works, and presenting your fins gives them something to bite that won't leave scars
 
They have a conical 'territory' so moving down and away from them usually works, and presenting your fins gives them something to bite that won't leave scars

I've heard that old diver's tale too but I wish someone would teach it to the trigger fish with the same gusto as they teach it to new divers. I've studied them for a while and never observed a less aggressive zone. They chase people and hunfgy fish horizontally along the reef bottom for up to 50 meters from a nest. They also chase the directly overhead and up on an angle. Please someone teach the cone to the trigger fish because they don't know about it.
 
This summer my teenage niece got a nice bite on her fin when she got too close to a nest. After she saw what it could do she learned quickly.

What I hate is when get in range and can not see their nest. A few time thinking I was backing away I was really moving closer.
 
triggers are territorial when guarding their nests.
their territory is a funnel shape extending upwards to more than 50 ft above their nest.
the best recourse is to swim downward, and away from the nest if you know where it is.
if you can find the nest just swim downward in the hopes of getting beyond the funnel.

my 2psi :)
 
Not only do triggerfish not know of this conical attack-here-only zone, but it does not even make sense. Wouldn't a predator 2 meters away horizontally on the bottom be more of a threat to the nest than one 15 meters directly above it?

Let's stop propagating this old myth.
 
Took a bite from my fin last july :D was so glad it was my fin and not part of my body. Saw it 8 meters away but in a split second came attacking me. It was truly a scary experience.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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