Close encounters of the Green kind (and other recent photos)

[ggunn]

Not sure if that's bravery or stupidity

Apparently both he and the eel were used to it. He didn't feed it.

 

[formernuke]

Apparently both he and the eel were used to it. He didn't feed it.

He had to try for a first time to know. I make it a point to not touch the wildlife especially ones with big sharp teeth (insert monty python rabbit here)

 

[ggunn]

He had to try for a first time to know. I make it a point to not touch the wildlife especially ones with big sharp teeth (insert monty python rabbit here)

Five is right out!

 

[tarponchik]

Such behavior is fairly common among Green Morays around Roatan where DMs often feed them. I had to push one away with my strobe.

Thanks for the temperature updates.

 

[ColoDale]

Answers to various questions (I am using a phone, so not going to use the quote function )

2). inquisitive eel. This green moray chased me and friend back in June. She might have had a small camera but certainly wouldn’t have gotten too close. It got bored chasing her but chased me after her since I got the bright idea to try to take a picture of a free-swimming eel. ColoDale and horn34 both posted similar issues with the eel as part of Cozumel Diving Today thread around June 21st.

It is the same eel. I compared the photo here and the ones from June 2020. Same marks on face and is slender. It was chasing one diver in our group, in circles. I've seen this one on Cedral pass several times this year and it's a chaser but not angry. In June, we had no lionfish - nothing to smell. It may come out if someone gets close with a camera. I can't say that no one has been feeding it which could explain it as conditioned behavior or it's just a more aggressive green moray. Almost all others I've seen this year are more docile. I have had more experiences with aggressive (and frankly just PO'd) brown spotted eels over the years