Conger eel attack - Ireland

[DandyDon]

The pictures at the link are rather graphic: Conger eel attack: Shocking picture of diver's injuries after two-metre creature bites chunk out of his face - Mirror Online

A diver has told of his horror ordeal after a two metre Conger Eel took a chunk out of his face.
Jimmy Griffin, 48, was scuba diving off the coast of Connemara, Co Galway, last week when the creature attacked him 25 metres under water.
He explained how the conger eel emerged from the depths and tried to drag him down to the ocean bed.
Baker Jimmy said it felt like a punch to his face as the eel pounced, knocking his breath regulator from his mouth.
He explained: “I’ve been diving for 20 years. I hadn’t been in the water for two years and popped in to say hi to my buddies.
“So I went down and had a great time. It was coming close to the end and we were turning round to go surface. We were looking at large lobsters and I was floating in the water. Suddenly I got hit and it was to the face.
“But what made it different was because it gripped onto my face and started biting, pulling and twisting.”

The experienced diver was then caught in a wrestle with the beast as he desperately tried to break free.
He told Today with Pat Kenny on Radio One: “I try to be calm all the time, it’s fight or flight, your reaction is trying to get rid of the thing so I put my hands up to wrestle this thing and my mouthpiece came out.
“I felt this sharp horrible pain and saw this eel swim off. I knew I had been bitten but didn’t know how badly, it was very numb.”
At that depth Jimmy was also at risk of being overcome by decompression illness, known as the bends, if he emerged too quickly from the water.
The father of one praised his diving buddies, adding: “I owe my life to a lot of people, the skipper of the boat and the lads in Scuba Dive West, they watched over me until the ambulance came.”
His wound required 20 stitches that will require painful plastic surgery over the coming months.
Jimmy added: “The plastic surgeons are confident they’ll be able to fix the injury without much hassle.”

​

 

[Dr. Lecter]

Ouch. Impressive closure/filling work by the surgeon though.

 

[AfterDark]

I get the wilys everytime I picture the 20' look Conger eel I saw under a rock ledge one night with a 4ft eel hanging out of its mouth. I couldn't swim away fast enough! They share their homes with rock lobsters which is why I never stick my hand in a lobster's den. My father and I fished for those things. Once they bite they don't let go.

 

[clownfishsydney]

"Shudder".

 

[dbulmer]

I get the wilys everytime I picture the 20' look Conger eel I saw under a rock ledge one night with a 4ft eel hanging out of its mouth. I couldn't swim away fast enough! They share their homes with rock lobsters which is why I never stick my hand in a lobster's den. My father and I fished for those things. Once they bite they don't let go.

Underwater the conger is shy and retiring so I'm a bit surprised by the story (and one person on this board can imagine my smiling at this point )

Many moons ago, my dad used to go on fishing trips for conger.
He caught a 14lb conger off a boat.

It fought on the boat.
It fought on land.
It never stopped fighting until ... I'll spare the gory details but I'm with you (AfterDark) on this - don't mess with a conger

 

[AfterDark]

Underwater the conger is shy and retiring so I'm a bit surprised by the story (and one person on this board can imagine my smiling at this point )

Many moons ago, my dad used to go on fishing trips for conger.
He caught a 14lb conger off a boat.

It fought on the boat.
It fought on land.
It never stopped fighting until ... I'll spare the gory details but I'm with you (AfterDark) on this - don't mess with a conger

They seem docile enough when they are sitting in their holes but they are the oceanic version of the Honey Badger they don't stop until dead.
My Dad had a pair of tongs with metal pads with 1" spikes welded on to the pads that he used to hold the eels, open their mouths to get the hook out and kill them. You want them dead after you catch them!

 

[Ayisha]

Good to know. The only things that have scared me so far are a crazy king crab and some bull sharks, and a particular barracuda that suddenly flashed it's teeth in salt water; and a sturgeon here in the river. If I ever see a lamprey eel here, I will not like it, I'm sure.

 

[DandyDon]

Good to know. The only things that have scared me so far is a crazy king crab and some bull sharks, and a particular barracuda that suddenly flashed it's teeth in salt water; and a sturgeon here in the river. If I ever see a lamprey eel here, I will not like it, I'm sure.

River Monsters: When Lampreys Attack, A Swimmer's Nightmare : Video : Animal Planet

Funny that NH has a Lamprey River. Police catch alligator spotted coming out of Lamprey River | SeacoastOnline.com

 

[Landlocked123]

Son of a B….. Do these critters inhavit the NC Wreck diving areas or warmer waters of the Carribean?? If so I am brining my Glock 45 on the next dive. Absolutley insane. Sharks are one thing. But Holy lord...

 

[peterbj7]

Somebody here was snorkeling a few months back when a moray appeared from nowhere and latched onto his hand. He eventually managed to get it off but needed many stitches and permanently lost sensation in two fingers when the nerves were cut. Most people don't believe it could ever happen that a free swimming eel in open water would do that, but it happened.