Did you know that Splendid Toadfish vocalize?

[JamesBon92007]

And what they are saying is "quit poking me with your snorkel, I don't want to come out of my hole just so you can prove what a great DM you are!"

 

[morecowbells]

And what they are saying is "quit poking me with your snorkel, I don't want to come out of my hole just so you can prove what a great DM you are!"

I have never seen a dive master-especially in Cozumel engage in this practice. It would be upsetting to say the least.

 

[ggunn]

This is so cool! I have been told that they make a croaking noise, but never heard it. Is this something done primarily at night?

I have only heard them at night.

 

[Streydog]

I have only heard them at night.

I have heard them during the day but not near as much as a night dive. Did a twilight dive last month on Francesa and they were croaking like crazy, it was during a heavy thunderstorm, don't know if that had anything to do with it.
On my first night dive the DM told us we might here them croaking at night, I thought he was pulling my leg.

 

[JamesBon92007]

I have never seen a dive master-especially in Cozumel engage in this practice. It would be upsetting to say the least.

I have videos of two different DMs on two different occasions on Cozumel coaxing the poor things out of their holes.

 

[Landau]

I have videos of two different DMs on two different occasions on Cozumel coaxing the poor things out of their holes.

Well the first time I saw one, the DM said "Supposedly they have a very colorful body, but I have only seen it in a book."

I've seen several since and never did the DM aggravate them or anything else. Not disagreeing that there are DMs that aggravate the wildlife, but I haven't encountered them yet, so hopefully they are few in number.

 

[JamesBon92007]

The way I see it is if a fish wants his picture taken he'll come out and pose for me, otherwise I just find someone else who does want their picture taken. I've had plenty of critters that have swam right up to me and feel blessed for those moments.

Considering that WE are not even allowed to go diving in the marine park without a qualified DM it seems that sometimes their restrictions might be a bit misguided. Personally I've met very few divers (possibly none) who would even consider harassing any marine life or, for that matter, patronize any establishment that keeps such animals as dolphins captive. I'm sure in both cases "don't touch anything" was included in the pre-dive briefing.

Meanwhile, I'll have to start paying more attention when I'm down there--I've heard honking sounds but always figured it was someone's computer. I'm gonna go watch my videos and listen carefully.

 

[northernone]

I'm here to lodge a complaint. With knowledge comes responsibly.

This night's dive, 6 separate honkers honked. One honky searched, zero toadfish found.

Can I go back to thinking it's a dive computer glitch now?

No buno.
Cameron

P.s. A couple squid joined on the deco stop, so that soothed my critter hunger.

 

[divingjd]

I’ve been hearing them for years! Someone must have told me about them on my first trip to Cozumel. They start in the afternoon and it gets more frequent as sunset approaches. Remember how well sound travels underwater. They can sound much closer than they really are. Some other toadfish species make a much louder sound. I heard one in Roatan whose croak was so loud and deep I could feel it in my chest. I found that one. I was right above it. Never got a confirmed ID, but I thought it was a Large Eye Toadfish. It was about twice the size of the average Splendid Toadfish.

 

[RyanT]

This night's dive, 6 separate honkers honked. One honky searched, zero toadfish found.

Indeed, that's the inherent problem with localizing sound underwater. The way the we localize sound is our brain pays attention to which ear receives the sound first. Underwater, sound travels about 4 times as fast as it does in air. That dramatically cuts down the time difference between the ears and makes localizing the source much more difficult.