Eel attack at Stingray City, Grand Cayman
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great training video of what not to do , and why we dont provide "finger/thumb" food.
H2Andy
Contributor
oh man...
There used to be a site in Islamorada that featured a lot of eels coming out whenever they heard a boat anchor. It was early on in our diving, and it was quite unnerving for the wife and I. Does anyone remember the name of it? I'm thinking it was Crocker's Wall, but I'm not sure. And I'm pretty sure there was a Buddha statue there.
When I get motivated, I'll dig out my log book. It was in the early 90s.
When I get motivated, I'll dig out my log book. It was in the early 90s.
My son and I where at Stingray city on March 14. The ell came out our Dive master did not feed it. He let it swim around and check things out then the ell just swam away. The ell looks like many Snakes before they shed there skin with cloudy eyes. I often when handling my snakes take extra caution when they are in shed.
H2Andy
Contributor
eels have very poor vision, and go mostly by "smell"
if they nab the wrong "smelly" thing you can't quite blame them
if they nab the wrong "smelly" thing you can't quite blame them
reeldive
Contributor
Roger That H2. If you feed the wild things they are still wild-- just a little less self suffiecent and able to cope
on thier own in thier invironment-- and less timid when it comes to people..
on thier own in thier invironment-- and less timid when it comes to people..
H2Andy:
dry heat diver
Contributor
It's not rocket science. Don't touch. Don't feed. Keep your arms and legs inside the ride at all times.
diverdowndh
Contributor
You must be talking about "Bruce" the eel. From what I heard, there always seems to be a green moray there in Stingray city (several generations) and they always call it Bruce.
I was there the first 10 days in December immediately after the 9/11 attacks. No one was flying, there were marines with M16's and grenade launchers at the Miami airport.... well, the fish, rays, and even eels are used to thousands of people feeding them daily. To give you an idea of how deserted Grand Cayman was, you could look up and down 7 mile beach and there was NEVER more than about 50 people on the entire stretch of beach. I am convinced that my girlfriend and I were the only ones in our hotel for at least the first 3 days of our visit (any time we walked thru the lobby we were inundated by the staff asking us if we needed anything and never saw any other guests).
Anyway, we went to dive Stingray City. We got the usual prep, how to feed, and "if we're lucky, we'll see Bruce in a small coral outcropping". Well, the stingrays were so agressive one couple returned to the boat. They were all over us, on my back, my neck, everywhere! I had a yellow jack hit my hand, thinking he would steal a piece of squid, but he missed and my little finger on my right hand ended up completely in his mouth and he ripped flesh off as he backed away. He hit me so hard I was moving backwards in the water! The bad part was I was bleeding in the water looking at my hand, and the dang fish hovered right by me for most of the dive - if i would have had a spear gun I would have gladly taken and eaten him!
Anyway, we never had to look for the moray, he came out, very aggressively, to us. He circled around looking for something to eat and it really made everyone fairly nervous or scared. If a fish will attack you, what will a moray do if he hits you? He hung around for a while, our DM took some squid away from our group and lured the moray away from all of us. No casualties, other than my finger, that has scars to this day, but definitely a story to tell! I've been fairly against feeding now, if you can't imagine why. It really changes the behavior of the animals, imho to the very negative!
I was there the first 10 days in December immediately after the 9/11 attacks. No one was flying, there were marines with M16's and grenade launchers at the Miami airport.... well, the fish, rays, and even eels are used to thousands of people feeding them daily. To give you an idea of how deserted Grand Cayman was, you could look up and down 7 mile beach and there was NEVER more than about 50 people on the entire stretch of beach. I am convinced that my girlfriend and I were the only ones in our hotel for at least the first 3 days of our visit (any time we walked thru the lobby we were inundated by the staff asking us if we needed anything and never saw any other guests).
Anyway, we went to dive Stingray City. We got the usual prep, how to feed, and "if we're lucky, we'll see Bruce in a small coral outcropping". Well, the stingrays were so agressive one couple returned to the boat. They were all over us, on my back, my neck, everywhere! I had a yellow jack hit my hand, thinking he would steal a piece of squid, but he missed and my little finger on my right hand ended up completely in his mouth and he ripped flesh off as he backed away. He hit me so hard I was moving backwards in the water! The bad part was I was bleeding in the water looking at my hand, and the dang fish hovered right by me for most of the dive - if i would have had a spear gun I would have gladly taken and eaten him!
Anyway, we never had to look for the moray, he came out, very aggressively, to us. He circled around looking for something to eat and it really made everyone fairly nervous or scared. If a fish will attack you, what will a moray do if he hits you? He hung around for a while, our DM took some squid away from our group and lured the moray away from all of us. No casualties, other than my finger, that has scars to this day, but definitely a story to tell! I've been fairly against feeding now, if you can't imagine why. It really changes the behavior of the animals, imho to the very negative!
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