Goliath Grouper Dust Ups and the Odd Swallowed Diver?
- Thread starter RickI
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OP
RickI
Contributor
We do seem to have a rare talent for severe resource depletion. It will be interesting to see how we do with lionfish despite the daunting odds.
There is a good chance that most on here have seen this clip with all the views to date. It may present a conundrum to shark and goliath grouper preservation interests. The only thing that may be left is to attack each other? Well, not really, this looks like a "somewhat natural" predation and as such both creatures should receive a pass on this one. Some have said goliaths are becoming common along the Gulf coast.
"Goliath grouper swallows shark in one bite off Bonita Springs, Florida
Published: August 22, 2014 2:57 PM
By HANNAH BAE hannah.bae@newsday.com
"Maybe your mother told you never to eat anything bigger than your head, but apparently this goliath grouper never got the memo. A YouTube video uploaded by user Gimbb14 shows the massive fish swallowing a 4-foot shark whole off Florida's Gulf Coast.
In a reddit post, Gimbb14 describes the events that led to the video:
Ran out to the reef at around 8am yesterday and wasn't having much luck. Put out a chum block, set down some blue runners on the reef and waited. Had a 15lb goliath grouper take and brought him up, as I brought him to the boat, the monster goliath shown in the video came and tried to steal him. About 30 minutes later I had about a 5foot nurse shark take and brought him up. As I was dehooking the shark, the goliath came back and inspected but didn't attack him. Finally, about an hour after the nurse shark, I hooked the black tip [shark] behind the boat in the chum slick, and then the hilarity in the video began.
The goliath grouper is no joke. They can grow to be over 8 feet long and the largest ever caught in Florida weighed 680 pounds -- about the weight of the world's largest cat, the Siberian tiger.
Goliath groupers are critically endangered, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History, with the population slashed by 80 percent over the last 10 years."
Massive Fish Devours 4-Foot Shark In One Terrifying Bite
[video=youtube;J5Tfb_ichVs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5Tfb_ichVs[/video]
...
Just came across a clip from a few days ago that deals with the original subject of this thread.
[video=youtube;AWP8tpzKpKI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWP8tpzKpKI#t=33[/video]
with some background:
"A Florida diver was trying to remove a just speared amberjack from his spear when a goliath grouper decided to come up and help himself to a free meal.
The process according to GrindTV Outdoor's interview was a bit unsettling for the Winter Park man who was diving with his wife for their anniversary.
The grouper managed to take off one of the diver's fins and ran off with the spear that was located about a half mile away."
http://www.nbc-2.com/story/26143392/goliath-grouper-attacks-diver-for-speared-fish#.U_q14Fbfhg0
Does anyone know more about the background on this one? Was the guy shooting on a popular reef or wreck?
...
Finally, on another topic, I saw several moderate sized coral colonies this afternoon (mainly brain coral) on an inner patch reef off Islamorada with recent bleaching. They were among other large coral colonies which appear to have been dead for sometime. I think it has been a few years since we've had much bleaching in the Keys but it looks like it is an issue again with the warm summer weather. I will post some imagery when I have a chance to download some cameras.
http://isurus.mote.org/Keys/bleaching/CC_20140814.pdf
.
There is a good chance that most on here have seen this clip with all the views to date. It may present a conundrum to shark and goliath grouper preservation interests. The only thing that may be left is to attack each other? Well, not really, this looks like a "somewhat natural" predation and as such both creatures should receive a pass on this one. Some have said goliaths are becoming common along the Gulf coast.
"Goliath grouper swallows shark in one bite off Bonita Springs, Florida
Published: August 22, 2014 2:57 PM
By HANNAH BAE hannah.bae@newsday.com
"Maybe your mother told you never to eat anything bigger than your head, but apparently this goliath grouper never got the memo. A YouTube video uploaded by user Gimbb14 shows the massive fish swallowing a 4-foot shark whole off Florida's Gulf Coast.
In a reddit post, Gimbb14 describes the events that led to the video:
Ran out to the reef at around 8am yesterday and wasn't having much luck. Put out a chum block, set down some blue runners on the reef and waited. Had a 15lb goliath grouper take and brought him up, as I brought him to the boat, the monster goliath shown in the video came and tried to steal him. About 30 minutes later I had about a 5foot nurse shark take and brought him up. As I was dehooking the shark, the goliath came back and inspected but didn't attack him. Finally, about an hour after the nurse shark, I hooked the black tip [shark] behind the boat in the chum slick, and then the hilarity in the video began.
The goliath grouper is no joke. They can grow to be over 8 feet long and the largest ever caught in Florida weighed 680 pounds -- about the weight of the world's largest cat, the Siberian tiger.
Goliath groupers are critically endangered, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History, with the population slashed by 80 percent over the last 10 years."
Massive Fish Devours 4-Foot Shark In One Terrifying Bite
[video=youtube;J5Tfb_ichVs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5Tfb_ichVs[/video]
...
Just came across a clip from a few days ago that deals with the original subject of this thread.
[video=youtube;AWP8tpzKpKI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWP8tpzKpKI#t=33[/video]
with some background:
"A Florida diver was trying to remove a just speared amberjack from his spear when a goliath grouper decided to come up and help himself to a free meal.
The process according to GrindTV Outdoor's interview was a bit unsettling for the Winter Park man who was diving with his wife for their anniversary.
The grouper managed to take off one of the diver's fins and ran off with the spear that was located about a half mile away."
http://www.nbc-2.com/story/26143392/goliath-grouper-attacks-diver-for-speared-fish#.U_q14Fbfhg0
Does anyone know more about the background on this one? Was the guy shooting on a popular reef or wreck?
...
Finally, on another topic, I saw several moderate sized coral colonies this afternoon (mainly brain coral) on an inner patch reef off Islamorada with recent bleaching. They were among other large coral colonies which appear to have been dead for sometime. I think it has been a few years since we've had much bleaching in the Keys but it looks like it is an issue again with the warm summer weather. I will post some imagery when I have a chance to download some cameras.
http://isurus.mote.org/Keys/bleaching/CC_20140814.pdf
.
Last edited:
diverlee
Contributor
I'm confused. You were catching and killing Goliath groupers and sharks ?? What's wrong with you. ???
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diverlee
Contributor
I read the thread again and realized I made a big mistake in my above post. I misread and misunderstood. Re post #33
I tried to delete it but was unable to.
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---------- Post added September 2nd, 2014 at 07:13 AM ----------
I was unable to delete so I made a statement I was wrong.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I tried to delete it but was unable to.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
---------- Post added September 2nd, 2014 at 07:13 AM ----------
I was unable to delete so I made a statement I was wrong.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
OP
RickI
Contributor
No worries, it is a long thread. I find it easy to miss quite a lot on my cell phone in longer documents.
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