Marine Life Bites

[diverjed]

Survey:

How many divers out there have actually been bitten or 'attacked' by an organism that habitates our underwater world??

Please describe the experience.

Me for one, a seal once took a swipe at my head off of California, he may have just been playing.....but I dunno...

 

[HammerNoMore]

I hit a sea urchin when a surge got me while waiting for the exit ladder on a night shore dive once. I think if you asked the urchin he'd say I was the attacker and not him...

 

[diverjed]

..caught in a massive school of jellyfish off Monterey where you couldn't avoid a sting. In my case, stings.

My face was beat red with that 'tingly' sensation for almost an hour afterwords.

 

[alaity47]

I went snorkeling with millions of thimble jellyfish in Cozumel last April. They didn't seem to sting, so I didn't worry about it. I was wearing a really fitted racing swimsuit, so I figured they wouldn't be able to get in.

Forgot about the little open gap between my boobs... made a perfect jellyfish-scooper, and then they had no way to get out! When I got in the shower later, I found dozens of little squashed jellyfish inside my suit.

By the next day I had mildly itchy red blotches all over my stomach and sides. Looked pretty funny in a bikini.

Not really a BITE story, but the only pain I've suffered at the hands of marine creatures so far.

 

[drbill]

I dive therefore I am bitten, or sting, or worse.

Of course... I've had male garibaldi attack and bite me many times in defense of their nest as I videotaped it; I've had cleaner senoritas try to bite off the little worm-like "parasites" on my arms and legs (sometimes referred to as hair); sheephead bite the exposed fingers on my well-worn gloves; an enraged two foot horn shark bite me four times on the chest when I tried to reposition it (of course it couldn't even penetrate my 3mm); fried egg jellyfish sting me on the face (very mild); white feather and ostriuch plume hydroids sting me on almost every dive when I wear my 3mm shortie; sheep crabs (mostly male) pinch my hands as I repositioned them to get better footage; etc.

And I've had more than one female buddy give me a little "love bite" at depth (or better, or is it "worse?").

Dr. Bill

 

[BacardiSpice]

Got done in by some jellyfish or something stinging while wearing a shortie in the coral sea. Was vastly amused when they tried to convince me it must be mozzie bites I'd got before joining the liveaboard - what, mozzies that leave distinct tentacle marks half way down my leg? Calling C'thulu...

Am a bit sensitive to anything like that - I'm one of the few that got a 'tingle' off the supposedly stingless jellyfish in Palau's marine lakes. Not enough to hurt, but I felt it on the upper lip.

Love the story about your 'parasitic wormhair' and the kindly administrators of the cleaner senoritas, Dr Bill! And I was wondering what you'd done to get a hornshark ornery, as I figured they were as docile as our Port Jacksons...of course it made sense once you explained!

 

[tankajava]

I was maliciously savaged by a flower urchin, Toxopneustes elegans, while diving off Okinawa. The beautiful colors and soft furry appearance of this urchin tempted me to take off my dive glove (what was I thinking....Not!) and extend my hand in a cross-species gesture of friendship. Fortunately, I remembered my flight-line training whereby touching a hot instrument probe with the palm would cause the hand to involuntarily close and sear flesh to a fare-thee-well, and I brushed the urchin slightly with the back of my hand. The pain was immediate and intense! It radiated up my arm and I felt like someone had my chest in a vise. My buddy and I terminated the dive post haste and by the time we returned to shore, I was also experiencing shortness of breath and nausea. We used meat tenderizer to try to neutralize any remaining stingers (found out these were called pedicellaria) and hot water from a nearby restaurant to take some of the pain. (Most marine venoms have a heat labile component that breaks down quickly when immersed in about 120 F water). There are no urchin anti-venoms and hospital treatment is mostly supportive. After a local painkiller, something to settle the stomach, and a 4-hour rest in the ER, I was good to go and had no lasting symptoms the next day.

There are a lot of fascinating critters out there and a number of them rely on chemical warfare for their defense. My hat is off to all of them but now my gloves stay on, thank you.

tj

 

[diverjed]

Crabs and lobsters have made attempts at my hands...

 

[PhotoTJ]

I have to wear gloves when cleaning scallops, otherwise I get a 'sting-like' reaction to something on the shells. Like small hives that last for about a week, on the ends of my fingers. Not debilatating, but itchy!

Seems fair, after all, I am eating them!

 

[Fly N Dive]

i was bitten by a chub in coz. minding my own buisness when i feel a slight sting on my hand. looking up i saw a chub swiming away and a red O on the top of my palm. went away in a few days.