Marine Life Bites

[scubajoe]

I was savagely attacked by some viscious fire coral when I bumped it with my bare knee. It was at the Thunderdome in T&C.
I was minding my own business taking photos of a fingerprint cyphoma and the coral just attacked. I couldn't have mashed it with my knee!

Joe

 

[PapaBob]

Jed:

A few experiences come to mind.

I was attacked by a triggerfish while photographing a friend. It seems the trigger confused my pinkie finger for a meal. It hurt but the fish was small and the finger stayed attached.

A few years previous, I was photographing my wife feeding yellowtail. The fish were swarming and my wife was freaking so I took the bag of food from her with a bare hand. Yellowtail have sharp teeth, but they are small so I ended up with numerous small scratches.

A few years prior to that I had a remora try to attach to my bare leg. What a jolt! No harm done but I now dive in skins even in warm weather.

Then there was this sexual assault by a sea turtle.....


---Bob

 

[JustAddWater]

I've had my share of nips from sheephead, garibaldi, and bugs. But the best happened to my buddy on a surface swim; he was pecked in the forehead by an enraged pelican. It kept coming after him; resulting in drawn blood. To think I was only worried about sharks during a surface swim.

 

[drbill]

Now that's a new one on me, JustAddWater. Pretty funny too. I'll keep an eye out for those killer pelicans when I'm at the surface.

Dr. Bill

 

[Cudabait]

Hey folks,

This is pretty interesting stuff. I've experienced a lot of what's been mentioned here. However....I have a deep interest in Barracuda attacks and barracuda incidents. Glad to hear about any you may know of.

During August there were two barracuda "hits" on night divers off the Texas coast. Little is known about this fish. Since 1873 there have been 20 substantiated attacks by barracuda on humans. I am the lucky number 20!! I guess the two Texas night divers will be 21 and 22. See my posts under "Barracuda Attacks" posted earlirer in this thread.

 

[nlbford]

diverjed once bubbled...
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...

From my experince it was most likely play. Being a SoCal diver I often dive with Sea Lions and they do many things like that are unagressive in nature, so unless you really feel that it was an outright agressive move it was probably all for kicks.

HOWEVER, the only encounter I have had where I was "attacked" in overtly aggressive way - at least beyond a pesky brave damsel protecting it's nest - by anything under the sea was by a very very large bull sea lion in the Sea of Cortez (they get much larger down there than the ones I see in the Channel ISlands at home - he was much longer than me and I am 6'3"). We were at Los Islotes off of La Paz which is a big sea lion rookery. It was near the end of the "harem" season where bulls get very protective of their females. I was shooting photos and moved in much too close to where some of the females were lounging. I wasn't aware the bull was around until I saw him circling around me while barking loudly and appearing kind of agitated. His circle grew tighter and he started to try and heard me to a channel between boulders. He finally stopped circling and stopped midwater about 15 feet directly in front of me. I wanted to keep my eyes on him so I tried to back towards where I thought the gap was. I think he got tired of "asking" me to leave and he kind of "reaered" up and bared his teeth. In an instant he surged forward towards me and lowered his head in torpedo like fashion. It happened VERY quickly and I figured he was coming to ram me, so all I had time to do was put my photo rig in front to use as a fender incase he did, as he came at me his head knocked the camera out of my hands and he veered up right after to over my head and as he did so he smacked me very hard across the face with a fin knocking my mask askew and reg out of my mouth and pushed me aside with his rear body and tail fins. I gathered myself as I turned to try to get out of the little "covelet" between the boulders and tied to relocate him. He was back in roughly the same spot he had swam at me from sitting vertically in the water as if he was setting himself up for another pass. I just left the immediate area and he followed me a bit and then when he saw I was leaving he went back to the rocks. I let him calm down and haul out and then quickly swam back to collect my camera and beat it out of there.

That's the only time I have really been confronted by anything of significance. That was the only time I have been remotely concerned around a sea creature - even diving in the midst of swarming grey reefsharks in Rangiroa didn't give me any pause compared to the moment when I realized that guy was coming to ram me.

It was totally my fault. I knew I was pushing it by getting too close.

 

[ScubaSky]

It was a Night dive in Roatan. I had been looking in the sand for Rays to get some video footage, I looked up and there was a rather large barracuda backed up against a wall. I sat up straight and started shooting footage (my video setup has two very bright lights) I guess the Barracuda got startled and bolted straight at me. I tried to spin sideways to get out of its way and raised my right leg in the process, it ran smack dab into my inner thigh... I thought my leg was going to be sitting on the bottom of the ocean!

I reached down and found that everyting was intact, I wasn't even bleeding. but I had one nasty bruise for 2 weeks (I don't bruise very easily)

I am sure that it couldn't see where it was going and was just trying to get away, If I hadn't flinched it probably would have missed me all together!

Lesson Learned. (Don't Flinch??) no that wasn't it (Don't back Large Barracuda into a corner then Blind it!!) yeah that was the lesson I Learned

 

[Cudabait]

Scubasky,

According to criteria maintained by the International Shark Attack
File people, what happened to you is considered an "
attack" However they do not keep records of Barracuda attacks. I was attacked by a barracuda in February in Utila on a night dive. The animal struck me in the face doing major damage which required reconstructive surgery. (See my posts under barracuda attack) on this boad under marine animals.

Interestingly enough two divers were also attacked on the same night while diving at the Flower Gardens in August. They were diving on separate boats. Two different fish. Their injuries were similar to yours. Very bad bruises, no lacerations. Due to an interest I've developed since my attack, I am beginning to believe that many, many barracuda attacks are not being reported world wide. At the moment, there is no centralized repository for such information to be reported.

 

[ScubaSky]

I can see how my incident would be considered an attack, but I do feel that the Barracuda felt threatend (Due to being back against a wall) and also disoriented just as we are when bright lights are shined in our eyes in dark surroundings.

IMO I wouldn't list my experience as an attack! I have had hundreds of dives since, many of which I have been very close to Barracuda and have never felt in danger at any point.

It sounds like your experience was quite different than mine. Obviously there is a risk when diving with Barracuda!

 

[DORSETBOY]

Didn't get bitten myself but was at a dive site when an instructor on another boat got out of the water with a big gash across the top of his head from a triggerfish attack. Lots of blood but respect to the instructor as he managed to continue diving for 30 mins after the attack leaking blood all round the site!