Moray Eel attack?

[K_girl]

Belize - taking a picture of a green morray eel in his hole, typical, respectable distance. Then the eel came out of his hole and came towards me. I used my camera to keep him away from me and I managed to keep his face pretty much in the lens until he swam off. I did manage to click a picture, but it wasn't any good. Since I had seen the dive masters hand-feeding the eels there, I figured just my being there was a signal that I might be a dive master with food. He wasn't swimming in a determined aggressive manner, but I didn't have any food to give him and that worried me. He was definitely looking for my hands.

Pompano, Florida - wreck out there somewhere, can't remember the name of it, where there is a very large resident green morray eel the dive operator told us about who will often come out and swim with the divers. They had a name for him (I can't remember). Indeed, he was out swimming around that day and he actually seemed to enjoy our company as he stayed out in the open and swam next to us and around us without attacking anyone or going for hands looking for food. I've got at least 10 minutes of video of him swimming around as well as numerous photographs. This is probably unusual.

 

[SCUBA482]

seen plenty of eel here in so cal, most in holes during the day and only 2 i can remember swimming in the day...during a lobster dive my buddy got his finger snapped on by a green eel while trying to yank a bug from a hole...he was wearing kevlar gloves but he pulled his hand out pretty quick once bitten...needless to say that bug wasn't harvested no damage to his finger, only a bruised ego

 

[Fuzzmutton]

On the subject of touching marine life--some people are dead-set against any contact at all and it's obvious from some of the posts in this thread. I wonder if some of these people would think twice about picking up a frog that was hopping around their yard? Or if they were on a nature walk, letting a fuzzy caterpiller crawl over their hand?

It's obvious, or should be, that there are some things we shouldn't touch underwater b/c it might damage them (ie. handling fish removes their mucus which protects them from bacteria) and there are some things that might damage US (like eels!) but to say we shouldn't touch anything at any time is too much. How would we even know the things that we do about marine life if someone hadn't touched something at sometime? I think blanket prohibitions are what's stupid IMHO.

Now, I'm officially unpopular....

 

[DandyDon]

On the subject of touching marine life--some people are dead-set against any contact at all and it's obvious from some of the posts in this thread. I wonder if some of these people would think twice about picking up a frog that was hopping around their yard? Or if they were on a nature walk, letting a fuzzy caterpiller crawl over their hand?

It's obvious, or should be, that there are some things we shouldn't touch underwater b/c it might damage them (ie. handling fish removes their mucus which protects them from bacteria) and there are some things that might damage US (like eels!) but to say we shouldn't touch anything at any time is too much. How would we even know the things that we do about marine life if someone hadn't touched something at sometime? I think blanket prohibitions are what's stupid IMHO.

Now, I'm officially unpopular....

:lol:​

Well, the yard frog (toad probly) or caterpillar lives in a more similar environment as we, breathing air, crawling on land, accustomed to our presence maybe. A little different in the ocean, where we want the fish to accept us swimming by as non-predators, but not come to us for treats. Hehe ever had a barracuda follow you on a night dive to use your light to spot prey? :shocked2:

 

[cdolphin]

Belize - taking a picture of a green morray eel in his hole, typical, respectable distance. Then the eel came out of his hole and came towards me. I used my camera to keep him away from me and I managed to keep his face pretty much in the lens until he swam off. I did manage to click a picture, but it wasn't any good.

K_girl, ha ha! Another verified case of Uses-for-Cameras: as a Shield. You must know my dive buddy in FLA.

 

[ScubaFeenD]

On the subject of touching marine life--some people are dead-set against any contact at all and it's obvious from some of the posts in this thread. I wonder if some of these people would think twice about picking up a frog that was hopping around their yard? Or if they were on a nature walk, letting a fuzzy caterpiller crawl over their hand?

It's obvious, or should be, that there are some things we shouldn't touch underwater b/c it might damage them (ie. handling fish removes their mucus which protects them from bacteria) and there are some things that might damage US (like eels!) but to say we shouldn't touch anything at any time is too much. How would we even know the things that we do about marine life if someone hadn't touched something at sometime? I think blanket prohibitions are what's stupid IMHO.

Now, I'm officially unpopular....

Does touching a toad make it a better experience? I have spent a lot of time in the woods, and on hikes. Never once did touching anything make the experience better--looking at organisms and nature in isolation is what makes it beautiful.

Fact of the matter is we barely understand the ocean ecosystem. For instance, coral looks like a rock, but if you touch it you have destroyed a colony of organisms. There is no need to touch anything, and really only has the chance to harm. We should be observers so that everyone can enjoy what is down there in it's natural state. Now, if you are minding your business, and something wants to touch you, then that is a different matter....

 

[DennisS]

I was diving once in Key Largo with a dive operator called Capt. Slate. This guy was know for feeding baracuda with a fish in his mouth. Well some fisherman caught the baracuda, so he couldn't do that anymore. So he would pull a green moray out of a hole and pass it around to the divers. I declined. He had a divemaster video tape the whole thing and then you could buy the video tapes.

He's still down there

Florida-Adventure.com :: Captain Slate's Atlantis Scuba Dive Center

 

[cappyjon431]

I am probably a member of the unpopular minority, but provided you know about the creature (whether you may harm it or it may harm you, etc.), I see no problem with occasionally touching marine life. The key (IMHO) is to know if a touch based interaction will be detrimental to the organism. Gently handling a starfish, allowing cleaner shrimp to "hop on" and clean my fingernails, allowing a giant basket star to grab on to my fingertips can be a very positive experience.

I was heavily influenced by Dee Scarr's "Touch the Sea" program 15 years ago and I continue to practice gentle marine life interaction. In my opinion (which is entirely subjective, just as the previous post), these interactions do make my dives more enjoyable. I also think that it addresses a natural human curiosity that many of us have about marine life. Petting a "friendly" 1000 pound leathrback turtle which seemed to crave the interaction was one of the highlights of all of my dives (and I will log #3600 next Sunday). The turtle followed me for most of my dive and it was almost impossible not to touch it, as it swam alongside me for almost thirty minutes.

That being said, all of my instructors and DMs have been instructed not to touch the marine life because I think that it opens up the possibility of students/divers touching things without the proper training, which can lead to injury of either the diver and/or the organism.

I guess I am not a fan of "blanket" statements to never do anything. With proper training and experience, these types of interactions can be a positive and rewarding experience with no impact on the marine organism.

 

[Hank49]

A friend of mine from Hawaii almost had his thumb, all the way to the middle of his wrist, torn off by a moray. He had speared a fish and was in the process of removing it from the spear. The eel came out of nowhere and in its attempt to grab the fish, got his hand instead. He showed me pics that the doctor took before and after stitching it back together. Ugly.

 

[miketsp]

I was buddied up with a German in Recife in Brazil a couple of years back and on various dives he would form a fist (ungloved) and put it very slowly towards a Moray to get within a few inches and then very slowly withdraw it. Invariably the Moray would come out of its hole to investigate before drawing back in. I witnessed him do this with various sizes of Moray from small to quite large.
Even though I saw it done and he told me he'd been doing it for years I felt and still feel no urge to copy him.