moray eel bite

[DandyDon]

Please specify which DD you are referencing to avoid confusion, ok? Thanks.

I changed my mind on my previous answer...

[-]Also sounds like you handled it well so far. If it gets worse, get to ER as some marine bacteria infections are fast & deadly[/-].

You should have exited the water to wash it and reduce exposure as explained...

If by "medical treatment" you only mean "going to the doctor" maybe not, but actually medical treatment starts with first aid, and you certainly could have got first aid sooner if you had surfaced, cleaned the wound (if only with moonshine, terbaccy, and a rough washcloth in fresh water, LOL), and stopped exposing it to further contamination in the ocean. I no longer poo-poo the potential for serious infection deriving from marine microbes since one of my sons was infected by a marine vibrio that entered through a mosquito bite. He needed to have necrotized tissue excised weeks after the infection when it couldn't be controlled otherwise. Now, one may argue that this represents a rare instance, but I would counter that so does an unprovoked moray bite. I would have surfaced and performed first-aid treatment of the wound until I could return to shore and see a doctor.

Infections caused by halophilic marine Vibrio bacteria.

Excerpts from the above article abstract, emphasis mine:

 

[rjk75]

Years ago the boot of my full-foot fins chafed my skin under both ankle bones in Looe Key. I thought nothing of it, felt a little irritation, wasn't aware of the potential for marine infections, and kept diving. And I went diving the next week and the week after that and soon noticed that my skin wasn't healing up as fast as it normally would have.

Long story short: talked to a local dive op (no Internet back then) about the fins chafing my skin. He told me not to dive until the skin had completely healed up because of, blah, blah, blah... and then told me to wear these neoprene socks the next time out. My skin took about three weeks to completely heal up. I remember seeing a little bit of redness around the "slight" scab that did form but nothing else. I think I got off lucky.

 

[peterbj7]

You got off extremely lucky. I knelt on something sharp in the sand when conducting a course some years back, and once it warmed up after leaving the water it began to hurt a little. I couldn't see anything, so I just disinfected the area thoroughly and carried on. Next I saw a slight swelling develop and again thought little of it - these things happen and go away by themselves. Except this one didn't. I next noticed a slight swelling and soreness higher up that same leg followed by a similar occurrence on the other leg. I then went to a doctor who reassured me and gave me some ointment. It didn't improve. I consulted another doctor, and by the time my normal doctor had returned from an extended trip overseas I had open sores in several places on my legs. My doctor was horrified and said that a serious STAPH infection had developed and now needed very aggressive treatment or I could lose a leg. Six weeks of painful butt injections and numerous pills later the sores had diminished but were still visible. 18 months later the sites of the various sores were still visible.

Take ANY marine infection extremely seriously, especially if it is acquired in tropical waters.

 

[Senecafalls]

Chrpai...i was thinking the same thing watching that video. what was with hooking his gear to what looked like coral???? and than it appeared that he was dragging his gear through the coral?

 

[Abdullah]

Chrpai...i was thinking the same thing watching that video. what was with hooking his gear to what looked like coral???? and than it appeared that he was dragging his gear through the coral?

It's pretty common for divers towing a surface float to use a reef hook to anchor their kit when they pause. He avoided soft corals and hooked onto firm surface. The impact is pretty small. Especially compared to an anchor, or several anchors a day on popular dive and fishing sites.

 

[t4e]

Nothing to do with your question, but how did you manage to get bitten by a green eel....?

my thoughts exactly...unless you hassle the animal i don't see how it can bite you

 

[ssbrix]

Oh wow man, if i get cut during a dive I will end it. gee wizz

 

[dumpsterDiver]

my thoughts exactly...unless you hassle the animal i don't see how it can bite you

Didya watch the video?

Spotted morays can be extremely aggressive. A misplaced hand and you might literally "hear the crunch".. it is a disconcerting sound underwater.. one that makes you wish you could rewind the "reality clock" and it also makes you want to keep the glove on until you are on the boat..

 

[drrich2]

my thoughts exactly...unless you hassle the animal i don't see how it can bite you

Reminds me of something someone said years ago about bear attacks.

1.) Bears don't attack humans without provocation.

2.) The bear gets to decide what constitutes provocation.

Richard.

P.S.: How many times do we swim near large morays without knowing it?

 

[Crass3000]

As I am sure most would agree, bites from spotted or green morays are quite uncommon as they are both naturally fearful of divers or else used to them and hence they aren't normally aggressive. I can contest to some morays being fairly aggressive though. I saw a unique moray (not sure what it was) that was whitish yellow with larger brownish spots in Bonaire. All the colors were fairly mute. I was at least 5 feet away from it's hole and it started to come out at me in an aggressive manner. It was only about two feet long but he was pretty sure I was not welcome around there. I wouldn't have even seen it if it hadn't came out to meet me. Ironically it was in the smaller pieces of coral (white) up in the white sand (broken coral) beach. It wasn't in the typical coral you would look for life in. Wish I had my camera. Probably never see one of those again.

Edit: I probably would have thumbed the dive do to the possibility of something bigger being attracted to my blood but that's just my opinion. Not really a right thing to do but they do have Tiger, Bulls, and Great Whites around the area of Pompano/Ft. Lauderdale, etc. Nice diving down there.