anyone know how to entice a moray eel to leave it's hole without attacking you? I don't agree with feeding, so not that. anyways who wants to with those teeth?!
moray eels
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Barracuda2
Contributor
You will not entice a Moray out of its den without food---YOU DO NOT WANT TO ENTICE A MORAY OUT WITH FOOD! They don't see very well and if they come out to take bait from you, they will not be able to tell the difference between your hand the the food in your hand. 4 yrs. ago, a day tripper from Belize City came over to the Belize Aggressor with a badly bitten dive leader to use the radio to summon help. It was a nasty wound right in the tricep of his left arm. Over a period of months, he was training this moray to take food from him for the entertainment of his diving guest. On that day, he tucked the plastic baggy with the bait in it under his left arm while he turned to signal his nine guest to form a semi-circle in front of the den. Much to the horror of the rest of the on-looking divers, the moray came out and lunged at the baggy---he got it and a nice chunk of the dive leader's arm. Get this---blood filled the water; the dive leader and his assistant surfaced, got aboard the boat and sped to the Aggressor leaving all nine guest divers in the water. Probably most of these divers were your tourist diver. Can you imagine what they thought being left alone in the bloody water and their transportation speeding away?:wacko: One of our guest familiar with boats took dive operator's boat back to the quest to pick them up. He said that all he saw when he got there were nine pairs of saucer size eyes staring, several were in a near panic. He calmed them down and got them aboard. Fortunately, we had a doc on board who was able to give first aid. The dive leader was taken to a nearby island where a helicopter picked him up. I have seen a few free swimming morays during the day, but they are primarily night hunters. Be satisified looking at the moray displaying his head, teeth, and pulsing jaws; take photos or video, but don't fool around with them. If they feel threatened, they will defend themselves. If you see one swimming freely during the day, consider yourself lucky.
Barracuda2
Barracuda2
OP
can you say lawsuit? that's just messed up.
and yeah, that's a very good explanation of why I don't agree with feeding anything. that's just looking for trouble, I've heard that moray's pack one of the worst bites in the sea. three rows of needle sharp teeth slanting backwards for grip on the top, and two rows of equally menacing teeth under. and on top of that they have some very powerful jaws. ouch.
but tell you what, I'd love to have a small one in a tank, heh.
one of the reasons why I'd like to get them out, is for photo ops. I just don't want them to come out looking for food. maybe give it a pet. hehe. my instructor took a nice shot of one swimming around a diver.
and yeah, that's a very good explanation of why I don't agree with feeding anything. that's just looking for trouble, I've heard that moray's pack one of the worst bites in the sea. three rows of needle sharp teeth slanting backwards for grip on the top, and two rows of equally menacing teeth under. and on top of that they have some very powerful jaws. ouch.
but tell you what, I'd love to have a small one in a tank, heh.
one of the reasons why I'd like to get them out, is for photo ops. I just don't want them to come out looking for food. maybe give it a pet. hehe. my instructor took a nice shot of one swimming around a diver.
Barracuda2
Thanks for the info. Eels are very cool creatures. Enjoy finding and photographing them and it is good to know they do not have good eye site. I would never be so foolish as to try to feed one so that would not be a problem.
What are the largest eels and how large do they grow?
Thanks for the info. Eels are very cool creatures. Enjoy finding and photographing them and it is good to know they do not have good eye site. I would never be so foolish as to try to feed one so that would not be a problem.
What are the largest eels and how large do they grow?
OP
if I'm not mistaken, I believe it's the green moray that's the largest, they can grow to about 5 feet. they are very interesting, so different from everything else we can normally see. I think sometime soon I'm gonna get one in an aquarium, not too big, probably a 30 gallon, and get like a zebra moray, they have awesome patterns.
another interesting piece of info: if a moray happens to bite, and not let go, which sometimes happens. they have a menacing grip, their teeth are designed to not let go, and their jaws are super strong. so the only way to get it off is to either break it's jaw or cut off it's head!
another interesting piece of info: if a moray happens to bite, and not let go, which sometimes happens. they have a menacing grip, their teeth are designed to not let go, and their jaws are super strong. so the only way to get it off is to either break it's jaw or cut off it's head!
Grab the moray eel and drag it out if you dare!!! That was what I saw! No kidding!!!
Was snorkelling at the Redang marine park. One of our local snorkelling guide spotted a moral eel in a hole, told us to gather round then skin dive down to the hole (only about 3 or 4 meters down). Before we knew what was happening, he had drag the moray eel out! And he kept it from going back to the hole by sort of slapping the eel's body left and right for about a minute!!!
I'm telling you, we must have made a comical sight with our popping eyes and gaping mouths! So stunned were we by the sight of him handling the eel like that. And it was NOT A SMALL MORAY EEL. It must have been at least 2 meters long.
Then, thinking that some might not have seen the moray eel, the guide did the same thing again. This time tho, the eel did try to take a bite out of him. But he got out of the way easily enough.
This kind of handling is definitely not recommended!!!!!
Was snorkelling at the Redang marine park. One of our local snorkelling guide spotted a moral eel in a hole, told us to gather round then skin dive down to the hole (only about 3 or 4 meters down). Before we knew what was happening, he had drag the moray eel out! And he kept it from going back to the hole by sort of slapping the eel's body left and right for about a minute!!!
I'm telling you, we must have made a comical sight with our popping eyes and gaping mouths! So stunned were we by the sight of him handling the eel like that. And it was NOT A SMALL MORAY EEL. It must have been at least 2 meters long.
Then, thinking that some might not have seen the moray eel, the guide did the same thing again. This time tho, the eel did try to take a bite out of him. But he got out of the way easily enough.
This kind of handling is definitely not recommended!!!!!
wasn't called for. unnecessary. :upset:
i was lcuky enough to have seen an eel out in the open - not swimming in midwater but rather in between crevices i guess.
my opinion - the head/teeth is the interesting bits anyway either to see or photograph. oh, here's one. not a very good pic but this guy's head is about the size of a softball.
i was lcuky enough to have seen an eel out in the open - not swimming in midwater but rather in between crevices i guess.
my opinion - the head/teeth is the interesting bits anyway either to see or photograph. oh, here's one. not a very good pic but this guy's head is about the size of a softball.
As was stated earlier, the easiest way to see eels out in the open is at night. One time we were at Black Rock, at Ka'anapali Maui on a night dive. In the past, the eels had been hand fed. Well when we got in the water, there must have been 20 of em all swimming around, appearing to use our lights to help find food. My dive buddy remarked that he felt like he was in a 'den of asps'.
I have a video clip from a trip to Coz this year, which I will post shortly [I am out of space on my buddies server] where a green moray was free swimming during the day. I was videoing the head and then all of the sudden he took off...turns our DM was petting his tail and I guess the eel had enough. The eel was probably a good 5' long.
Otter
I have a video clip from a trip to Coz this year, which I will post shortly [I am out of space on my buddies server] where a green moray was free swimming during the day. I was videoing the head and then all of the sudden he took off...turns our DM was petting his tail and I guess the eel had enough. The eel was probably a good 5' long.
Otter
OP
I've never been lucky enough to see more than one on a dive. however I think the way they move is cool.
Night Dive....unless there are no eels in the area, they will be out...
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