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
