Russian diver attacked by fish at Similans

[Crowley]

I love the part about the "cone-shaped area" that it protects and I've heard a lot of divers spouting that theory as gospel and others swearing it's an inverted cone. The problem is that no one has told the trigger fish that they are supposed to live by that rule. All the ones I have seen protect an area around their nest where they damn well please.... up, sideways, 45 degree angle, wherever.

*laughing*

I wasn't aware of the cone thingy until I read that and you're right, I hdan't really noticed any method to their mayhem!

I had a little purple trigger (not sure of species, they're only about 6 inches long) and it just kept swimming round in a circle, bopping me on the mask, right between my eyes...

Managed to take this photo of it on one of its attack runs...!

 

[MoonWrasse]

I'm not sure from your photo, but that might be a red fang trigger, if it was around Thailand.

I've photographed 6-7 species of triggerfish around the Similans, I'm sure there are more.
Only the Titan is said to be agressive - I've known instructors to get nasty bites by them. However I think the danger is overblown, like for sharks. Right now I'm processing a photo of a good sized Titan I took around there, with his (or her) trigger up. It's a closeup. I've never been hurt by any fish while diving, only slipping on the boat

 

[Zippsy]

Overblown? My vote is not. I have swum within inches of reef sharks, nurse sharks, leopard sharks and bamboo sharks with never a worry. I've been attacked three times by titan trigger fish: once when I may have accidentally strayed near a nest (I never saw the fish or a nest before the attack), once when I got too close when he was feeding (dumb) and once when I was at least 30 meters away from his nest and he left it at the mercy of other hungry fish while he chased me for several minutes. I have also seen at least a dozen other attacks. They are the only things I worry about under water (other than other divers) and they scare the hell out of me.

 

[drbill]

I love the part about the "cone-shaped area" that it protects and I've heard a lot of divers spouting that theory as gospel and others swearing it's an inverted cone. The problem is that no one has told the trigger fish that they are supposed to live by that rule. All the ones I have seen protect an area around their nest where they damn well please.... up, sideways, 45 degree angle, wherever.

Actually, based on my experience with two populations of reasonable sample size, Titan triggers are far better at geometry (plane and solid) and trigonometry than most American high school students.

 

[Zippsy]

I would not argue against that

 

[MoonWrasse]

Overblown? My vote is not. I have swum within inches of reef sharks, nurse sharks, leopard sharks and bamboo sharks with never a worry. I've been attacked three times by titan trigger fish: once when I may have accidentally strayed near a nest (I never saw the fish or a nest before the attack), once when I got too close when he was feeding (dumb) and once when I was at least 30 meters away from his nest and he left it at the mercy of other hungry fish while he chased me for several minutes. I have also seen at least a dozen other attacks.

I've gotten as close to those sharks as well, and never had a problem other than focus on my camera. I've also petted the same giant moray which dethumbed Mr. Butcher.

I'm not saying titans aren't a hazard - I've heard of attacks. But keep some sense about what the actual dangers are.

They are the only things I worry about under water (other than other divers) and they scare the hell out of me.

Pesky cleaner wrasses scare the hell out of me

 

[Crowley]

LOL - laughing at Dr. Bill's comment on trig...!

And thanks Moonwrasse - it is indeed a red-fang (or red-tooth) trigger, cheers, I did know that!

 

[Homunculus]

how do you say idiot in russian? IDIOTKA !

nope,
IDIOT would be a russian word for a guy, IDIOTKA - for a girl

 

[emanuelw]

The bull rays are fairly well sized though. The ones I've seen have been around 1.5m+

 

[mislav]

It doesn't sound like he was trying to touch anything but the sand, hoping to see what was causing the commotion. To me, that makes him less than prudent, but it doesn't sound like he was an idiot, to me. He wasn't trying to pet a moray eel, or hug a shark, or anything.

Well said, Frank.

@ hug a shark comment.