Sad day for a Goliath Grouper in Jupiter.

[jdandvalerie]

Easier to just paste this from my website:

Upon making my way to the Zion, I noticed a Goliath Grouper flat on its side in the sand. Its mouth would open and close slowly but there was no attempt by it to move even when approached by divers. Myself and one of the divemasters on the Blue Tang (Angie) attempted to swim it for a while trying to revive it but it wasn't to be. The Goliath gave a twitch or two when it was being guided but it could not support itself in the water column. Ultimately, it was decided to let nature take its course.


We can only guess at what may have been the cause. It could have been caught by a fisherman and simply over exerted to the point of near death, or it could have been recently tagged and the process of keeping it out of the water created non-viable circumstances. Or, any number of other possibilities.


FSU and FWC will be provided with the details of the Goliath Grouper's tag numbers. Perhaps there will be more information forthcoming.


If it were the collecting and tagging process that was the cause, we must understand that there is always a risk in the process. We can only hope that the information gained through research helps us better understand the subject and assure that we are doing everything possible to provide the species with the best chance of survival.

 

[jar546]

That's pretty sad. What was the estimated size?

Did you report it to FSU?

---------- Post Merged at 06:01 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 06:01 PM ----------

Off topic but what was the vis today?

 

[jdandvalerie]

Its been reported.

Viz on the wreck trek about 10-20...Juno ledge maybe 30. South current on Juno.

 

[Bratface]

Sad to hear that news. Thanks for posting.

 

[gcarter]

Although it is sad to see the death of such a magnificant creature, I am curious as to why there is an assumption that it is other than a natural death? The speculated possible causes in the OP all assume interference.

 

[jdandvalerie]

There is a research vessel catching and tagging Grouper on that site and they were there earlier in the morning. The wounds did not look "natural" and were freshly made and are consistent with the type of markings that are on other Grouper in the area that have similar tags. The tags were pristine, possibly indicating recent placement.

Considering this info, I am inclined to think this was not a natural occurrence.

Be that as it may, as I stated above, if it were research related, this type of thing happens in this scenario. We can only hope that the data that is collected from this study benefits the species in a way that overshadows this accident and that with every type of collection study there is an unfortunate rate of mortality.

However, in deference to gcarter, I will concede that this Grouper may have been struggling due to natural causes. I can't find any reference that has footage of this occurrence witnessed by divers, which would mean an extraordinarily rare occurrence, but a possibility nonetheless.

JD

---------- Post Merged at 10:18 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 09:40 PM ----------

Ok, so I received some new information on this occurrence. The Goliath in question was caught for the firsttime about 15 days ago and was tagged. Yesterday, it was re-captured(I do not know the time) and tagged/released again. The person I spoke with contacted the scientist and/or captain of the boat directly. I was told that the Grouper may still revive and that it is not unheard of for this type of reaction to occur. I can't say I'm confident that this particular Grouper will recover, but I guess there is no way to really know for sure.


As I said above, hopefully the data from the research is more valuable to this species than one individual...but it is still sad.

 

[DazedAndConfuzed]

when i was in bonaire, they are suppose to tag every turtle, but some of the ones I saw were not tagged and I asked aren't they suppose to report it so that the research team would be aware of it and go tag it. The DM said why introduce them to the trauma of being captured and tagged. Not sure what the intention of the DM are, maybe they care more about having the turtles not be scared of diver than them being actually traumatized.

Anyway, why let good food go to waste. This is like spearing 100 lionfish.

 

[DMDavid]

Anyway, why let good food go to waste. This is like spearing 100 lionfish.

Personally I would not eat it unless I knew that whatever killed it would not in turn kill me.

 

[Scott L]

It was probably diseased as it was not been taken by sharks.

 

[bowlofpetunias]

I have unfortunately seen a Blue Grouper in the condition you describe. There was no indication that it was anything but a natural death. No sign of disease. Sad but true reality is that some of these creatures die and it isn't always mankind at fault