Startled UW

[Stone]

I was holding on to my camera with one hand while finning hard against a current and swinging my free arm and hand back and forth to keep a couple of Lionfish in frame. Movement in my peripheral vision caused me look toward my free (sculling) hand in time to see another Lionfish swim right under my flailing arm. If my arm would have been a couple of inches lower, I would have impaled it on about a dozen Lionfish spines (130 miles from shore).

 

[dc4bs]

There are a couple of green moreys that live by stingray city in the Caymans. As I recall their names are Bruce and Psycho...

They are prety tame and show up looking for handouts sometimes.

My buddy was kneeling on the bottom video taping us feed and pet the rays when one of the eels came from behind him, right BETWEEN his legs and then up so its head was between his mask and the camera. It looked him right in the eye and opend its mouth wide... Say ahhh!

He just wanted some of the squid we were giving the rays. I guess my buddy still smelled of it from his turn at feeding while I had the camera.

I never saw a pair of eyes get that big around before. When I looked in his mask that's all I could see... No eyebrows or anything else, just eyeballs bugging out.

Having watched the whole thing from start to finish (it happend too fast to warn him) I had a hard time keeping my reg in my mouth I was laughing so hard... Untill the eel decided maybe I had some food when my buddy didn't pan out.

 

[100days-a-year]

Diving in cooler water here during fall&winter I get spooked by large sharks a least once a yr.Fossil diving in St Marys I've had people snatch my arm or fin as a joke in the 6" vis water.Worst scare was this fall a Mola Mola(ocean sunfish)swam up to investigate me ,he came from underneath me and there was a thermocline 5' below with 0 vis .He just appeared and was big(500#+)

 

[Norm]

1.Once while diving off Delray Beach doing the Inchulz wreck, I was skimming along, about 12" off the bottom, looking at the ribs of the hull, (wearing only trunks). Suddenly something very rough and alive rubbed against me all the way up to my chin. I looked down and I was staring face-to-face, eyeball-to-eyeball with a yellow southern stingray. (No big deal when you KNOW their there)
2.Once I reached into a hole to retrieve a shell and after withdrawing my hand I saw a scorpion fish less than 1" from my exposed arm.
3.If you dive the Cooper River in Charleston enough, one day a sturgeon will bump you HARD and scare you. (Your first time you will probably swallow about 500 psi because of the low vis and the knowledge that there are lots of gators there! Believe it or not, if you dive there frequently you'll get used to it)
4.Once in Tennessee I had a mudturtle take a huge chunk out of my (black rubber) fin while I was swimming in a quarry. (That's tough stuff!)
5.While doing a short penetration in a Virginia cave once I thought I felt my buddy tapping my leg. I turned around to find no buddy but thousands of pieces of rock falling from the ceiling, (that our bubbles had dislodged)! My "buddy" was long gone!
How are those for starters?
Norm

 

[caymancase]

On one of my very first night dives we all came across a 3 ft. baracuda calmly floating in the water obviously half asleep. Being the inquisitive beings that we are, all 5 of us shown our lamps full beam on him. If I only knew then what I know now... bad move! He all of a sudden woke up and wanted a quick escape route... being blinded by our lights he just bolted!... straight into my (hmmm, how can I put this nicely?) inner thigh area? I screamed and closed my eyes... OUCH! When I finally opened my eyes all I saw was 4 other divers with huge eyes looking at my "inner thigh area" waiting for the blood? Needless to say I had a huge bruise for about 2 weeks... don't know what the poor 'cuda's nose looked like?

 

[sunshinefishy]

Originally posted by dc4bs
There are a couple of green moreys that live by stingray city in the Caymans. As I recall their names are Bruce and Psycho...

Sounds similiar to this guy's experience. See slide #10 and beyond.

http://www.dixiediver.com/Sea Emperor slideshow.htm

 

[Rick L]

I remember one time I had my arm under a rock with a hand on a lobster. I was trying to reposition my body. I put my hand on the
sand next to me. All of a sudden my hand starts shaking I look up to see I had put my hand on a large torpedo ray!!4or 5 feet. It was covered with sand . Just when I turned my head it swam right into my mask. My mask instantly filled with water!!
By the time I got my mask cleared and calmed down I had sucked down 600 LBS hehe. That was a rush!!
Rick L

 

[DawgPaddle]

WOW! Your Stories on this thread have been very exciting to read. Please keep 'em coming. As a new diver (in training), I look forward to getting "out there" and experiencing some of the marvels that so few others have seen.

Thanks for the stories thus far. Great Reads!


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