Was I really in danger??

[Harmonyhallresorts]

I was snorkeling just down from Cemetery Beach in Cayman in late July about 50 yards from the beach. Swimming parallel to the beach, I spotted a 5 foot Barracuda headed in my direction in about 20 feet of water. He was near the bottom and slowly passed underneath me and continued on his way without any indication that he noticed me. I turned to watch him swim away and decided to follow him to get a good picture. I was probably 40 feet away from him and started taking pictures (no flash). He came to a dead stop and turned to face my direction. After a couple more pictures, I noticed he had started to slowly swim towards me. I began back paddling away from him and kept checking to see where the Cuda was at. I changed the direction of my "retreat" and noticed he changed with me and was closing. By the time I got to the beach, he had closed to within 6 to 8 feet from me and was close to the surface. I quickly stood up and made my way to the sand. I am not sure where he went after the last time I saw him.

The encounter shook me up for a few minutes. I think I was guilty of getting too close to him (I was probably 20 feet from him while taking the pictures at the closest point). But I wonder if he followed me out of curiosity or out of anger. I have seen many Cudas before but this was the first time one has been interested in me.

Did I do the right thing in retreating or should I had held my ground? Once on an African safari, our guide told us to not run if something approach as the animals associate that with food. What should you do when something like a Cuda shows interest and starts pursuing you? Luckily, I was close enough to the beach. But I wonder what the correct move would be in open water or further out?

I've had a six foot barracuda swim right up along side me and just stop and look. Smart, inquisitive fish and very capable hunters but they clearly recognize that we are not food. Maybe just the click of the camera itself caught their attention. Stay calm, go slow and enjoy them, they are amazing creatures and will smile at you long before they will attack you.

 

[PatW]

As said above, humans are just out of the prey size for barracuda by a wide margin. There are a very few accounts a barracuda biting divers or swimmers but all of the ones I have seen were attributed to the barracuda going for a very shiny object. Sure, they are big and nasty looking but seem to pose almost no risk. That being said I would not try to hand feed one.

 

[Hank49]

I was honestly attacked by a barracuda once. It WAS after I shot it but I've shot a lot them. This one was on the line and could swim freely. Three times it would move off, turn and look at me, and charge. The third pass it clipped my knee. You couldn't have sliced my wetsuit and knee any cleaner with a razor. Clean to the bone. It healed up nice though.
I've seen them come streaking in close in murky water too. But that's mistaken identity.
But the ones that follow...just turn and make a move towards them. They move off.
The best way to get them to come in close.... is to dive down and lay on the bottom. (breath hold). More times than not, they will come in very close to see what the heck you're up to. If you turn and swim toward them they will move off. Even large ones.

[/URL][/IMG]

[/URL][/IMG]

 

[klavender1]

I remember many years ago snorkeling in Key West. I stayed in closer to shore, my then girlfriend was out further. She yelled "come look, big fishy" (lol, trying to be cute I guess). I swam out and immediately swam back to the shallows. Haha. She was like "what?", I said "that's a barracuda!". That was before I knew any better. That afternoon we visited the Key West aquarium where the guide said that barracudas are terratorial, near sighted and curious. So they may freak out some people because they will come right up on you. But mostly harmless as long as you aren't wearing something shiny. The next day I bought a disposeable underwater camera and proceded to thrash the water to get them in close and take pics. Haha.

 

[Adventure-Ocean]

I think you should have stayed and taken more pictures as he got closer. I've had a very large barracuda swim to me and swam in and out of my bubbles a couple of times right over my head. I've also seen small schools come and circle me for a while before they swam off. For me the only fish that have been aggressive enough to bite me was a trigger fish during spawning and a small skip jack that took a nip at my mask while I was loading my gun. I looked up at him and he just stared at me just inches from my face. I thought it was pretty bold. I think as far as dangerous animals attacking in the ocean, man is the most dangerous. The other animals want to eat but are not thrilled about fighting larger animals to do it. Barracuda are known to be curious in general and will for sure check out anything shinny and alive. Adventure-Ocean

 

[richard65]

I have to agree with most if not all the contributors here.

First if anything is going to attack (which is extremely unlikely unless you are poking it in the eye) then you won't know about it until it happens.

Secondly the sun is very hot here in July and they like to hang out in shadows. I have even had one floating beneath me while I sat on a floating table only because it was so hot.

We did have an attack here once but it was put down to someone wearing a very bright object which the barracuda mistook for prey fish.

Finally, you missed a great chance of some decent close up photos. I know every time I am diving here I love trying to get close enough for a decent photo.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk