Fort Lauderdale Moray Eel Dive Video

>> Janna's attack in April . . .

She was teasing it. It's a shame she got bit, but she earned it.

>> and a diver on our panga in the Galapagos last month. The latter was
>> truly
>> vicious as the poor lady didn't even see the eel that got her - she
>> was busy photographing a nearby fish, apparently pissed off the eel,
>> and chomped down on her hand. She had to shake it off as it wouldn't
>> let go.

My bullshit meter just went off the scale. There's more to it than that.
Morays
don't attack for no reason. She may not have been responsible, but someone
was. She may have handled fish and smelled like food to the almost blind
moray
(stupid). Someone else may have pissed it off and she was in the wrong place
at
the wrong time. You don't just "shake off" a moray. There are plenty of
instances
to show that morays grab and hold. In some cases, they had to be killed and
then
pried off.

>> Eels are no joke.

All wild animals, and many domestic animals with teeth are not a joke.

Lee

On Sep 10, 11:36 pm, "chilly" <slar...@shaw.canada> wrote:
> "Greg Mossman" <moss...@qnet.com> wrote in message
>
> news:1189450587.168403.61680@50g2000hsm.googlegrou ps.com...> On Sep 10, 9:29 am, "Lee Bell" <pleeb...@bellsouth.net> wrote:
>
> (snip)> Usually I'd scoff at that, but I've now been around two vicious eel
>
> > injuries in the space of four months: Janna's attack in April, and a
> > diver on our panga in the Galapagos last month. The latter was truly
> > vicious as the poor lady didn't even see the eel that got her - she
> > was busy photographing a nearby fish, apparently pissed off the eel,
> > and chomped down on her hand. She had to shake it off as it wouldn't
> > let go. They doctored her up pretty good on the boat and she
> > continued to make the next day of diving (it was fortunately toward
> > the end of the trip), but she e-mailed to report that after she
> > returned home, the docs started her on some real serious antibiotics
> > and told her she'd probably have some permanent nerve damage. Eels
> > are no joke.
>
> A friend of mine in Belize, had an eel chase him back to the boat and bite
> him on his upper arm. He very nearly lost his arm and has a couple of deep
> and nasty scars. No one in the area had ever heard the like of it before.
> Now I'm hearing too much of it.
>
> But then again, maybe Greg, Janna and the people he dives with are using up
> the quota.

I'm blaming global warming. It's heating their poor little eel brains
to the point they turn psycho.

On Sep 10, 11:36 pm, "chilly" <slar...@shaw.canada> wrote:
> "Greg Mossman" <moss...@qnet.com> wrote in message
>
> news:1189456756.662000.45750@k79g2000hse.googlegro ups.com...
>
>
>
>
>
> > On Sep 10, 12:19 pm, George Cathcart <george.cathc...@gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> > > On Sep 10, 2:56 pm, Greg Mossman <moss...@qnet.com> wrote:
>
> > > > There's a big fellow on the wreck in Roatan that came out to play. I
> > > > put my hand out in a C-shape and he swam right through. Nothing more
> > > > velvety than the feel of a big green moray.
>
> > > Oh, the belly of a cownose stingray is right up there...
>
> > I've manhandled plenty of southerns and even a tame eagle ray, but
> > never a cownose. I'll put that on my to-do list.
>
> > (BTW, for those who were wondering, though I'll never tell how I know,
> > whale sharks are just as rough skinned as any other shark - for some
> > weird reason I thought they would feel smooth)
>
> You are soooo bad. No wonder you get bit all the time.

No eels bites yet, and I've stopped needlessly provoking sharks, but I
did get nipped by a pesky Mexican hogfish. At Wolf and Darwin, most
of the time you're holding onto barnacle-covered rocks enjoying the
show. As the current is very strong, often those barnacles break off,
exposing the delicacies within. So there's always a few annoying fish
hovering around your hands waiting to see what you'll feed them next.
Apparently the hogfish thought finger food was on the menu.

On Sep 11, 4:13 am, "Lee Bell" <pleeb...@bellsouth.net> wrote:

> My bullshit meter just went off the scale. There's more to it than that.
> Morays
> don't attack for no reason. She may not have been responsible, but someone
> was. She may have handled fish and smelled like food to the almost blind
> moray
> (stupid). Someone else may have pissed it off and she was in the wrong place
> at
> the wrong time.

I doubt she was handling fish before the dive unless she ate lunch
with her hands. She was wearing gloves and both her gloved hands were
on her camera when the eel struck. At that point we were the only
boat out at Wolf Island and it's a large area with the divers somewhat
spread out, so it's not likely that anyone pissed off that very same
eel. With all the other things to see there, most divers simply
ignored the eels.

> You don't just "shake off" a moray. There are plenty of
> instances
> to show that morays grab and hold. In some cases, they had to be killed and
> then
> pried off.

She said she shook it off. I have no reason to doubt her. Probably a
cross between the bad taste of glove/human blood and the disconcerting
feeling of being shaken around convinced the eel to eventually let go.