Quash Posted August 4, 2003 Share Posted August 4, 2003 So I'm enjoying my vacation here in the caribbean havin a good time. Today I went snorkelling as I do everyday by the reefs here, Im in St. Kitts btw, so like there are soo many fish, Ive got fish in my hair, i feel them on my body and everything its pure bliss swimming among the fish. Everything is goin great, seeing fish in nature like that in the reef is better than any fish tank Ive seen. Then all of a sudden all the fish just dart off to their respective holes and all and Im thinkin man wtf just happened, alla sudden no mo fish. So I figger time to head back to shore I been snorkelling for well over an hour now, arms and legs are gettin tired. So I start to head back, thats when I felt a tingly sensation in my leg, I was like oooh the fish are back, so I turn my head to look, I feel this sharp ass pain in my leg, the shizz hurt like crazy. Miliseconds later I look and I see Im bleedin and this fugger, yall shoulda seen the fish, it was damn huge, Ive seen the species before I dunno what it is but its a nice lookin fish, it gets pretty big, but the one that was swimmin away from me was HUGE at least 2 feet long I panicked runnin to shore, cause the pain, shoot nuff to make a grown man cry. When I got to shore all these kids was freakin out cause I was still bleeding, not flowing blood but a lot less viscous, wrapped it up in my towel and applied some madd pressure. I think Im ok, I dont feel funny, I dunno if its worth a trip to the doctor. Ima check online and see if I can get an ID of the fish so yall can see. Its big and blue :| I dont have a camera so I cant take a pic of the nice silver dollar sized bite. Just thought Id share this wacked out story, maybe Ima chill on the snorkelling for a coupla days, And if any of yall snorkellin, just be careful of them big ass blue fish!! Link to comment
DeskJockey Posted August 4, 2003 Share Posted August 4, 2003 hmmmmmmm how about a trigger? BTW watch out for any domino damsels! Mean little basterds on the reef. Link to comment
chufa Posted August 4, 2003 Share Posted August 4, 2003 I've seen blue triggers snorkeling around in Puerto Rico. But I would not think they were agressive. maybe your legs are too hairy and it mistook you for a sea urchin. Link to comment
MrKrispy Posted August 5, 2003 Share Posted August 5, 2003 Most likely you ####ed off a barracuda. Not much else is going to take a nip at something that size (you) that is moving at the surface. Have something shiny hanging off you? Usually the only time the triggers and groupers will come near you is if you are feeding them or the divemaster/guide is feeding them. I have seen a few biggies knock in to people during a feeding frenzy. I'm no expert, just an opinion of a diver... Link to comment
Crakeur Posted August 5, 2003 Share Posted August 5, 2003 I agree with krispy about the fish not going after you although a cuda would do some serious damage. Also, when I was snorkling in the keys 2 years ago, the fish were so tame that they actually swam under our stomachs and rubbed against our bodies, presumably looking for food. so, it is possible that the fish might be less afraid of you than normal but it is still odd for one to swim up and bit you. Is it possible you brushed against some coral and got cut? Link to comment
Quash Posted August 5, 2003 Author Share Posted August 5, 2003 I dunno about a cuda, Im sure it was the trigger big and blue cause it was pretty close when it was swimming away, Where I was there arent any corals, the reef rock I was checking out is long, really long, so I would say, 8-9 feet deep, no corals, those I see in some really deep deep water like 15-20 feet deep water stickin off some rocks. another thing I can think of is maybe a conch, buncha baby conchs when I checked the floor of the reef, prolly bout 9 feet deep, I did brush against some sand, so maybe a fightin conch came and nipped me up eh I dunno i still think it was that blue fish, but I really think im fine Link to comment
mane3215 Posted August 5, 2003 Share Posted August 5, 2003 Dont know if this is a similiar fish, but back in June I was in bermuda diving, and the divemaster was telling us about a fish that will come after you and bite you defending its turf. I dont know what he called it, but if you got within a range of its "domain" it would come out and light you up. One of the divers got it, pretty funny I thought, but it wasn't me getting bit hehe. Link to comment
Gunfury Posted August 5, 2003 Share Posted August 5, 2003 I dont think it was a 'cuda - they've got a bad rap as being aggressive towards divers but an attack is very, very , very rare imo ... besides you'd know if it was a baracuda - they are easily identified - long stream lined bodies, silver in color, large gapping jaw with exposed teeth, large eyes, heck 2 foot is just a juvenile Link to comment
CUNROE Posted August 5, 2003 Share Posted August 5, 2003 What about one of those sucker fishes that are usually attached to sharks and whales? Shark skin is tougher than ours so he might have been trying to de parasite you and bite a little to hard. just a thought Chris Link to comment
SaltyDawg Posted August 11, 2003 Share Posted August 11, 2003 Not a snow balls chance in the big "h" it was a Cuda. I HAVE been bitten by a cuda and nearly lost my left hand. I was 16-17 years old, was snorkeling in Hawaii with the fam. BEAUTIFUL!!! So I see these divers a little father and deeper than I was feeding these boney looking fish? So I go back to shore get some big azz silver sides? I guess? and proceed to do the same. Not knowing they were baracuda I extend my left hand out to feed a fish. WHAM!!! He hit like lightening and shook my whole left side via my hand in like 1/10th of a second. Tendons showing, fingers haning on by tendon and skin. nice white bone showing. prety nasty. If it were a cuda you would be in the hospital right now for sure. BTW we estimated the one that got me at only 1 1/2 - 2 feet long! I would say it was probably some sort of otherwise non agressive reef fish you got nipped by. Probably saw the hair on your leggs and thought it was algae. Seriously. I have had that happen before too. Had some sort of little blue guys niping my hair on my leggs the same day I got "Cuda-fied". BTW if the bite mark looks more like a hard pinch that scraped the skin it wasnt a trigger(They have beaks it would either be just a bruse or you would have a small chunk missing I would think.) it was a fish with bristle like teeth. If it looks more like rows of teeth sunk in (uniform). who knows! That is 3/4s of the fish in the ocean LOL!! Groupers will bite you and leave a bruised scraped looking are too. There are blue groupers too that only get 2-3 feet long. Link to comment
jdsabin1 Posted August 11, 2003 Share Posted August 11, 2003 Finish the story Salty! What did you do? Head to a hospital? You have scars? What happened immediately after the attack? Inquiring minds want to know! Link to comment
mane3215 Posted August 11, 2003 Share Posted August 11, 2003 Yeah, thats a pretty nasty, but interesting story. Do tell! Link to comment
Drifters Reef Posted August 11, 2003 Share Posted August 11, 2003 May be a large parrot fish???? Link to comment
Nishant3789 Posted August 11, 2003 Share Posted August 11, 2003 hmmmmm i had the answer in my dive book.......ill post it later cant find the book right now. Link to comment
MrKrispy Posted August 12, 2003 Share Posted August 12, 2003 Wow Salty, did you bathe in chum before you went in the water??? I have been diving and snorkeling a lot over 20 years in Hawaii and caribbean and can't remember any other sizable, aggressive fish that come close to the surface like a barracuda. Aggressive meaning "ballsy enough to check out floating flailing blob close up". I have only met one person that got bit by a cuda, oddly enough on the same dive boat was an old man that lost half his ear to an eel. Cool. Link to comment
chufa Posted August 12, 2003 Share Posted August 12, 2003 Barracudas are extremely common where I grew up in PR. I used to swim and snorkel around the Condado Plaza hotel, and there were lost of them. You could even see them from the road on the bridge. They schooled. Some were up t 5 feet long. They are unaggresive to humans, unless you try to feed them, as Salty did, which is not a good idea. There is a myth about cudas going for shiny things on swimmers or divers. I think this is, well, a myth. Link to comment
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