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View Full Version : Eel Rips Lobster Divers Hand & Other Attacks


ricki
07-25-2012, 09:41 PM
Lots of folks go after lobster in mini season. Some aren't adequately prepared for the demands of the activity and get injured, a few fatally at times sad to say. There is little information on the background of this particular accident other than the diver got nailed by a spotted eel. It seems reasonable to assume he was going after lobsters under a ledge or head, startled the eel and it struck. Spotted eels aren't even that large in a lot of cases and yet this one did plenty of damage.

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/268379_414445811926228_593261856_n.jpg

Yow, watchout for bugs with antennae bent behind them. Lobster sometimes do that when they share a grotto with an eel. They cohabitate with eels commonly, to the point where you would expect more attacks like this than actually seem to happen. It is best to expect that there may be one within striking distance until established otherwise by carefully looking around the lobster. They hang out with nurse sharks too commonly enough, even nurses can bite if motivated at times.


http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/Spotted_moray.jpg
Spotted eel
http://en.wikipedia.org


That looks like a lot of damage for a bite, still the teeth they are equipped with are plenty adequate. I recall that they also can knot up their tail in the rock and just hang on too. Rough prospect for free divers. Using a snare and tickle stick doesn't remove the risk but may lighten it a bit. Some eels swam a good long way to attack a diver in the clips below after they were annoyed, well beyond tickle stick range. You also will be less likely to yank the legs off a bug trying to grab it by hand, egg bearing females and borderline shorts too. So, take care of the reefs and have a care.

Eels can sometimes charge from beneath ledges/heads and strike if startled. Usually they just sit there and watch you when you approach the bugs if you do it slowly enough. I wouldn't annoy one close up however. Most are small particularly spotted eels but there are some big ones out there too with other species. I can recall seeing some monsters on the erojacks a coons age back. The whole hunting, raping thing isn't always one way, it is good to keep that in mind for those off moments.

In other cases food has been in the water, for feeding other fish, sharks, smaller reef fish or the eels themselves. If the eel looks like it is getting excited, an attack seems like it could easily follow at anytime ... or not. Roll the dice and see what happens. Following them too closely seems to have been a factor in other accidents. I've done that for over 40 years with no attacks yet, for that reason anyway. I one strike a pole guy when I shot a slippertail lobster next to it under a head. I recall another incident in which a teenage girl charged down to photograph a green moray, scared it to where it charged her about 15 ft. away and then vanished in a puff of sand under a head. Fortunately, she wasn't bitten.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/33/GreenMorayEel.JPG/800px-GreenMorayEel.JPG
Green moray
http://en.wikipedia.org

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On a related subject, here is a surprising video of a green moray attack in what looks like the shallow reefs just off Seven Mile Beach, Grand Cayman. He followed the eel for an usually long distance, they usually take off at speed at some point. The wild card was spooking a lobster out of a nearby hole. Bugs are favorite eel food and GoPros make things look further away than they actually are.

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"We had been watching this eel, however when he decided to go under the rock for cover, he scared a lobster out and then the eel decided to come after me next. He did bite my leg but didn't sink teeth in me."


Here's another one from Cozumel. It looks like following the eel too close for too long factored in the attack. The eels seem to put up with it for a while and then suddenly change their mind and charge back. Best not to follow them it seems despite the temptation to do so.

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Another one, in this case the eels interest was already stirred up when the video starts. It was a shark dive so perhaps there was food in the water for the sharks and the eel crashed the party. It seems once one approaches you, the risk of attack has gone way up. Avoiding this stage seems to be the best course as out swimming, beating off or otherwise defending against attack in progress seems to be unlikely to be successful.

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"On a shark dive in 1997 a eel came out of the reef an mauled the foot of the diver next to me."


One more although there have been a number of these through the years. Feeding the eel when it decides to sample the feeder. High risk activity in which some very experienced feeders have been nailed.

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So, common factors, (there are likely others too), seem to include:

1. Food in the water, speared, from shark feeding or even feeding reef fish, even the eel itself.
2. Eel is excited for whatever reason
3. Eel followed too close and/or too long. They can show some pretty aggressive territorial tendencies.
4. Eel is startled
5. Eels can decide to turn around and swim a good distance to attack a diver.
6. Eels commonly occur in holes with lobster. Anyone going after lobster should keep this in mind and checkout holes before going in there. Some say a lobster may keep an antennae bent backward if it is sharing a hole with an eel. Not sure this is always the case however.
7. Once a eel decides to attack you there doesn't seem to be a lot that you can effectively do about it.
8. Eels can surprise you which is well worth remembering!

What other eel attacks have you seen, what contributed to them and what should you avoid doing as a result?


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