On a recent trip to Grand Bahama Island I saw all types of gnarly looking tropical fish.
Each day I saw something new, and each day I became more and more
mesmerized by all of the wonderful and beautiful fish that frequented
the waters in such an abundance.
However I accidentally stumbled upon the most incredible sight I had ever seen.
The Barracuda!!!
I was not expecting to see one at all, but the way I spotted him scared me stuff.
I was about 20 feet out from shore, and the water depth was no more
than 5 feet deep. Mostly the only fish I saw in waters this far out
would be an occasional parrot fish, sting ray, or swarms of adorable
groups of puffer fish, and dog fish.
As I was drifting along the surface, and looking around, I failed to
notice that a Barracuda about 2 or 3 feet long was right smack below me.
I was literately no less than 3 feet away from him.
I saw that his mouth was open, and small fish were racing past him
cleaning his teeth off. I never knew Barracuda came in for a cleansing
of their teeth, but here it was. A frigging Barracuda, and it freaked me
out!
What freaked me out was not only the fact that he stood so perfectly
still, so much so, I managed to drift right up over him without even
noticing; but what also scared me was the fact that although attacks on
humans were rare...they still have occurred before, and attacks are not
uncommon.
In fact, some countries in the world consider the Barracuda more dangerous than sharks!
What really worried me though was my bracelet. A shiny silver bracelet
lined with a row of shiny white gems. I'm sure to him, my bracelet
looked like food, and I should of known better and taken it off before
getting into the water, because as anyone knows, most fish are attracted
to shiny objects, and my bracelet, lets just say it could have cost me a
few stitches had the Barracuda decided to 'eat it'. Or worse... a
missing hand, or a few fingers gone.
My firs tip to those who may stumble upon a Barracuda in the water
would be to hide your shiny jewelry if you are wearing it in the water.
Cover it with your other hand, to keep the flashing shine from catching
the fishes eye!
Better yet though, avoid wearing any jewelry at all when swimming in
tropical waters. However if you are like me, and you find that you have
forgotten to remove the jewelry...hide it from sight.
Mostly though Barracuda are not very dangerous to humans, and they
rarely ever attack. In fact The Great Barracuda is the only species of
Barracuda that have ever attacked humans, and statistics say only 19
attacks have ever been reported in close to the past 100 years. The
spectacular Barracuda I drifted over barely even seemed to care I was
there. It freaked me out that the fish didn't care I was there, but like
I said, it didn't seem to mind at all. Nonetheless though, I backed off
slowly and snapped some photos of him.
Swimming away like a maniac will only provoke the Barracuda, so back off slowly!
Anyhow, he didn't seem to mind that my underwater flashes were
targeting him. I did though take caution when snapping the pictures. I
stood far away, and simply zoomed my camera in on him.
Another caution would be to steer clear of murky waters in areas you
are unfamiliar with. Barracuda at times will attack anything they see in
murky waters, and if you happen to be there, you could be the unlucky
target.
At any rate though, seeing this spectacular predator in the water, as
stiff as a board was by far the most awesome sight I saw while
vacationing. It had a mysterious power to it, and was the only fish I
saw that seemed to sit so still that it looked frozen. Like a
hummingbird, it was quite a beautiful, yet mysterious sight to see.
Also published by me on Hubpages.
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