There is nothing more intriguing and exciting than the sight of a large moray eel.  When spotted during the typical warm-water dive, they always seem to draw the divers for a closer look.  I think these amazing creatures capture our interest for a number of reasons;  possibly because of desire to overcome our common fear of snakes and snake-like reptiles, possibly because of their seemingly docile nature despite a vicious appearance, and possibly because of the unique opportunity to get close to large marine animals.  The fascination with moray eels is such that many locations have special dives designed to allow divers to see and interact with these creatures.  Moray eels are a profit center for many dive operations.   “Delivering the eels” is an essential  task  if money is to be made from repeat business with happy customers.  However, in any encounter with any large predators, remember the lesson your mother always taught you: think through everything you do before you do it….and don’t do the things that don’t make sense.

I was doing my morning reading and web surfing and came across a YouTube video that perfectly demonstrates how paying attention to your mother could clearly avoid some pain and misery.  It seems that the divers in the attached video were enjoying the interplay with a large moray eel.  No doubt, some dive operation was collecting a hefty fee for “bringing the divers to the animals”.  In fact, it appears that the group leader was doing the task of “bringing the animals to the divers” by hand feeding the eels and “coaching” them out of their dens.    The result is predictable.  Maybe we can all learn from the painful experience of the diver in this video.  Oh, listen closely to the sound of misery from this poor guy.  Sound travels pretty good under water.

Phil Ellis

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