Predators of the Reef

Day Five was full of excitement for Team 3 as we drove to our dive shop for possibly the best dive ever: The Creature Feature! Riding out with Captain Tom, we approached our two target reefs for the day – Spanky's and Pleasure. First off was Pleasure, and in this reef was our first highlight species, the Nurse Shark. 

The Nurse Shark

Our Baitmaster brought down a chum bucket for this dive, which brought out more sharks than I’ve ever seen in my life. The only species today was the Nurse Shark, a docile bottom feeding shark not likely to attack humans. These sharks were very interested in the divers but never bit, only investigated and left. 

TA Mike had a close encounter with a shark when she swam between his legs while we were planted on the bottom. He did get bit by something though, a queen angelfish which quickly nibbled on his shirt sleeve.

The Moray Eel

Second dive brought us to Spanky's reef in search of Morays. This reef was picturesque and full of life with schools of fish swimming all around its circular outline. For this dive my buddy and I hit bottom first and had some very close moments with the Morays. These creatures are more aggressive than Nurse Sharks, and divers were told to keep their distance. They have a tendency to bite divers when food is around especially those with open fingers. 

Due to my ability to be up close and personal with the Moray I got a feel of its velvety smooth skin. Their sharp teeth are pretty intimidating up close, and a few times they got way too close for comfort. To any future divers, keep an eye on your surroundings and new eels can pop up out of nowhere and approach you to possibly bite

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/fish/n/nurse-shark/
https://www.bioexpedition.com/moray-eel/