Ooh Barracuda

 

The barracuda is a very easy to recognize fish that many people can picture once you say its name. It is streamlined and has a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth and will attack prey with quick bursts of speed. These opportunistic predators are found in warm water environments near the water surface or down in coral reefs. They feed on all types of fish from smaller mullet and killifish to grouper and jacks. They hunt primarily using their eyesight and like to ambush their prey. Click here if you want to learn more about the barracuda.

        There's been an old fisherman's tale that’s been circulating for many years saying that barracuda are vicious and will attack swimmers or divers if they wear anything shiny like jewelry in the water as the barracuda thinks that you are a meal. In truth this old tale is just pish posh and holds about as much water as a colander.  

There has only been one instance of a barracuda actively attacking a diver, but this wasn’t in crystal clear water like in the Florida Keys, this was in murky water where the barracuda would see a shine of a watch or regulator first and not be able to clearly see that this was a person so the barracuda would have mistaken the person for prey like a small shiny fish. This is different than barracuda actively hunting and biting people. You can rest assured we are not on its menu.

         In the last 100 years, there have only been around 25 barracuda attacks that have been reported on humans with the majority of them being on spearfishermen. The attacks usually occur because barracuda are opportunistic predators and see a struggling fish that has been speared and the spearfisherman is like no that’s my fish and tries to interfere with what the barracuda sees as an easy meal so this can cause the barracuda to attack in defense or because the person puts their hand in between the barracuda's mouth and the fish. If you plan on spearfishing, here is a guide to safely do so. 

     So, rest assured barracuda are not going to attack you if you wear jewelry. They are very curious so they may follow you to see what you're up to, but they are not stalking you like prey like your usual housecat does. Fisherman's tales are just that and should not be believed at face value. Make sure if you hear one to fact check it to ensure that it is something that is true and not just nonsense to stress yourself over.