What is the coolest thing you have ever seen snorkeling, SCUBA diving, or freediving

The Bahamas lionfish are out of control and now there are what used to be reefs that are now lionfish only it is horrible. In the BVI it is illegal to kill them so soon that is either going to change or the BVI will need to find a new way to get their income
 
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snorvich said:
Well . . . an isolated dolphin at Little Cayman trying to associate with divers; mating flamboyant cuttlefish (Indonesia, PNG, etc); an orca (Northern Papua New Guinea); a group of 8 silvertip sharks (northern PNG); three different species of Rhinopias (PNG, Indonesia); a manta cleaning station (PNG); the great white wall (fiji); dwarf mimic octopus (Indonesia) and blue ringed octopus (Indonesia); intoxicated (from eating the equivalent of marine crack) sea turtles (PNG); a Bobbit worm take a flying gunard; a shoal of dolphins (various); sea snake; whale shark; weedy and leafy sea dragons (southern oz near Kangaroo Island) and more.
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You are a god in my book now by all the things you have seen
 
Snorkeling with whale sharks and manta rays off Mexico and bouncing off the top of the mouth of a whale shark that came up behind me
 
Booboobear259 said:
The Bahamas lionfish are out of control and now there are what used to be reefs that are now lionfish only it is horrible. In the BVI it is illegal to kill them so soon that is either going to change or the BVI will need to find a new way to get their income
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Yea it's bad. And wow can't believe it's illegal... They should change that. They are good eating anyways haha
 
G_Sanab922 said:
Yea it's bad. And wow can't believe it's illegal... They should change that. They are good eating anyways haha
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They need to make it legal because snorkeling tourism is their main source of income so if the reefs are wrecked then their whole economy is down the drain. As for the eating of lionfish here we have a deadly fish toxin that fish like parrotfish and barracudas get from eating the algae and the smaller reef fish that eat the algae. Lionfish carry this toxin so you can't eat them.
 
Booboobear259 said:
They need to make it legal because snorkeling tourism is their main source of income so if the reefs are wrecked then their whole economy is down the drain. As for the eating of lionfish here we have a deadly fish toxin that fish like parrotfish and barracudas get from eating the algae and the smaller reef fish that eat the algae. Lionfish carry this toxin so you can't eat them.
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Same in my area but it's legal here. They established lionfish tourneys and much more to get rid of them. They even said that I can spear them in non spearing zones. That was a big surprise to me but goes to show how badly they want them out of here..

What??? I've never heard of that.. That's crazy. Is there a way to notice if it has it?? I can tell when a barracuda is sick but it might be from something else.. and lol I wouldn't eat parrotfish anyways, the meat is super chewy.
 
That's interesting. I hadn't heard about any toxins that would prevent them from being eaten. I did some digging into it to see why they weren't safe in the Bahamas, but people are eating them in FL. Turns out they can carry ciguatera, which is attributed to dinoflagellates consumed lower in the food chain.

We keep an eye out for lions to kill/collect any time we're in the water. With the new law starting soon in FL that bans importing them into the state, the invasive lions will hopefully be wiped out by the food demand, sport fishing and collection for the aquarium trade.

Lion1_zpse4fad536.jpg
 
Zoodiver said:
That's interesting. I hadn't heard about any toxins that would prevent them from being eaten. I did some digging into it to see why they weren't safe in the Bahamas, but people are eating them in FL. Turns out they can carry ciguatera, which is attributed to dinoflagellates consumed lower in the food chain.



We keep an eye out for lions to kill/collect any time we're in the water. With the new law starting soon in FL that bans importing them into the state, the invasive lions will hopefully be wiped out by the food demand, sport fishing and collection for the aquarium trade.



Lion1_zpse4fad536.jpg
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Ciguatera is what I was thinking of! I find that on barracuda and grouper. It is very easy to identify though. Falling scales, worms, no strength.
I hope the importing helps but there is a lot out there. I think it will last for about 5 more years to be honest. And since there is so many in the Bimini area that could be bad for us as well.
 
Btw I've heard about that show.. Wasn't KP aquatics on there? They are here in Tavernier. I don't have that channel :/ saw from an earlier post that you come out on it, am I correct?
 
G_Sanab922 said:
Ciguatera is what I was thinking of! I find that on barracuda and grouper. It is very easy to identify though. Falling scales, worms, no strength.
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Nope, you can't identify a fish with Ciguatera by looking at them. The toxin doesn't effect the fish. A fish with Ciguatera toxin looks just like on without it. It really comes down to knowing the reef the fish came off, and if the reef has Ciguatera.
 
billsreef said:
Nope, you can't identify a fish with Ciguatera by looking at them. The toxin doesn't effect the fish. A fish with Ciguatera toxin looks just like on without it. It really comes down to knowing the reef the fish came off, and if the reef has Ciguatera.
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I've always been under the impression that it was ciguatera..
What sickness am I describing then?
 
I forgot where I was, but snorkeling and seeing a manta ray below me. That day was good and bad... got bit by triggerfish between my thumb and index took a chunk of my skin, ouch!
 
Booboobear259 said:
You are a god in my book now by all the things you have seen
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Well, showing up a lot helps. I have been diving for 30 years and used to go all over. Seeing a lot is sort of an "attendance prize". I was lucky my working life allowed this level of participation.
 
It's hard to narrow it down, but here's a few:

-Seeing a large school of Hammer Head Sharks in Fiji. This wasn't an artificial chum/bait ball with divers in a circle, but a natural drop off outside of a lagoon pass where the sharks often come. The sharks would swim towards the divers before darting off. They did this over and over.

-Seeing large schools of Manta Rays off of Miyako Island, Okinawa, Japan.

-Seeing a large school of Tuna in the central Philippines.

-Seeing a dive guide in Mauritius catch Lionfish for medical research. He used his knife to get the fish to open it's mouth and then stuck his fingers in! When the fish bit his fingers, he had it. Unbelievable!

-Diving with a Mola Mola off of Bali.



-Seeing VW bug size Napoleon Wrasses/Potato Cod in the Coral Sea/Great Barrier Reef
 
G_Sanab922 said:
Same in my area but it's legal here. They established lionfish tourneys and much more to get rid of them. They even said that I can spear them in non spearing zones. That was a big surprise to me but goes to show how badly they want them out of here..

What??? I've never heard of that.. That's crazy. Is there a way to notice if it has it?? I can tell when a barracuda is sick but it might be from something else.. and lol I wouldn't eat parrotfish anyways, the meat is super chewy.
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I have heard of the lionfish tournaments down there. A local school wanted to do that then do an iron chef event until they found out that the lions has ciguatera.
 
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