Underwater photos

[DesertBorn]

Beautiful pics!!  Thanks for sharing!

BTW - The Moray isn't really "poisonous", but it does have a mouthful of really nasty bacteria which absolutely WILL get infected if you tangle with one of those badboys!  I've seen some monster morays too, as big around as your thigh!  I saw one so big one day I didn't even think it was real...until it moved.  I was like...WHOA!!  They're grouchy bastards too!

Dove with lots and lots of sharks, many times.  Never worried about them too much, except some of those big hammerheads; they were pretty crusty bastards too.  The only fish that I ever really worried about were the Barracuda's, and they were all over in the Andaman.  They'd come out of nowhere like a missile and hit you right in the face!  I knew 4-5 people that had that happen to them.  Smashed the tempered glass on one guy's mask even!  Tinting the glass wouldn't help either, but they make coatings now for it.

(For those unfamiliar - Barracuda's see the flash of reflected sunlight off a diver's mask and they go after it like prey, just like fish go after a fishing lure...except it's your FACE!  Most divers will get hit shortly after they jump in the water.  And Barracuda's look like a bullet traveling underwater they're so damn fast, just a blur, and then BAM!!)

ETA - Got a couple good stories about those guys too!  LOL!

I dont dive, but I sportfish in southern CA, and worked one summer as a galley wench on a party boat, long ago.  

Here’s a story I heard, but ya’ll know how fish stories are, so with that disclaimer:

On a long-range trip off southern Mexico, a group were playing poker in the galley, exhausted from hauling in big fish all morning.  It was hot as heck, so the porthole window above the table was open.  There were people still catching fish right outside the window along the deck rail.   

Fish called wahoo, basically larger crazier barracuda, were on a hot bite.   A fellow was jig fishing with a chrome lure, which a fast fish can be chasing, that you arent aware of, if you are reeling in real fast.  so this guy was reeling to beat the devil, and lifted his jig right up out of the water as it reached the boat.  The wahoo jumped out of the water after the jig and just sailed right thru the open galley window.  

The poker player that was placing a bet, didnt miss a beat, when he said, “Yeah, and I’ll raise you a wahoo!”