dangers of snorkeling

[jo44]

We just got back from our cruise. We snorkeled at Aruba with Jolly Pirates. Kind of scary for me ...getting off the boat and the current was bad at one stop. I did see a small octopus though.

 

Curacoa was with Actief for a half day. We saw lots of fish, eels, and an awesome sea turtle. We also got stung by jelly fish...didn't see them!!!

 

In St Thomas we went to Secret Bay, or something like that and saw a squid and weird black pokey balls?????

 

When we got home I was looking up some of this sea life and then it occured to me, Just how dangerous are these creatures? Are they ever aggressive? Do sharks come close to shore? Just thinking....:eek:

[scubaran]

We just got back from our cruise. We snorkeled at Aruba with Jolly Pirates. Kind of scary for me ...getting off the boat and the current was bad at one stop. I did see a small octopus though.

 

Curacoa was with Actief for a half day. We saw lots of fish, eels, and an awesome sea turtle. We also got stung by jelly fish...didn't see them!!!

 

In St Thomas we went to Secret Bay, or something like that and saw a squid and weird black pokey balls?????

 

When we got home I was looking up some of this sea life and then it occured to me, Just how dangerous are these creatures? Are they ever aggressive? Do sharks come close to shore? Just thinking....:eek:

 

Well, the official answer is, they're wild animals so anything can happen... The reality, unless you bother them, they won't bother you. The snorkel companies don't take people into "dangerous" areas, else their business drops off pretty quickly. Also sharks generally are not an issue. They're usually solitary hunters and in the Caribbean with all those fish, going after a 5 ft. creature with a strange tubie thing hanging out of their mouth doesn't equate to food. I've seen my share of sharks while diving and they're usually booking in the other direction away from us.

 

As far as the jelly fish, you were lucky enough :) to run into some "thimble jellys". As the name implies, they're about the size of a thimble and they're nearly impossible to see against the bottom. You'd have to get under the water a bit and look up to see them silouetted against the surface. I've been stung quite a few times by them but fortunately their sting isn't that bad.

 

Enjoy snorkeling with the peace of mind that you're the largest creature on the reef and enjoy the view. :D

 

Randall

[jetskier]

The black thing is sea urchin. Injuries are rare while snorkeling. I would probably say you are more at risk of dying of a heart attack or drowning, than being attacked while snorkeling.

 

Dave

[jo44]

thanks for the reply... makes sense. I guess I was more scared after I got home and started to think about it than when I was in the water. Well, the guy that I grabbed after taking in salt water when the octopus was spotted would probably disagree...

 

Really, your comments are appreciated and ease my mind..thank you!

[jackdiamond]

Jo44-You were probably at Secret Harbor. The squid you viewed has been there for some time. Also, those black balls were sea urchins.

[simonv]

Don't touch anything and they won't touch you.

[Donnaluv2cruise]

We're leaving for the southern carribean for the third time on Friday. This is the most I've heard people talk about jelly fish and it has me freaked out. We snorkel a lot and have never seen one???:eek:

[Loves Snorkeling]

I was also on a Jolly Roger's tour last week in Aruba. I was not impressed with the amount of people that was snorkeling while we were there. There was a total of 3 boats including ours that were at the Antilla wreck. The wreck was nice but the waves were very high.

 

The area that Actief brought us was my favorite of all my snorkeling trips. I believe it was called Directors Bay or Spanish Bay. I didn't see any jellyfish but did see some of those black sea urchins. The reef had excellent visiblility

 

I agree with the other posters that the coral is something nice to look at but not touch.

[CFitzRN]

The black thing is sea urchin. Injuries are rare while snorkeling. I would probably say you are more at risk of dying of a heart attack or drowning, than being attacked while snorkeling.

 

Dave

 

Yes, the black spiny urchin... don't step on those buggars, they hurt like hell! The first time I ever snorkeled was in the Dominican Republic. I didn't know enough to wear water shoes and didn't have on fins. I put my foot down for a second and BAM! Luckily it wasn't too bad. It hurt like fire for about 2 hours, then it was fine.

[bruce-r]

You wouldn't want to touch these:

 

[scubaran]

Or these..... :p

 

[bird18]

what beautiful pics thanks for sharing

[curlyqlink]

When we got home I was looking up some of this sea life and then it occured to me, Just how dangerous are these creatures? Are they ever aggressive? Do sharks come close to shore?

Jaws notwithstanding, sharks pose virtually no risk to divers and snorkelers. Not even under extreme conditions, i.e., bait in the water-- check out this first-hand encounter between snorkeler and shark:

http://www.scubadiving.com/community/underwaterinsidereditorsblog/?nPostId=3382

[scubaran]

Jaws notwithstanding, sharks pose virtually no risk to divers and snorkelers. Not even under extreme conditions, i.e., bait in the water-- check out this first-hand encounter between snorkeler and shark:

http://www.scubadiving.com/community/underwaterinsidereditorsblog/?nPostId=3382

 

 

Better her than me. I prefer to see sharks at a bit of a distance. Being in my face would be too close to get a picture. :)

 

Randall

[hi2you]

I will be snorkelling at a few places in May--if by some chance I do get stung by a jellyfish-is there anything that should be done to treat it-or just let the pain flow?

[CFitzRN]

I will be snorkelling at a few places in May--if by some chance I do get stung by a jellyfish-is there anything that should be done to treat it-or just let the pain flow?

 

Did you ever see that "Friends" episode? Hahahaha! Monica had to pee on her jellyfish sting. It's true though, urine has neutralizing properties... if you can stomach it. :p

[scubaran]

I will be snorkelling at a few places in May--if by some chance I do get stung by a jellyfish-is there anything that should be done to treat it-or just let the pain flow?

 

My experience in the Caribbean has been the thimbles are a quick "ouch" then the pain subsides pretty quickly. I used to live in Texas and had a jelly with long stingers wrap around my arm at the beach, that required "meat tenderizer", works better than urine, but the ones in the Caribbean if you just wait a sec or two the pain goes away. However, if you're allergic to bee/wasp stings, etc. consult your doctor before you go, you don't want to have an allergic reaction. Also new snorkelers should keep off the reef (some of the heads can get as close as a couple inches from the surface. There's fire coral, stinging algae, etc on coral and you want to maintain a safe distance (plus the oils in our hands can kill the coral if you touch it). So not good for either to touch.

 

Randall

[CFitzRN]

My experience in the Caribbean has been the thimbles are a quick "ouch" then the pain subsides pretty quickly. I used to live in Texas and had a jelly with long stingers wrap around my arm at the beach, that required "meat tenderizer", works better than urine, but the ones in the Caribbean if you just wait a sec or two the pain goes away. However, if you're allergic to bee/wasp stings, etc. consult your doctor before you go, you don't want to have an allergic reaction. Also new snorkelers should keep off the reef (some of the heads can get as close as a couple inches from the surface. There's fire coral, stinging algae, etc on coral and you want to maintain a safe distance (plus the oils in our hands can kill the coral if you touch it). So not good for either to touch.

 

Randall

 

I was visiting my sister in Corpus Christi one year. We went to S. Padre Island to swim one day and there were Portuguese Man O'War everywhere. They are very cool looking but I hear they pack a wollop of a sting.

[DiveCruiser]

The black thing is sea urchin. Injuries are rare while snorkeling. I would probably say you are more at risk of dying of a heart attack or drowning, than being attacked while snorkeling.

 

Dave

Actually if it is shallow injuries are more common then you think. Keep your feet on top of the water till you know where you are placing them.

 

Bob

[scubaran]

I was visiting my sister in Corpus Christi one year. We went to S. Padre Island to swim one day and there were Portuguese Man O'War everywhere. They are very cool looking but I hear they pack a wollop of a sting.

 

S. Padre Is. is where I was stung by a jelly. There were a few Portugues Man O'War's in the water but kids were scooping them up with butterfly nets and burying them in the sand to kill them.

[excalwop]

Have any one tried Safe Sea jelleyfish protective lotion? It works been using it for the last four years. three years ago swimmed into a large group of jellyfish and watch them moved away from meand the others who also used it and the five others who didn't got stung . That sold me on it.

Paul

[Boytjie]

We're leaving for the southern carribean for the third time on Friday. This is the most I've heard people talk about jelly fish and it has me freaked out. We snorkel a lot and have never seen one???:eek:

 

I all the years I have snorkeled and scuba dived in the Caribbean, Mexico and South Africa, I don't really recall seeing jelly fish. But I have seen lots of them along beaches where I have gone swimming!

[trimix]

When we got home I was looking up some of this sea life and then it occured to me, Just how dangerous are these creatures? Are they ever aggressive? Do sharks come close to shore? Just thinking....:eek:

 

 

There is a very common injury when snorkeling. Idiots who have no idea what they are next to, will scratch themselves by bumping up against and killing several thousand coral polyps. These people don't want to think of coral as anything more than colorful rock, so they only care about the little scrape and not the permanent damage they have caused to the reef.

 

And please don't demonize sharks. I have had the opportunity to snorkel and dive with sharks on several occasions and have never been threatened. Of course, unlike the model in the scubadiving.com link, I don't swim in the middle of a cloud of bait!

 

That being said, for the best and the safest experience, it would be wise to learn about the area before snorkeling in the future. You can easily learn what to look for, what to watch out for, and how to not damage the environment during your dive.

[scubaran]

And please don't demonize sharks. I have had the opportunity to snorkel and dive with sharks on several occasions and have never been threatened. Of course, unlike the model in the scubadiving.com link, I don't swim in the middle of a cloud of bait!

 

Yeap, agree. In fact my dive instructor knows the guys at Stuarts Cove and they let him be one of the shark wranglers for their shark dive. Here's a pict. he send me from his trip this last November. Nice sharkee..... He used to feed them by hand (with chainmail gloves) but the sharks aren't that accurate with their aim and broke his hand four times just from the pressure of their bite (plus one got under the chainmail once and got his ankle which wasn't fun either. :D

 

Randall

 

[scubaran]

Yeap, agree. In fact my dive instructor knows the guys at Stuarts Cove and they let him be one of the shark wranglers for their shark dive. Here's a pict. he send me from his trip this last November. Nice sharkee..... He used to feed them by hand (with chainmail gloves) but the sharks aren't that accurate with their aim and broke his hand four times just from the pressure of their bite (plus one got under the chainmail once and got his ankle which wasn't fun either. :D

 

BTW, he's been doing this for 10 years and has all ten fingers and toes (ears, nose, etc as well). :p