Swimming with Baracuda
I’m getting homesick, so I’ll take a break from the On the Road category today.
Back in June of 2008 I had the golden opportunity to swim at Planet Rock near my home in Madang, Papua New Guinea among hundreds of Pickhandle Barracuda (or Blackfin Barracuda, as you please). Local names are useless for identifying fish. The taxonomic name is Sphyraena qenie.
Here is what I saw as I approached from below the circling school:
As I approach I move around to the side so that they can see me. You don’t want to surprise them. If they can see you and get used to your presence for a minute or two, they will let you swim with them:
I move around just under them to get inside the circle and the slowly approach them:
Now I try to nudge my way into the stream of toothy, metre long underwater missiles. As long as I don’t spook them, I’m okay. This looks dangerous and it is a genuine adrenaline rush, but I’ve never heard of anybody around here being harmed by these barracuda:
And now, my friends, I’m experiencing a joy that few have shared. I’m swimming with the barracuda! In fact, I feel very much like a barracuda:
I hope that you enjoyed seeing this one ten thousandth as much as I enjoyed doing it.
Related posts:
- Chasing the Fish – Two Lucky Shots Rich Jones emailed to me a photo that he took at Planet Rock. I don’t often get a chance to see myself underwater. I’m madly chasing a school of barracuda with my camera stuck out in front snapping away. Here it is: I was thinking about that day and...
- More Magic from Magic Passage A beautiful dive at Magic Passage near Madang, Papua New Guinea. A ray, sweetlips, eels, starfish, and Amanda Watson with Pascal Michon....
- Barracuda Point Peculiarities A small collection of peculiar images from Barracuda Point at Pig Island near Madang, Papua New Guinea....
- Arm’s Length Friends A couple of days ago I showed you a few of my fishy friends. Today, I’ll show you the ones that cannot always be trusted. You know the kind I mean. Imagine being Tony Soprano’s next-door neighbour. Our first unsavoury pal is the Papuan Scorpionfish (Scorpaenopsis papuensis). It is a...
- Stingray Magic Dive The Henry Leith near Madang, Papua New Guinea for a little Stingray Magic....
- Underwater Miscellanea – Yet Again Today I had to dig into my library to find some images. I'll mix it up and show you fresh ones, some from years ago. You haven't seen any of these yet....
- Massive Rainbow Heralds More Fishy Things A wall-to-wall rainbow introduces a grumpy scorpionfish, some tame barracuda and a couple of nudibranchs, including the notorious Notodoris minor....
WOW… Amazing pictures!!! Once school is out, I am going to spend a day exploring all your pics and adventures. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the nice complement, Katie. Be sure to leave comments on anything you wish. I answer every comment that I receive. I hope you have fun reading; I certainly enjoy writing it.
[...] is a nearly solid wall of Pickhandle Barracuda (Sphyraena jello) mixed in with a few Big-eye Trevally and one lonely Red Emperor. You can see [...]