Shark encounter in the Cayman Islands

[Rum_Pirate]

 

[Al.]

Why was he after the lion fish ?

 

[Mad Pad]

It's only a baby

 

[FurryWritingDesk]

Lionfish are non-indigenous to the Caribbean. Some people believe they are destroying reef eco-systems by eating the smaller reef fish.

 

[Rum_Pirate]

Lionfish are non-indigenous to the Caribbean. Some people believe they are destroying reef eco-systems by eating the smaller reef fish.

Not 'believe', they are.

Predators and parasites[edit]
Aside from instances of larger lionfish individuals engaging in cannibalism on smaller individuals, adult lionfish have few identified natural predators.

This is likely due to the effectiveness of their venomous spines.

Moray eels (family Muraenidae),bluespotted cornetfish (Fistularia commersonii) and large groupers, like the tiger grouper (Mycteroperca tigris) and Nassau grouper (Epinephelus striatus), have been observed preying on lion fish.
It remains unknown, however, how commonly these predators prey on lion fish.
Sharks are also believed to be capable of preying on lionfish with no ill-effects from their spines.
Park officials of the Roatan Marine Park in Honduras have attempted to train sharks to feed on lionfish as of 2011 in an attempt to control the invasive populations in the Caribbean.Predators of larvae and juvenile lionfish remain unknown, but may prove to be the primary limiting factor of lionfish populations in their native range.
Parasites of lionfish have rarely been observed and are assumed to be infrequent. They include isopods and leeches.[20]

Invasive introduction and range[edit]

See also: Pterois volitans and Pterois miles
Two of the nine species of Pterois, the red lionfish (P. volitans) and the common lionfish (P. miles), have established themselves as significant invasive species off the East Coast of the United States and in the Caribbean. About 93% of the invasive population in the Western Atlantic is P. volitans.[26]
The red lionfish is found off the East Coast of the United States and the Caribbean Sea, and was likely first introduced off the Florida coast by the early to mid-1990s.[27] It has been speculated that this introduction may have occurred in 1992 when Hurricane Andrew destroyed an aquarium in southern Florida, releasing six lionfish into Biscayne Bay.[28] The lionfish resemble those of the Philippines, implicating the aquarium trade.[29] However, a lionfish was discovered off the coast of Dania Beach, south Florida as early as 1985, prior to Hurricane Andrew.[4][30][31] The lionfish may have been purposefully discarded by unsatisfied aquarium enthusiasts.[29] In 2001, NOAA documented multiple sightings of lionfish off the coast of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Bermuda, and they were first detected in the Bahamas in 2004.[32] Recently (June 2013) they have been discovered as far east as Barbados,[33] and as far south as Los Roques Archipelago and many Venezuelan continental beaches.[34]


P. volitans comprises the largest part of the invasive lionfish population in the Atlantic and Caribbean
Pterois volitans and Pterois miles are native to sub-tropical and tropical regions from southern Japan and southern Korea to the east coast of Australia, Indonesia, Micronesia, French Polynesia and in the South Pacific Ocean.[24] Adult lionfish specimens are now found along the United States East Coast from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, to Florida, and in Bermuda, the Bahamas, and throughout the Caribbean, including the Turks and Caicos, Haiti, Cuba, The Dominican Republic, Cayman Islands, Aruba, Curacao, Bonaire, Puerto Rico, St. Croix, Belize, Honduras and Mexico.[2] Population densities continue to increase in the invaded areas, resulting in a population boom of up to 700% in some areas between 2004 and 2008.[35] Population densities have reached levels that are orders of magnitude greater than in their native ranges.[36]
Pterois are known for devouring many other aquarium fishes.[29] Pterois are unusual in that they are among the few fish species to successfully establish populations in open marine systems.[37]
Pelagic larval dispersion is assumed to occur through oceanic currents, including the Gulf Stream and the Caribbean Current. It is projected that currents could eventually result in new populations along the Gulf Coast.[38] Ballast water can also contribute to the dispersal.[39]
Extreme temperatures present geographical constraints in the distribution of aquatic species,[40] indicating that temperature tolerance plays a role in the lionfish’s survival, reproduction and range of distribution.[41] Observational studies have shown that the abrupt differences in water temperatures north and south of Cape Hatteras directly correlate with the abundance and distribution of Pterois.[40] Pterois expanded along the entire eastern coast of the United States and occupied thermal-appropriate zones within ten years.[40] Although the timeline of observations points to the east coast of Florida as the initial source of the western Atlantic invasion, the relationship of the United States East Coast and Bahamian lionfish invasion is uncertain.[42]

They have now invaded the Leeward islands.

 

[Al.]

Lionfish are non-indigenous to the Caribbean. Some people believe they are destroying reef eco-systems by eating the smaller reef fish.

To be honest, that what I was thinking, there was a program on TV about them, and carp a few weeks back, seems lion fish have no natural enemy's in the new areas.

I thought the shark was just being friendly.

 

[TQA]

Well here is a pic of what was in ONE lionfish gut.

I have seen another pic with 53 small fish in a lionfish gut.

There is no doubt that they are having a major impact on reef fish populations.

 

[tenerani]

Well here is a pic of what was in ONE lionfish gut.

I have seen another pic with 53 small fish in a lionfish gut.

There is no doubt that they are having a major impact on reef fish populations.

Is it edible? The red scorpionfish has great taste!

 

[hartcjhart]

clever diver!! knows sahrky is in area so shoot fishy that then gives of distress signals and wonders why sharky is getting close,then to compound it diver starts to give off distress signals and that attracts sharky even more,Numbnuts

 

[Ravi]

clever diver!! knows sahrky is in area so shoot fishy that then gives of distress signals and wonders why sharky is getting close,then to compound it diver starts to give off distress signals and that attracts sharky even more,Numbnuts

Watching the video, when the shark comes in close on the initial approach, it looks like the shark is aiming for the net full of dead fish. Maybe dropping the net of dead fish would have been a good idea. I am just guessing as I am too scared to go where the big fish live - probably because of people posting video footage like this!

Edit - Actually - just watched it again and he DID let go of the bag of fish!


Edit #2 - Watched it yet again and realised that the second attack is, in fact, a replay of the first one during which he dropped the bag of dead fish. And then the shark swam down and circled for a bit around the dead fish. Since they were speared, I imagine that there was a bit of blood about.

Note to self... In the extremely unlikely event that I put myself in a deep water situation with a highly evolved marine killing machine, don't swim around with a bag of chum.