Barracuda Feeding Frenzy

[UPTHElRS]

know the feeling.

take care

[bluefishtattoos]

beautiful fish, truly



[paulmila]

Hi Luisf77,

Yeah, but not so raw. Grilled with butter & lemon.

Paul Mila

[luiscf77]

who doesn't love snapper?

[paulmila]

That's a good one, "bliss0512."

Hadn't thought about that characterization.

Paul Mila

[bliss0512]

That's like the zombie fish... head's half missing still swimming...

[paulmila]

Pretty funny, "SnowSearch"!

That's pretty much what it seemed like. I think what happened is the other fish left because that saw the two barracuda barreling in (did you see the first one that missed? Look at the top-left of the screen), and they said, "we're outta here!"

Paul Mila

[SnowSearchVancouver]

All of a sudden all the other fish leave, and he's like thank god that's ov-OH SHIT and then he's toast

[paulmila]

I think it was too late for PETA. Anyway, who would they go after, the trigger fish?

Paul Mila

[eteokles3]

What are they doing to the fish? Some call PETA!!!!

[bluefishtattoos]

@eteokles3 get out more.

[paulmila]

Hi C4,

Yeah, he really what whacked!

Some of the 'cudas were prety large, toothy fat 4-footers.

Thanks,

Paul Mila

[C4FishingTeam]

Yellowtail got pwneed!!!!

[paulmila]

Hi snaprat1972,

Yeah, when the other fish saw who was coming they really scattered.

Paul Mila

[snaprat1972]

those barras were all "sweet free food time, lets eat, oops wher'd the fish go?"

[paulmila]

Dear Fescolfaro,

Thanks for your comments. But, "you had to be there."

The attack of the reef fish started earlier that what I captured. The snapper was getting ripped for quite a while. Earlier, the wounded fish tried hiding in a small cave and was dragged out by its neighbors, who continued attacking.

If the barracuda had attacked first the fish would not have been alive when we arrived. Barracuda don't step in and out of an attack. They attack until nothing is left.

Thanks,

Paul Mila

[fescolfaro]

The description is inaccurate... None of those fish had the teeth to cause that kind of damage, except the barracudas themselves...

What happened here is that certainly one of those barracudas had already bitten and eaten half of that fish, which somehow survived, got "mobbed" by lesser non-predatory fish who were trying to opportunistically score a carcass, when the "carcass" swam off...

At this point the barracudas step back in the picture and finish what they started out of sight.

[MegaChaos710]

damn thats one tough fish

[ManifestPrime]

At least the barracudas ended that fish's misery.

[paulmila]

@ManifestPrime

Yes, it sure ended fast. I was shocked it was still alive; I thought it was dead until it started swimming. Guess no vital organs had been eaten.

[SPiRiTMoDz1]

Sorry i didnt get back sooner but im not quite sure what hotel it was but this one barracuda would like u said hang around a group of hundreds of fish and he would just float maybe what 2 feet above em all looking like a ghetto torpedo haha. but yeah from a distance i was even like "okay lets go back to the pool NOW" haha . its the eyes and teeth that got me. from 5 feet away u get a pretty detailed description of it and death hahaha. and the last day i was there i heard there was another one o

[paulmila]

Hi OceanElwell,

Yes, I was shocked when the snapper started swimming while I was filming. I thought it was dead. Evidently, that part of its body contains the "meat" that you would eat if you ate it in a restaurant. There were no vital organs there.

Thanks for your comment

Cheers!

Paul Mila

[bonehead1603]

@paulmila WHAT A COINCIDENT HA . A FISH WITH THAT BIG OF A WOUND SURVIVE THAT LONG IN THE PREDATOR ENVIRONMENT WHERE FISH EAT FISH FOR FOOD . I FIND IT VERY STRANGE THAT YOU COME THERE TO FILM JUST THE RIGHT TIME TO SEE THIS . THIS FISH COULD HAVE BEEN EATEN BY PREDATOR FISH SO SO LONG AGO YET YOU COME JUST THE RIGHT TIME TO FILM THIS . I BELIEVE YOU WOUNDED THIS FISH TO MAKE A VIDEO ON YOUTUB , PLANE AND SIMPLE . THE THING PEOPLE WHEN THEY HAVE IDLE TIME IS BEYONE ME .

[OceansElwell]

how the hell was it swimming with half its body eaten? :D

[StoCcCardo]

fastest fish i've ever seen

[paulmila]

Glad you liked the video.

Which hotel were you at? Several hotels have large old "resident" barracudas that hang around all the time. At the Allegro we used to see a big one named Hurcules, who kept herd on a school of small fish he used for easy meals.

I write an online newsletter called the sea-gram. If you want to receive it just send me your email address to paul@paulmila.com and I'll put you on the list.

[SPiRiTMoDz1]

I just came back from Cozumel and there was a 6 foot barracuda in the ocean on front of my hotel. Being only 14 I found it kind of difficult to stay around it because I usually don't like fish that are bigger than me. But nice video.

[jarederajarederaj]

haha that sucks for that one fish how the hell was it still alive ha. im surprised everyone isnt commenting "animal abuse!'

[paulmila]

You got that right, GreaterGood!

Knew barracuda were fast, but never saw in in person until that dive.

Paul

[TheGreaterGood80]

it pays to be fast

[paulmila]

Hi younglee,

Pretty funny comment. The poor fish's neighbors were more viscious than the barracuda.

[younglee1989]

you think you have friends until they start nibbling off your head. lol.

[paulmila]

Hi cbeck228,

Thanks for your comments; glad you enjoyed the video. Watching it happen in front of us was a rush!

Cheers!

Paul Mila

[cbeck228]

awesome video!!

[paulmila]

Hi Smokingfordham,

Glad you enjoyed the video.

Most people miss the first "cuda. In fact we didn't notice it until we watched the video later.

[smokingfordham]

the one that missed at first strike was bullet fast! this vid is awesome :)

[smokingfordham]

the that missed the first strike was bullet fast! this vid is awesome :)

[paulmila]

Hi Katfishking,

Thanks for your comments. As great as the video is, it was mind-blowing to actually see it and have the barracuda's all around us. Did you see the barracuda that missed? Just when the fish scatter and a second before the barracuda takes the fish, look in the topp left of the screen. Another 'cuda flashes through, just missing the wounded fish, almost too fast to see unless you are looking for it. We didn't see it until we watched the video later in slow motion.

[katfishking666]

Doooood that was so fucking awesome and it's not they actually hurt the fish that was just nature

[paulmila]

Hi "songjudger",

Yes, it was a bad day for the little snapper.

Paul Mila

[songjudger2000]

poor fish lol