Steel aqualungs: how we swam with moray eels

Sergey Dolya argues: "Millions of years of evolution have left in man a genetic memory for various objects and phenomena. For example, thunder and lightning seem scary to us, and the rainbow and sunrise are beautiful. Cats and bunnies are cute, and tigers and crocodiles are dangerous.

Why am I doing this? I mean, when I see a live moray eel, all instincts begin to sound the alarm and turn on the highest level of danger. It's such a creepy and disgusting creature that even close-up photos don't convey the full spectrum of negative feelings."

There are a lot of moray eels in the Maldives — and of all kinds of colors and sizes. At first, I swam up to them with great caution (yes, curiosity can be stronger than instincts) and kept a respectful distance so that in case of an attack, the creature would rush at the camera, and not at me. But over time, our relationship warmed up. Although not to such an extent as to touch this fish with your hand…

In general, moray eels do not attack a person just like that. They can only bite if they decide that a person poses some kind of threat. If you follow the basic safety rules — do not make sudden movements and do not annoy with aggressive behavior — everything will be fine.

There are even cases when moray eels were stroked on the belly (I, however, did not dare to check it).

Moray eels have very sharp, though not poisonous teeth. The bites are very painful and may not heal for months. This is due to pathogenic bacteria that multiply in the mouth among the remains of food and cause infection of the wound.

The largest moray eels discovered by man reached more than three meters in length. The maximum recorded weight is more than 51 kilograms.

Moray eels constantly keep their mouths open, but this is not due to the desire to bite you, but to the peculiarity of their breathing.

Moray eels have almost no enemies. Firstly, few people will want to contact them, and secondly, most of the time they hide in the crevices of rocks, from where they cannot be reached with all their desire.

Black Moray eels look like prehistoric underwater monsters:

And we also swam with stingrays. They come to profit at the piers of the fish factory, where they throw the remains of carcasses. There is generally a huge expanse of predatory fish — both stingrays and moray eels.

Fortunately, there is enough food for them, so they don't pay any attention to divers with cameras.