Posted by seahunt on January 24, 2002 at 13:54:36:
There were some comments in a post below about a moray eel.
I didn't think much about it at the time, but I finally did.
When did you last see a moray eel? How many did you see? How
long have you been diving? Do you remember what it was like? Have
you been diving long enough to remember when Catalina had moray
eels in just about every hole?
Most reef populations have been reduced, but few more noticably
than the morays. I can't say when this happened or how long it took.
I usually dive farther north, but when I was fairly new at diving,
San Clemente Island, Santa Barabara Island and especially Catalina
Island, had huge populations of Morays. There were some farther north,
but not near as many. At the northern islands you didn't think about
morays when reaching in a hole. At Catalina, you assumed there was
one in a hole until proven otherwise. Eagles Reef was commonly called
Eels Reef.
Now they never impressed me that much... other than those teeth and
that look. Man do they look mean. Oh and sure, they say they just
look that way, they are really timid and that is just their way of
breathing, but I can tell you from experience that those teeth work
and are unbelievably sharp and they will be used if you are
careless.
At Catalina, you would see lots of lobsters... but they usually
had one antennae pointed back, which meant there was a moray in the
hole with them. Better not try that grab... Too much of a maybe. I
even thoght about trying to feed a moray and then grab his buddy. I
never quite got around to trying it.
I sure remember coming over a rock when I met a moray coming over it
from the other side. Quick reverse time.
Shooting them is ill advised. They can get really pissy about it and
can go up your spear. I guess they are like my alligator. If you've
got teeth like that, you've got the instincts to use them and quite
an oral fixation as well. They are hard to clean and basically the
only way to make them taste good is to smoke them. Now I'm glad I
mostly ignored them.
As far as I can remember, biologists say that they don't breed
north of Mexico, so any you might see have made it up here as
juveniles.
I don't know what happened to them or when. (Anybody know?) I don't
think the commercial or sport fishers ever impacted them. I think
they were victims of a degraded ecology. I wonder if they would come
back if the Marine Reserves are created. In any case, if you are not
a long time diver, you would find it hard to believe how common moray
eels used to be.
Enjoy the diving, seahunt