Can I pet the d... ... eel...?
June 15, 2024 9:32 AM Subscribe
One of the rules of scuba diving is 11. Don't Touch Anything
I am not a rule follower by any means, but this one ... yeah
posted by falsedmitri at 9:45 AM on June 15 [4 favorites]
I am not a rule follower by any means, but this one ... yeah
posted by falsedmitri at 9:45 AM on June 15 [4 favorites]
What do they feel like? Are they smooth, rough, slimy? Do they feel kind of squishy or is it harder muscle? I know very little about eel anatomy - do they have smell receptors? Because there was a moment before the petting where the diver held out their hand and it kind of investigated it, almost like when you offer your hand for a dog or cat to sniff. I assume that this eel is very used to divers and they aren’t feeling threatened or cornered, but is it so chill because it usually gets treats from people or does it genuinely like a good scratch, no bonus snacks involved?
posted by Mizu at 9:48 AM on June 15
posted by Mizu at 9:48 AM on June 15
When you enter the ocean, you become the lowest tier in the food chain.
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 9:53 AM on June 15 [4 favorites]
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 9:53 AM on June 15 [4 favorites]
I was told the one hanging around the dive spot was used to being fed by local spear fisherman.
They feel...flowy. And you wouldn't really pet it like you would a land animal, more like very gently brush it with the back of your fingers.
The general rule is indeed not to disturb anything, this particular eel was not the usual.
Sea turtles can be very inquisitive and playful, and will glide next to you; but should not be touched. (Or chased, as they'll happy lead you away from your dive team. I'm told Spinner and Bottlenose dolphins can be like that too, but the only ones I've seen were just chilling.)
posted by snuffleupagus at 9:57 AM on June 15 [3 favorites]
They feel...flowy. And you wouldn't really pet it like you would a land animal, more like very gently brush it with the back of your fingers.
The general rule is indeed not to disturb anything, this particular eel was not the usual.
Sea turtles can be very inquisitive and playful, and will glide next to you; but should not be touched. (Or chased, as they'll happy lead you away from your dive team. I'm told Spinner and Bottlenose dolphins can be like that too, but the only ones I've seen were just chilling.)
posted by snuffleupagus at 9:57 AM on June 15 [3 favorites]
when….you put your hand in a crack
and you don’t get it back
that’s a moray
when the jaws open wide
and there’s more jaws inside
that’s a moray
when it swims on a reef
and has two sets of teeth
thats a moray
When an eel has a maw
with a pharyngeal jaw,
that's a moray
Where you swim o'er the sand
and you lose your left hand
thats a moray
When an Eel Climbs a Ramp
to Eat Squid From a Clamp,
That’s a Moray
posted by lalochezia at 10:09 AM on June 15 [36 favorites]
and you don’t get it back
that’s a moray
when the jaws open wide
and there’s more jaws inside
that’s a moray
when it swims on a reef
and has two sets of teeth
thats a moray
When an eel has a maw
with a pharyngeal jaw,
that's a moray
Where you swim o'er the sand
and you lose your left hand
thats a moray
When an Eel Climbs a Ramp
to Eat Squid From a Clamp,
That’s a Moray
posted by lalochezia at 10:09 AM on June 15 [36 favorites]
Jinx lalochezia, I was coming in to post the abridged, illustrated version.
I've no idea if eels feel similar to rays, but I took my niece to a touch tank and she described the cownose rays (the ones most likely to allow interaction) as feeling like wet gummy bears, which I agreed with. Wet gummy bears with a few grains of sand stuck to them. Very interesting sensation.
posted by EvaDestruction at 10:11 AM on June 15 [5 favorites]
I've no idea if eels feel similar to rays, but I took my niece to a touch tank and she described the cownose rays (the ones most likely to allow interaction) as feeling like wet gummy bears, which I agreed with. Wet gummy bears with a few grains of sand stuck to them. Very interesting sensation.
posted by EvaDestruction at 10:11 AM on June 15 [5 favorites]
Cool. The eel does seem to like it. Maybe a doggo in former life?
posted by davidmsc at 11:34 AM on June 15
posted by davidmsc at 11:34 AM on June 15
I get a puppet vibe from that cuddly eel. In an alternate universe, there's an "Undersea World of the Friendly Giant" and this moray is Jerome. "Look down. Wayyy down."
posted by pracowity at 12:38 PM on June 15
posted by pracowity at 12:38 PM on June 15
touch tha fishy
posted by fridgebuzz at 1:08 PM on June 15 [2 favorites]
posted by fridgebuzz at 1:08 PM on June 15 [2 favorites]
Metafilter: When you login, you become the lowest tier in the food chain.
posted by zaixfeep at 1:47 PM on June 15 [3 favorites]
posted by zaixfeep at 1:47 PM on June 15 [3 favorites]
So ‘fondling the eel’ is not a euphemism?
posted by Phanx at 1:58 PM on June 15 [2 favorites]
posted by Phanx at 1:58 PM on June 15 [2 favorites]
...when the jaws open wide
and there’s more jaws inside
Wondered if hat's where H.R. Giger got his double-jawed, toothed-tongue Xenomoph bright idea? Upon searching, no. Well, it was a thought.
posted by y2karl at 2:05 PM on June 15 [1 favorite]
and there’s more jaws inside
Wondered if hat's where H.R. Giger got his double-jawed, toothed-tongue Xenomoph bright idea? Upon searching, no. Well, it was a thought.
posted by y2karl at 2:05 PM on June 15 [1 favorite]
I have the pleasure of working at a facility that hosts a couple of moray eels, though they live in a tank and are for all intents and purposes "tame." They're charming critters. A real funny blend of timid and social. They have an uncanny way of moving around and sticking their heads out of rocks that absolutely makes them look like a puppet. They aren't aggressive, but larger in person than they appear in video and possessed of many teeth. Many teeth.
You'll note the diver approaches with a closed hand until already in contact. I understand in a lot of places with SCUBA tourism, folks get into the habit of feeding them hot dogs, which bear an unfortunate similarity to diver fingers. It's really best not to touch the eels, is what I'm saying.
But also, I get it. Eels are super cool.
posted by Phobos the Space Potato at 2:15 PM on June 15 [7 favorites]
You'll note the diver approaches with a closed hand until already in contact. I understand in a lot of places with SCUBA tourism, folks get into the habit of feeding them hot dogs, which bear an unfortunate similarity to diver fingers. It's really best not to touch the eels, is what I'm saying.
But also, I get it. Eels are super cool.
posted by Phobos the Space Potato at 2:15 PM on June 15 [7 favorites]
Takes a pet – no problem!
posted by chainringtattoo at 2:45 PM on June 15 [1 favorite]
posted by chainringtattoo at 2:45 PM on June 15 [1 favorite]
Ohh who's a horrifying denizen of the depths and akin to Cthulhu the Old One? You are, yes you are!
posted by JHarris at 5:09 PM on June 15 [7 favorites]
posted by JHarris at 5:09 PM on June 15 [7 favorites]
Since they prefer the shelter of crevices, I guess that they rub up against surfaces a lot? I wonder if that has anything to do with the eel enjoying the sensation of being pet. Are open-water fish less likely to enjoy being pet than fish that like to hide? Research needed.
posted by vibratory manner of working at 5:17 PM on June 15
posted by vibratory manner of working at 5:17 PM on June 15
Regular fish don't want to be touched at all. I'm no marine biologist, but I've spent a lot of time floating around Kauai's reefs and my sense is that the eels in the wild that put up with this were almost certainly conditioned with food, at least at first. (That's definitely how 'Stingray City' works too, in the Caribbean.) But the one I pet didn't need treats to be interested in divers, so while 'doglike' is probably projection there's something there.
posted by snuffleupagus at 8:36 PM on June 15 [1 favorite]
posted by snuffleupagus at 8:36 PM on June 15 [1 favorite]
I’ve seen people, plural, that have lost thumbs to a moray. And one who got a nasty wrist injury.
Nope. Would not pet.
posted by bashos_frog at 9:02 PM on June 15 [4 favorites]
Nope. Would not pet.
posted by bashos_frog at 9:02 PM on June 15 [4 favorites]
There are a surprising number of videos of divers playing with eels.
There is also at least one video of a guy hand feeding an eel that captures the moment it bites his thumb clean off. So definitely don’t do that.
posted by atoxyl at 11:45 PM on June 15 [3 favorites]
There is also at least one video of a guy hand feeding an eel that captures the moment it bites his thumb clean off. So definitely don’t do that.
posted by atoxyl at 11:45 PM on June 15 [3 favorites]
That some sea creatures interact with humans and even seem to enjoy physical contact says there's more going on inside than we've given them credit for.
posted by tommasz at 1:16 PM on June 16
posted by tommasz at 1:16 PM on June 16
Rita Mehta, who discovered the moray's mobile pharyngeal jaw and its role in feeding, is an acquaintance. She had finished grad school and been in California for a while, and then one morning I heard her voice coming out of the radio on NPR talking about eels. My brush with fame, I guess.
There are other animals with a second set of jaws, but the way the morays' jaws move was a surprise in 2007. That was somewhat after Alien came out.
posted by fantabulous timewaster at 9:04 PM on June 16 [2 favorites]
There are other animals with a second set of jaws, but the way the morays' jaws move was a surprise in 2007. That was somewhat after Alien came out.
posted by fantabulous timewaster at 9:04 PM on June 16 [2 favorites]
For the benefit of MeFi Olds who have been coming back here repeatedlty over the past two days: "My hovercraft is full of eels."
You can now leave this post, satisfied.
There are other animals with a second set of jaws, but the way the morays' jaws move was a surprise in 2007.
While it is indeed tempting, let's not turn the above legitimate, on-topic comment into a Kellyanne derail. ;-)
posted by zaixfeep at 8:24 AM on June 17
You can now leave this post, satisfied.
There are other animals with a second set of jaws, but the way the morays' jaws move was a surprise in 2007.
While it is indeed tempting, let's not turn the above legitimate, on-topic comment into a Kellyanne derail. ;-)
posted by zaixfeep at 8:24 AM on June 17
One of the paradoxes of scuba diving is that a shark is a huge draw for divers. People will come from miles around for a chance to share the water with a shark. Some estimates are that a resident shark is worth $1,000,000 a year in economic activity. Normal humans, of course, would stay far, far away.
So it's not entirely surprising that divers, used to thinking of sharks as an attraction, would pet eels. However, the shark doesn't look at you as food, but conversely is not threatened by you. Eels are another story. A diver is clearly a threat to an eel. And they have very sharp teeth which they display clearly. I do not understand anyone who would want to pet them. Once I was diving in Cozumel and came upon a green eel that was longer than I was. My hand could have fit in its mouth with room to spare. I did not try to pet it.
posted by wnissen at 9:43 AM on June 18 [1 favorite]
So it's not entirely surprising that divers, used to thinking of sharks as an attraction, would pet eels. However, the shark doesn't look at you as food, but conversely is not threatened by you. Eels are another story. A diver is clearly a threat to an eel. And they have very sharp teeth which they display clearly. I do not understand anyone who would want to pet them. Once I was diving in Cozumel and came upon a green eel that was longer than I was. My hand could have fit in its mouth with room to spare. I did not try to pet it.
posted by wnissen at 9:43 AM on June 18 [1 favorite]
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Even with the ones used to people, it's important not to cover their gills or startle them.
posted by snuffleupagus at 9:41 AM on June 15 [2 favorites]