Saw This When I Went Snorkelling!

[-cAtFiSh-]

The other day i went snorkelling at a beach near me and it was my first time snorkelling there. I mostly saw fish that i had seen elsewhere but i also saw one of these which i had NEVER seen before:

Its a long-tailed catfish, Euristhmus lepturus, a marine catfish. The one i saw wasnt black though, it was a brown/yellow colour and about 25 inches i think, cant really remember. It was very exciting when i saw it, it was like a mixture between a pleco and an eel

 

[demonmagus]

wow looks nice

 

[prankster705]

Lucky you, looks very interesting...

 

[Animation]

Wish i lived right near sea i have to go on holiday to go

 

[frazoo]

the way you describe it and the pic sounds like a yellow bullhead with a longer tail and in saltwater

 

[CFC]

Last time i went snorkeling we got followed by a shark, id much rather have seen that catfish.

 

[timmystood]

Last time i went snorkeling we got followed by a shark, id much rather have seen that catfish.

That's what put's me off diving and snorkling. When I was in Cyprus I went snorkling because I love the ocean but I was always looking around for sharks! Crazy I know because I would probably enjoy an encounter with a massive fish like that!

Where you scared? What type of shark was it? What happened?

 

[CFC]

It was off the South coast of England at a place called West Bay in Dorset. We had gone out quite early in the morning so we could avoid the crowds to snorkel over a patch of rocks about 100 feet off the beach in about 20 feet of water where lots of small fish and crabs were living before all the noise from people splashing in the water scared them further out. I am not a great snorkler and always forget to not breathe through my nose so my goggles allways mist up, i just lifted my head to wipe them again and saw the sharks fin on the surface heading towards us. I tapped my mrs on the shoulder and told her and we both swam back to the sure with the shark slowly but surely following us, as we got out it came to within 20 feet or so of the beach and then turned out, we later identified it as a thresher shark and estimated that it was roughly 8 feet long.

 

[timmystood]

I've just done some research on the thresher shark! Quite rare in these waters! But apparently not a man eater, but can injure swimmers with it's tail.

Must have been scary for you - when I went to Australia I turned down the oppurtunity to go diving because I was scared of sharks (Real shame, because I love the ocean!)