iStockphoto / BELOW_SURFACE
The Barracuda is the one fish that’s always freaked me out. Probably because the first time I ever encountered a Barracuda I came face to face with one and the menacing looking fish was inches away from my mask.
I was on a Boy Scouts camping trip at John Pennekamp State Park in the Florida Keys. We were snorkeling and I was cruising along some rocks when I came around a corner and found a stealthy Barracuda staring me right in the eyes, literal inches away from my face. I was young, it freaked me out, and that moment’s stuck with me forever.
There have always been urban legends of Barracudas attacking divers/humans. These stories are said to be largely embellished. You can check out a video below of a Barracuda charging a diver and coming straight at his face. For the most part, Barracudas want nothing to do with people. We’re significantly larger than they are and the fish recognize that. In the past 100 years, there have only been 25 documented attacks on a human, and most of those attacks involved a Barracuda trying to wrestle away a bloody/dying fish from someone spearfishing.
A Barracuda attack is really something that should never cross your mind. But with those gnarly teeth, it’s hard to ignore how menacing they look. It’s freaky. Anyway, here’s that video of a Barracuda ‘attacking’ a diver: