Grey Reefs above, aggregating Groupers below - great pics by Paul McKenzie!
Check this out.
Is this awesome, or what?
These are spawning Camouflage Groupers, Epinephelus polyphekadion and you can see how the Grey Reefs attack as soon as the Groupers start ascending in the water column, with one successful predation on 0:55. I found the video on MCSI's Facebook page and having met those very Sharks who have bitten two of my friends (=intrepid Gallic feeders with no gloves) on different occasions, I must say that Michael Domeier who has documented the event is lucky to have escaped unscathed in the process!
The site?
Ah aint gonna tell you, tho Shark aficionados may have divined it from the initial scenes - and no, don't comment! Although this species is very often ciguatoxic (especially in that place!) and may thus escape persecution, spawning aggregations are often targeted by fishermen with catastrophic consequences for stocks.
Case in point: the depleted Nassau Groupers where however the Caymanian authorities appear to be doing a great job:
And then, there's us divers.
Here's what I believe is an equitable look at the pros and cons of dive tourism interfering with such iconic events, this being the famous mating aggregation of Cubera and Dog Snappers, and of the Whale Sharks feeding on their eggs at Gladden Spit.
Very much reminds me of Hanifaru where the Mantas are at risk of literally being loved to death!
Remember the Anthropogenic Allee Effect?
More in an upcoming post!
Is this awesome, or what?
These are spawning Camouflage Groupers, Epinephelus polyphekadion and you can see how the Grey Reefs attack as soon as the Groupers start ascending in the water column, with one successful predation on 0:55. I found the video on MCSI's Facebook page and having met those very Sharks who have bitten two of my friends (=intrepid Gallic feeders with no gloves) on different occasions, I must say that Michael Domeier who has documented the event is lucky to have escaped unscathed in the process!
The site?
Ah aint gonna tell you, tho Shark aficionados may have divined it from the initial scenes - and no, don't comment! Although this species is very often ciguatoxic (especially in that place!) and may thus escape persecution, spawning aggregations are often targeted by fishermen with catastrophic consequences for stocks.
Case in point: the depleted Nassau Groupers where however the Caymanian authorities appear to be doing a great job:
And then, there's us divers.
Here's what I believe is an equitable look at the pros and cons of dive tourism interfering with such iconic events, this being the famous mating aggregation of Cubera and Dog Snappers, and of the Whale Sharks feeding on their eggs at Gladden Spit.
Very much reminds me of Hanifaru where the Mantas are at risk of literally being loved to death!
Remember the Anthropogenic Allee Effect?
More in an upcoming post!
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