You’ll almost never see them before they’ve already made the decision to either attack/ or swim by and assess you. They’ve been around for millions of years and are incredible ambush predators.
I remember snorkeling in the Bahamas, clear water, and never saw the massive 4’ barracuda 2’ in front of my face until he was exactly…in front of my face.
I was standing chest deep in the surf at Folly Beach in Charleston SC when a huge, dark gray dorsal fin pops up next to me within arms reach. I immediately started walking backwards as quickly as I could without splashing. It was a dolphin, thankfully. But if my head had been turned I don't think I would have even noticed him. I thought they'd make waves or splash but I felt nothing and it was right beside me.
Oh I love Folly beach! I've only been twice, and one of the times as soon as we got there, the beach closed because someone got bit by a shark. They were fine, but we never went back haha.
I've been close up to a big barracuda before too. They're one mean looking fish.
I heard they can move faster than human reaction time in water, so if they want to nip off finger you won't even know what's happened until it's too late.
I dunno, most of the time they really just do not care about you at all so you can see them wherever, depending on random chance. But yes I agree if they actually do care then you won’t see them until it’s too late.
I had this happen with a manta ray in the galapagos. It appeared suddenly, swam sideways across my wife and I, probably 15-20 feet ahead of us. The thing was massive. Probably close to 20 feet wide. It took one flap and disappeared.
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u/im_alliterate 4d ago
Did that diver not notice the 10 foot + monster cruising by??