Red Sea Safety
Guide to Dangerous Marine Animals
By
Peter Vine
Introduction
Almost as soon as the anchor was heaved overboard, myself and the six other divers hit the mirror calm sea. It was such a relief to cool-off after the scorching heat of that July afternoon. The old wooden Sambuk which had carried us to famous Shaab Rumi reef (once inhabited by Jacques Cousteau's aquanauts and their underwater village) had made a steady six knots all the way from the harbour, which we had left early that day. As the sun had risen higher in the sky we had sought relief from sun-burn by hiding in the shade of the furled sail, but for the last two hours of the trip there had been no escape from the blistering heat and hence our rapid plunge into the crystal clear cool waters of the Red Sea. It was wonderful to be underwater again and able to glide down to the reef terrace to experience the tranquility of this Douglas Allen, described it Douglas Allen, described it ـــ "a magic place".
When Cousteau's team vacated the reef in 1965, they thoughtfully left behind the underwater garage which had been used for parking and repair of their diving vehicle. Now the domed yellow garage, which sits close to a steeply inclined reef-face, had a rich covering of live corals and was inhabited by fish instead of divers. After a brief stop to review our acquaintance with the garage and its residents, Doug and I headed on down along the reef slope towards the dark blue waters which had been such a happy hunting ground for Cousteau's divers. It was here that they had filmed sharks and manta rays cruising along the reef-edge and our thoughts were on them as we descended past huge gorgonian fans and luxuriant coral colonies, through an abundance of marine-life which we had rarely encountered.
At around 1 00 feet deep we caught sight of a large shark swimming along the "drop-off" and we glanced around for a protected cranny where we could sit quietly and observe the comings and goings of this marine metropolis. Doug spotted it first and it took me a few seconds to recognise the object which he was gesticulating towards. It appeared to be a metal grill lying against the reef together with some sort of rope or cable. Whatever it was, it was man-made, and must have been part of the debris left behind by the Conshelf team. When we swam closer I realised why Doug had been so interested. It was in fact an old shark-cage which must have provided a safe haven for divers when they were photographing baited sharks. It had already been tied to the reef for ten years and there was little wonder that it was heavily encrusted with a "fuzz" of hydroids and other fauna.
In the years since Cousteau's early underwater experiments, divers such as ourselves had become more familiar with Red Sea sharks and perhaps less cautious. We had almost forgotten in fact that this was "Highway l" for what Doug referred to as "the biggies"! Glancing around to check on our own position I was greeted by a fairly close view of a medium sized "Silvertip Reefshark" (Carcharhinus albimarginatus) which looked as interested in us as we were in the old shark protection cage. It seemed like a good idea to try out the cage so we prised open the door and squeezed into the confined quarters surrounded by narrowly spaced metal bars. For a brief moment we felt safe and then we both realised our mistake. The inquisitive shark was not our problem — in fact we could not leave the cage fast enough!
We were being stung so violently that I would have defied anyone to survive in that situation for more than about a minute. Whatever it was that had "got at us" seemed every bit as dangerous as the shark which remained in our vicinity.
We had no choice but to take our chances with the sharks and escape from our hidden tormentors. Already I could see weal marks on Doug's arms and legs, so taking one look at each other, we headed back towards the surface. We both realized that we had foolishly brushed up against the bars of the shark- cage and were suffering the painful consequences of an unwelcome meeting with a stinging hydroid — probably, I told myself, Lytocarpus philippinus, but leaving positive identification for a future occasion, we spent the next hour on board the Sambuk, applying surgical spirits to our stings and thus immobilising any adhered stinging nematocytes.
On reflection later I realised that the so called dangers of diving or swimming on coral-reefs more often emanate from small and fairly inconsequential looking creatures than from the much maligned "dangerous animals" such as sharks and barracudas. Some of the worst mishaps associated with watersports arise from Man's foolhardy or ignorant actions in an environment where — however hard he tries to prove otherwise he will never be anything other than a temporary guest.
In this book I have set out to provide a basis for understanding the potential dangers which may be encountered while diving among Red Sea coral reefs. Informed divers or reef-walkers may in fact do so in the knowledge that their chosen leisure activity is not inherently more dangerous than any other outdoor pursuit. Marine creatures which one encounters in the Red Sea are not out to attack Man, but may, under certain conditions of provocation, unleash their defence mechanisms and can thus unwittingly cause mild pain and temporary discomfort or more severe suffering and, in a few cases, even death of the unsuspecting and generally speaking unprepared visitors to their marine world.
As the saying goes: "there's more than one way to kill a cat". Marine creatures can inflict pain in a number of different ways and i have taken this broadly functional approach in discussing the dangers associated with Red Sea coral reefs rather than adopting a format based on scientific classification of the organisms concerned and their individual characteristics. In many cases an animal which may be quite safe to hold in the hand is poisonous to eat, and when it comes to those creatures which can inflict painful or even lethal wounds, the rogues' gallery contains more than sharks and barracudas.
However careful the reader may be while wading, snorkelling or SCUBA diving on Red Sea reefs, it is quite probable that sooner or later he or she will be faced with one of the dangers described in this book. Such an encounter may be a personal problem or that of a friend. Whichever occurs, it is important that rapid and informed action is taken to control the situation. Medical opinion varies in some cases about the best treatment for poisoning, stings or bites inflicted by various marine organisms but there is now sufficient experience of most of the accidents which tend to occur in the Red Sea to enable the recommendation of effective first aid. This book presents the latest available information on this subject and it should provide a useful handbook for all those who, like the author, enjoy spending their time in and around the Red Sea.
The book has been divided into a main text and a series of appendices. The latter are not directed at the general reader but are designed to provide medical practitioners with basic guidelines regarding specific aspects of marine bio-medicine.
While every care has been taken to ensure that this information is correct and up to date it must be stressed that it is not intended to replace the experience and judgement of medics called to attend marine related cases. Refinement of treatment procedures in such cases results from communication of actual experiences by doctors working in the region. The author would be most interested to hear the views and comments of such medical personnel in order that future editions can be updated and treatment procedures improved.
Contents
■ Introduction
■ Dangerous to eat
■ Dangerous to Totch
■ Dangerous to Encounter
■ General First Aid in the Marine Environment
■ Board Sailing and Diving Safety
■ Medical Appendices
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