Visualize this, if you will. It' SCUBA time and you're chillaxin' in the beautiful, warm Hawaiian waters. There you are cruising along the reef just off Molokini Crater in the crystal clear waters of Kehei, Maui when you come across a huge spotted Moray Eel swimming along the bottom. What the?!?! Usually, when you come across eels, they are tucked away in their holes with their heads pointed out slowly breathing and looking like a guarding dragon in front of its lair.
But wait, just behind this free swimming serpent is a huge Ulua, or more commonly known as a Trevally in the Jack family, alongside and within feet, if not inches, of the gliding, erratically moving eel. So, thoughts come to my mind. Who's gonna eat whom? Who's chasing whom? Are they both running from something bigger that I haven't seen yet? Why am I not filming this? I quickly switch from taking still photos to firing up the video to capture this event that one does not get to witness too often. I mean it's not often you see a free swimming eel just a few feet away from you and with this huge Ulua in tow?! WOW!
So, after looking around to make sure something bigger is not after these two buggas, I begin to follow and film them. Now, I'm the bigger thing behind them in tow! Oh, they are not after each other, nor is one trying to eat the other. The are actually in a symbiotic hunting relationship. Yes, a relationship without dating, flowers, diamonds, drama, "benefits", or rules. This is purely a food thing and here's what happens. The eel moves about the reef in search of food and as he/she moves in and out of the coral, fish and small critters scatter about which then become quick yummy morsels for the escorting Ulua.
Are you ready to see the footage? Well, here is is:
And here is a link directly to the You Tube site just in case you can't view the video above.
You may be wondering just where exactly was this video taken? I was diving with Captain Charley Neal and the gang at Scuba Shack in Kehei, Maui. With the fastest dive boat in the Islands, Charley gets you out to Molokini Crater in no time and both inside the crater and the back wall drift dive support some of the best diving in the Islands. Check 'em out next time you're in Maui!
Well, I hope you enjoyed the photo, video, and little instruction on symbiotic hunting. Next time you're cruising along the reef and see you're with a free swimming Moray Eel or an Ulua, look around, because it's symbiotic hunting buddy may nearby as well. And, if all the creatures on the reef are fleeing in the same direction, really look good behind you for you may be on the menu too. :)
Mahalo for Diving with Captain Bobby Mitchel
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