Triggerfish: You zigged when you should have zagged, pardner

We love to see it

Aren't the poisonous spikes dangerous for sharks to eat the lionfish? Going into their mouth and getting stabbed?

kzbin.infoF5Pq87vCuX0?si=XZ8NzFoI63uYQRYd

Todd, so well captured on video. So true that the beauty of the creatures is unexpected. And the sea lion action is almost always a big hit with divers. I have dived, Elly, Ellen and Eureka and I was amazed on my dive day that were so many scallops. One time, I had those tiny sea stars all over my wetsuit...it was impossible to avoid them. But once I experienced the Huntington Beach oil spill from the shore, I'm all for limiting future sea floor drilling, especially at one of the busiest ports in the world. And that is what caused the spill...the ships ripping up the underwater infrastructure. It seems a lot of California oil rigs experience a leak. I wish the oil companies could fix that.

Todd, so well done and explained in detail. The GoPro was the perfect video camera for this dive. It gave us time to admire what we were seeing instead of messing around with camera setup and settings. We only had about 20 minutes on this site before we had to move to a shallower site. You really need both dives to take it all in. The first time you see it it feels a little like shark pandemonium. But I found on the 2nd dive, I was able to take in the spectacle and count myself privileged to be able to witness these beautiful creatures up close. My best shark dive ever.

How about the stringers?

They are learning!!!

Very nice. It looks like mercury

It’s accually prohibited since sharks started to follow and attack divers because of this

"Those damn invasive species" says the worst of invasive species, humans!

There is no straight answer to your question, but considering that lionfish are destroying other species, I think it's justified to break normal "rules".

Lionfish: *exists* Triggerfish: What was that?

It is never acceptable to feed an already dead prey to another animal in the food chain because it creates an artificial scenario. They tried this with sharks and realized the sharks weren't learning to hunt lion fish --they were learning to wait around spear fishers because the spear fishers tended to feed them lion fish. Animals are really, really good at learning to seek out the exact same scenario for food (wait around a fisherman until he gives you a lionfish) rather than learning an element of the scenario (eating the lion fish).

It seems the trigger fish has no problem tearing up the fish with his beaked teeth, thereby avoiding the poison spines. However, it appears the grouper is eating the lionfish whole and getting poked with spines, thereby spitting the fish out

This looks like a really good idea even with the posible downsides cuz once a single spicies learns how to hunt lionfish they will gain a massive advantage over other predators whom do not eat the fish and thus will incentivose them to hunt them down.

I have a question: Can we train land predators to hunt invasive species on land?

Killing invasive species should rarely be considered controversial. But I guess you who are in the field are the only ones who can really tell what works or not. I guess those lion fish have toxic spines that makes them basically invulnerable? But that fish that wanted to eat it is one that crushes corals? So maybe that's why it's tough enough to go after it. But maybe it can't catch it when it's alive? Really interesting if it's possible to teach these marine animals any new behaviors. Especially since they are so specialized since deep time to their different niches.

Disney would get angry. Hakuna Matata no longer exist in the ocean.

I bet the lion fish ate one of the trigger fish baby

Some of the best sushi ever!

Why would it be a bad thing to teach native fish that lionfish are tasty? Seems like the best plan to me.

we must let those beautiful big fish alive as they will destroy the Lion fish and all coral fish will be safe ?

Please spell it out. Why is it considered a bad idea to teach other fish to eat the lionfish? "Interfering" with nature? I submit the interference was the introduction of the lionfish to a non-native environment.

What a beautiful spear design

Ok but aren’t they poisonous?

That black and white fish was a grouper? How pretty

The idea of retraining the ecosystem to balance out the invasive species is so smart. It's like the species of monkeys that learned and handed down to dunk sweet potatoes in the ocean to wash and flavor their food. Get that epigenetic memory going n hopefully it'll turn into instinct.

If the sharks and other fishes learned that Lion fishes are edible, I think you can just kill the Lion fish then stuff it to a coral or something, the shark then may follow you but you should just leave it be until the shark finally learns to hunt by itself, altough it might still approach divers.

Learn about fish biology. All fish have sensory systems that tell them if their prey is dead or alive. When you think about animal behavior, stop using human sensory systems as your basis. Humans are terrible at knowing what is going on around them. Fish can sense salinity, temperature, light, sound, movement, and even the heartbeat of another fish. Or the lack thereof in this case. Also can taste/smell rather well. There are studies showing sharks smelling a drop of blood from over a mile away. Trigger fish is eating the lion fish because it is dead and therefore a free meal. The seemingly urgent actions of the triggerfish are because it knows there are other (bigger) predators lurking nearby. Just like a jackal stealing scraps from a lion kill. Opportunity for free calories. Dead fish don't last long when live fish are around. Why do you think fishing hooks were invented? The grouper probably got stung while trying to swallow the lion fish. Not hard to figure out the lion fish defenses still work for some time after death. Ask any of the fisherman accidentally stung while filleting a long dead lion fish.

“Oh good, my to-go order is ready!”

Love it!splendid picture, Oceans!

I believe they've been doing this with crocodiles in some areas

The Shark Bytes channel just did a video on this, people feeding the sharks were getting attacked and Florida has banned feeding sharks. Sadly the population of reef sharks are declining in the areas where lionfish are gaining so that wasnt a viable solution, according to the video. Divers feeding wildlife lionfish were also getting harrased and attached by Moray Eels too. The fishing of Lionfish by divers is the only option now,abd that too is a losing battle.

Its biting the prongs on your spear you muppet do you not realize that?

How about teaching moronics people NOT TO RELEASE INVASSIVE SPECIES

Hey, find your own spot to hide. You are giving me away!!!

Where did this place take action?

Noooo !! I can’t stand any one who kill lionfish ! You ARENT GOD !!!

I guess, but I duno how it would hunt a living lion fish with all its poison

Efforts to teach sharks to eat lionfish have largely "failed" because while some sharks can consume lionfish, their natural predatory behavior doesn't typically include targeting them, and attempts to train them often lead to issues like sharks becoming too accustomed to humans and exhibiting aggressive behavior due to the act of feeding them lionfish directly, making it an impractical and potentially dangerous solution to the lionfish invasion.

slay queeeennnnn!!!!!!!!!

Lionfish! The Donald Trump of the sea world, invasive and poisonous.

I was once attacked by a triggerfish. It gnawed into my flipper. 😅

May be a dumb question but wouldn't eating a lionfish absolutely shred the stomach of a shark for example? Seems dangerous.

I am usually opposed to feeding wildlife but if it teaches the triggerfish that lion fish are good to eat it will help the reef balance out naturally

I thought that the lionfish were poisonous? Don’t the sharks get just a mouthful of spines? Poisonous ones?

Seems sort of obvious that the Grouper which swallows prays whole, can't eat the spiny venomous Lionfish, while the triggerfish that feeds by biting off chunks with its teeth, can.

U all in the deep u do what u do get rid of them lionfish i wont tell

Im guessing its seeing you as another fish, and youre about to eat that lionfish, but "PSYCH!..I GOT HIM OFFAYEW, SUCKAH!"...and then its either like.."YUCK!"...OR.."Hey!, This is pretty good!"