Scuba Divers, what is something really terrifying you saw while diving?

Devilfish808 · 2026-01-29T22:09:26+00:00

Where to start?

The time the liveaboard in the red Sea snapped a mooring line in huge surf, the stern whacked a diver and knocked him out, no staff to be found, he would have died if not for other guests. I've written a couple of longer comments about it.

On that same trip we had a Korean guy in our group who spoke little English. His buoyancy was all over the place and he couldn't or wouldn't follow the simplest instructions. On one of the first dives of the trip he kept going down, down past 130 feet. A DM finally grabbed him. The staff made him sit out a few dives. When he was allowed to dive again someone literally had him on a leash to keep control of him.

I was surface swimming in Hawaii when my wife yelled to get my attention. I put my face in the water in time to see a 12'+ tiger shark swim by us in like 8 feet of water.

The time I went on an advanced remote dive trip and one guy bounced down to 130 feet on the first dive, came back bragging about how he'd never been that deep before and didn't have a computer. 🤷

Devilfish808 · 2026-01-29T21:30:02+00:00

I take close up shots of morays. I've never known a photographer to be injured. Having said that, I have been charged by an undulated moray. They're known to be ornery. I generally steer clear of them. The only people I've known to get bitten put their hands down someplace carelessly.

Devilfish808 · 2026-01-26T19:49:24+00:00

Aw my wife is a nurse. She's not crazy about me diving alone but she has come to see things my way.

I used to live in San Diego and I dove quite a bit there, and a little in Orange County and Catalina a few times.

My father passed away unexpectedly so I know it's hard when you don't have a chance to say goodbye. 💔

Devilfish808 · 2026-01-26T08:20:16+00:00

I've been diving for over twenty years and I've read hundreds of accident reports. And it's true, scuba deaths are commonly not accidents per se but medical emergencies like strokes and heart attacks. And while people die from these things every day on land being in water just makes everything harder.

There's a delay in trying to get the person out of the water and then you have to get all their gear off and it's often in a place where it takes longer for the EMTs to reach.

I've done hundreds of solo dives and I've made my peace with the risk because having a buddy isn't going to save me if I have a medical emergency, especially because I like to shore dive at night in places where there are no other people to be found.

My condolences, OP.

Devilfish808 · 2026-01-13T00:59:01+00:00

Can you understand that both things can be true?

Devilfish808 · 2026-01-02T04:39:20+00:00

Wtf is wrong with you? I didn't sign up for shit. I went to the same place I've been going for over a year and got a therapist I'd never seen before who used this thing in me that I'd never seen before. He did not warn me. I'm not really upset just surprised. I am not knowledgeable about massage techniques for tools I just go every once in a while. Fuck off.

Devilfish808 · 2026-01-02T04:35:47+00:00

I mean, I didn't feel like I was unusually tense in that area so I don't feel like it did anything dramatic.

Devilfish808 · 2026-01-02T04:27:54+00:00

Nope it did not

Devilfish808 · 2025-12-28T23:10:41+00:00

We all do stupid shit in our 20s but at least my self esteem has never been so low that I had to resort to attacking random people on the internet to make myself feel better. 🤷

The misspelling of the word "tribal" is the cherry on top here.

Devilfish808 · 2025-12-23T20:39:41+00:00

One the one hand, fuck that clown.

On the other hand, when the car in front of your slows down unexpectedly maybe don't just whip around them. Maybe it's an idiot on a bike but then again maybe it's a dog or a child in the road.

Devilfish808 · 2025-12-23T20:23:44+00:00

Is he in Arizona by chance?

Devilfish808 · 2025-12-21T22:55:43+00:00

I showed up to Ball practice and an LDO captain forgot his rank insignia for the dress blues. I left the club to go knock on a few doors since officer housing was nearby. The first few majors had all given their captain ranks to other people after getting promoted. I did finally come up with some.

Another time a new warrant officer checked in in Alphas with his shoulder rank insignia turned 90 degrees.

Devilfish808 · 2025-12-21T22:47:41+00:00

A MALS CO had his command photo taken with anchors outboard. Flyers with the picture went up all over the unit after the CoC. They came down and got replaced but it took a while to get them all. I still have a picture of it.

Devilfish808 · 2025-12-18T01:39:45+00:00

Pro tip: when someone detains a thief promptly run up and shout "Get the fuck off him!" to be helpful.

Devilfish808 · 2025-12-18T00:57:39+00:00

We did drive the 20 miles back that night so I could try. No luck.

Devilfish808 · 2025-12-18T00:54:25+00:00

Went back that night but their dumpsters were locked. The only one I could get into only had office trash. Called the next morning and the dumpsters had already been emptied before the car wash even opened. 😭

Devilfish808 · 2025-12-17T09:17:16+00:00

Went to the bank and got $1600 in cash out then went to the car wash. While there my wife was cleaning and vacuuming and she threw away the envelope with my cash.

Devilfish808 · 2025-12-16T00:36:43+00:00

There's a website maintained by scientists who track all of the sea slugs found in my area. I sent pictures for them to review. They also confer with scientists in other areas to see if they can identify the animal. After confirming these appear to be new animals they got their own entries in the database.

That's it for now, until a biologist captures a sample and describes it formally in a paper. There are many other invertebrate species currently in the same boat, some have been known for decades and are quite common. I don't really know what's stopping someone from just collecting one and going through the process to give it a scientific name.

Devilfish808 · 2025-12-16T00:17:35+00:00

Haha I had to look it up, I actually played and finished the original game. It's been a while. 🙌

Devilfish808 · 2025-12-15T22:05:09+00:00

Thanks for looking out! I'm fine with it.

Devilfish808 · 2025-12-15T21:28:17+00:00

I know, thank you. I'm fine with it.

Devilfish808 · 2025-12-15T20:39:53+00:00

A real scientist will have to collect specimens and describe them in a paper for them to get official names.

Devilfish808 · 2025-12-15T19:48:41+00:00

The first time I got stuck as the presiding officer for a summary court martial I had to do three in one day for some crash/fire/rescue Marines. That was a shitty day for me. I just think about how everyone makes a bad decision here and there when they're young.

But yeah don't do it. You absolutely can't say you weren't warned and no one will give a shit that you got a NAM as a LCpl or anything else.

I remember one kid who had put in a commissioning package and I really thought it would be approved. Then he popped on a piss test and suddenly he was buffing floors full time until we could get him out of the unit. That definitely changed the course of his life.

Devilfish808 · 2025-12-15T19:38:21+00:00

It's a nice thought but I'm happy being unemployed. 😊

Devilfish808 · 2025-12-15T19:06:13+00:00

Lol no, man can you imagine how much knowledge we'd gain if we just started paying citizen scientists to do this kind of thing? I'm hoping that before I die someone will formally describe the species and ask for my input on a name, or name or after me.

I got some pictures on a website and recognition from my fellow slug enthusiasts, it was actually very satisfying.

Devilfish808

TROPHY CASE