SC - Gee, what can we do with an eel....

[Siegfried Heydrich]

    You did the right thing. You indicated that a) you didn't want to eat
him, and b) you didn't want to move into his hole. He, on the other hand,
indicated that he wasn't going to tear you into chum for being there. Ain't
nature wonderful?
    Actually, morays have got a really bad reputation that's completely
undeserved. If you scare them (like reaching down the crevice they're hiding
in), they'll bite out of reflex, and as long as you move, they'll hang on.
On the other hand, you can entice them out of their little hidey-holes with
luscious tidbits of fish & lobster (a great way to dispose of shorts), and
they'll come out, eat from your hands, and let you pet them. DON'T grab.
They're very trusting as long as you're feeding them, but they're not
stupid, either. And there's NOTHING like having something 8' long with teeth
as long as your fingers delicately taking food from your hand. Sometimes, we
only THINK we're at the top of the food chain . . .
    And they're quite tasty, BTW, as they're not carrion feeders - they only
eat live prey, and their meat is very sweet and succulent.

    Sieggy

>Anyway, while out poking
> around in the reef one day (wishing there was a way to waterproof the
> little book of cool creatures so I could take it out with me), I came
> around a corner, and out from an opening about the size of a garbage-can
> lid comes the moray eel. His head was about the size of a football, and
> my god! Those teeth! Think the alien momma in _Alien_ and it's about
> right. I stopped, he stopped, we regarded each other, and I slowly
> backed away, wondering what in fish language would mean "Oops! Excuse
> me!" When I was about 20 feet or so back he went *shoop!* back in his
> hole. I went home for the day. One monster is enough for me.