Barracuda - Friendly or Fearsome?

Barracuda are famous for their fearsome appearance and large size -upto 6 ft in length! Do they really deserve the dangerous reputation their powerful jaws and fang-like teeth encourage...?

Like sharks, barracuda have an undeseredly bad reputation for being dangerous to humans. They have been observed follwing divers and snorklers which may make one feel uncomfortable but they seem relatively harmless unless provoked.

Attack from a barracuda can be painful. There have been a few isolated cases where barracudas haven biten a human, but such incidents are very rare and most likely due to bad visibility. Barracudas will not continue to bite humans as they are not their normal food source and not a taste they like!

They are formidable hunters that are more than capable of defending themselves against any human harrassment. It can be dangerous to try touching or feeding barracuda and spearfishing near them as they are strongly attracted by the wounded fish.

Barracuda can occur alone and in schools around reefs or sometimes in the open ocean. As predators they rely on surprise and hunt by ambushing their prey with speeds of up to 43km/h!! They eat all types of fish. The larger barracuda tend to be more solitary in their habits whereas the younger fish often form in schools and may herd shoals of fish.

So are they really all that frightful..... perhaps only to sardines!!