Those who spend enough time in the water eventually are rewarded with incredible sightings, and to watch a diving cormorant attacking a wolf eel definitely qualifies as incredible.
Or, as Jackie Patay puts it, a "total absolute critter thrill." (Pay attention to the footage at about the 50-second mark.)
She captured the footage Sunday at La Jolla Shores in San Diego, and shared it on her "Diver Jackie" Vimeo channel and the Bethy Scuba Facebook page.
Patay describes what happens after she had spotted the juvenile wolf eel:
"Suddenly over my right shoulder, squeezing between me and the wall, a maniacal Cormorant attacked the poor Eel, who, in a split second recoiled, and fled the other way. The Cormorant gave chase, grabbing it a few times. They went around the point, up the wall, and then over the flats.
"The Eel sped off into the kelp/rocks on the other side of ledge, while the nutty bird stopped to pick at something in the sand. It then turned its efforts on me; initially I couldn’t see it – what with all the stuff attached to me - but I could feel its pointy beak poking my legs.
"Then the bird foraged spastically on the slope, grabbed a fish, and as it darted up for the surface, it grabbed a Sea Star, but let it go, and I watched it cartwheel back down the wall. Kinda comical. I’m glad no one was around, as I may have done quite the happy dance."
A larger wolf eel might have reacted differently. The serpent-shaped fish--which are neither wolves nor eels--are imposing hunters which strike like snakes to capture drifting prey.
Adults boast powerful jaws and molars that enable them to crush crabs, sea urchins and other shellfish. They also boast very sharp canine-type teeth that allow them to hold onto slithering fish.
They can measure to about eight feet and are found along the Pacific coast from Baja California to Alaska, west to Russia and south to the Sea of Japan.
--Pete Thomas
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