Northwest Dive Club

I'm curious if anyone else has been 'spined' by a ratfish. After discussing with some other board members at ThThTh I'm hoping to confirm it's somewhat rare.

My story: thefeve and I were at the Mukilteo Oil Docks this time last year and ended up completely surrounded by ratfish (hundreds!) We were innocently (and fearfully) swimming under the docks which were completely loaded with them, it was a really cool experience right up to the point when I felt a sharp sting in the palm of my hand somewhat like a bee. I wasn't sure if my mind was plying tricks on me as nothing but fish were near me. Then I noticed that they seemed to be ramming into us on occasion. When the dive ended my dry glove was wet and I had a prick in the palm of my hand and a hole in the dry glove to prove it. The pic is below, the inside of the glove is orange, the prick is near my thumb.
Two weeks later I'm drinking at the Diamond Knot with some random divers and they show me pictures of one of their hands swollen pretty large and tell me they were at the Mukilteo Oil Docks the week before attempting to grab a ratfish when one of them got 'spined' so deep (between the knuckles into the hand several inches) they were unable to remove it and had to go to the ER to have it removed via minor surgery.

I'm seeing ratfish at Mukilteo again and at Three Tree last week and have to admit I have a hard time relaxing and enjoying myself when they seem to keep following us and our lights extremely closely.

So anyone else? How common is it to get 'spined'?

We dive with them by the dozen at Three Tree, and no one has been spined on a dive that I was on, although I'm sure it has happened. The spining is a for defensive purposes, so I'm thinking as long as you don't give them reason to defend themselves you are just fine.

If someone is trying to grab one they deserve what they got, IMO. Screw with the wildlife and, well, if you get screwed oh well.

I have seen them get somewhat aggressive during what I assume is to be mating time. We had divers that were "flipped off" by a big male - I will let others describe that process - don't know if the ratfish was pissed or found them attractive!

So I wouldn't worry about it. Unless one blundered into one by not paying attention to where they were in the water I would say that getting spined, while possible, is pretty unlikely.

Tom Nic wrote:If someone is trying to grab one they deserve what they got, IMO. Screw with the wildlife and, well, if you get screwed oh well.

+1. No sympathy for anyone trying to grab a ratfish.

When I used to give dive club talks a few years back, I'd get to the Ratfish slide and inevitably someone would tell about someone they knew who had attempted to grab a ratfish and got nailed by the spine (which does have a toxin, as you know!). Not too brilliant of a move, I say.

And it always seemed to be in the fleshy part of the hand where they got stuck.

So, I've only heard of it happening as a defensive strike - not as an act of aggression.

- Janna

I have never experienced any aggression but I have had them bump into my mask a couple of times out of curiosity. They are usually fairly shy.

monk wrote: it was a really cool experience right up to the point when I felt a sharp sting in the palm of my hand somewhat like a bee. I wasn't sure if my mind was plying tricks on me as nothing but fish were near me. Then I noticed that they seemed to be ramming into us on occasion. When the dive ended my dry glove was wet and I had a prick in the palm of my hand and a hole in the dry glove to prove it. The pic is below, the inside of the glove is orange, the prick is near my thumb.

That little poke was the ratfish's way of telling you to stop swimming with your hands!

They seem to be drawn to the lights, I don't know why. Only fish I've seen that will turn and swim towards a divers light.

spatman wrote:

Tom Nic wrote:If someone is trying to grab one they deserve what they got, IMO. Screw with the wildlife and, well, if you get screwed oh well.

+1. No sympathy for anyone trying to grab a ratfish.

+2. They have defenses for a reason.

I'll chime in on that first dive. Just so its clear, WE were definitely not trying to grab the ratfish. And i'll agree - anyone messin' with wildlife deserves what they get.

Regarding the dive we had though, it was pretty wild. Not that i have a wealth of experience, but I couldn't believe how many ratfish were around. Kinda seemed like outta nowhere. We just kicked inside the pilings a bit and both of us were kinda like..."okay, this is eery". I felt a bump on my shoulder like someone poking me... turned around and saw one ratfish turn off (that had just bumped me with his nose) and saw Monk shaking his hand, after which we both were ready to be back out away from all of the darn things.

I think we were both just surprised at how curious, or not-scared they were of divers. I think being used to see most fish turn away soon as you shine a light on them, it was kind of unexpected. Ever since that dive, I've definitely tried to error on the side of giving those guys a little more space... They're still one of my favorite fishes to see around here for some weird reason though:)

+3. Trying to grab one is not too bright, and violates just about everything that we divers preach about interacting with underwater life. I've never been finned by one, though I see plenty of them at Three Tree, and once watched an amazing "feeding frenzy" under the Edmonds Oil Dock back when there was one. There must have been 20-30 of them swarming over a big clump of huge feather duster tubeworms. They didn't pay us any attention at all, we just sat there and watched them for several minutes, mesmerized.

If you weren't trying to grab one, and that poke looks fairly shallow, I wonder if yours was just an incidental bump that happened to carry a little something extra? Just a thought.

I too, have dived Mukilteo and been swarmed by ratfish. When there are so many of them it certainly seems as though the bumping and chaos is heightened. So I think that you were the unfortunate victim of chaos. Minimal hand movement while diving would most likely limit the chances of an accidental hand sting, as Jake said. With those ratfish swarming and bumping into themselves and divers its not surprising that a moving hand could potentially get stuck by a barb. So my advice would be when you are in that situation, keep your hands in front of you and kick through with limited hand motion.

Hmm . . . It would be inconceivable that I would ever swim and thrash about with my hands like a noob! :angry: Alright, maybe it has been known to happen . . . (especially last year). Thanks for checking my ego and skills in public Jake!

Haha, this is a likely theory and I like it as it makes the stinging somewhat self induced and therefore avoidable, I will relax a bit more around ratfish and pay extra attention to my hands!

monk wrote:Hmm . . . It would be inconceivable that I would ever swim and thrash about with my hands like a noob! :angry: Alright, maybe it has been known to happen . . . (especially last year). Thanks for checking my ego and skills in public Jake!
!

You'd prefer I let them think you're a ratfish grabbing fish abuser?

[Sigh] . . . let the truth be known.

I am not sure where I read it, but I recall reading that ratfish are the most abundant species of fish in Puget Sound, at the present time, from a biomass perspective. Many down deep -- where we use to have large numbers of Pacific Cod, walleye pollack and tomcod.