Mar 23 2020
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Honey Combs of the Sea – Honey Comb Moray Eel @ Sodwana Bay ~ South Africa

By Sodwana Bay

For those who follow our blogs you must’ve read the article about the cute small Snowflake eel.. They may be ankle biters, but no real harm will come from them, especially that they are so small and are super shy rather choosing to flea then attack! But what do you do when you encounter their much larger cousins that might be able to bite your ankle right off given the chance… Well our solution was to flee to the nearest, shallowest smallest rock we could find! Ok, let me reverse too the beginning! We were on our way back to shore after experiencing a super awesome neap tide… The water was only 0.3 m high in low tide and was the shallowest we have ever seen in Sodwana! It was already quite an eventful day, we found a puffer fish, a lionfish and a snowflake eel all in one day… That has to be a record of how many exotic creature we found in one day! We were almost back on dry land when Tom stopped us dead in our tracks, luckily he spotted the eel, we were literally heading straight for it and if Tom didn’t see it might even have stepped on… We switched the GoPro on to try film it – wasn’t aware about how it loves the camera spot light. It left it’s sunbathing spot to come show off to the camera, but obviously a wild animal swimming straight to you especially with razor sharp teeth usually means RUN!!!! Like I mentioned before, we chose the smallest, shallowest, nearest rock we could find… I think the people that saw us standing on this tiny rock must’ve thought we were crazy! Our eel was not very happy, if it really wanted to, it could’ve grabbed one of our legs, but instead it swam as close as possible to rock and swam past us… We later watched the video of this encounter, unfortunately nothing worth showing, but we figured out the poor eel was just so excited to have it’s picture taken and was really just tryna pose for the camera… I think this poor Eel was very disappointed in us for running away from it and got mad tryna get one more shot of it’s self in the camera… We have heard of a really friendly moray Eel that loves the attention of cameras, obviously we always thought the eel lived in the open deep water seas, where all the Scuba divers go to swim… But now we know it likes to visit the snorkelers as well… Kinda disappointed now because we could’ve had really awesome footage of a beautiful Honey Comb Moray Eel… The worst part about it all was that while doing some homework about these creatures to my article – I found out all though they might be dangerous, they don’t really care to hunt during the day and will much rather sleep or sunbathe than attack anything… You really have to annoy the poor creature for it to even think about fighting you off in the day time – although night time is an entire different story, you don’t wanna be mistaken for food… Next time I encounter a Honeycomb Moray Eel, I will definitely be cautious, but not so afraid to give it, it’s 15 seconds of fame… A few Fun Facts about these beautiful creatures: These Honeycomb Eels has numerous names due to it’s numerous different spotted patterns… Some have more leopard spots that are quite large almost resembling patches, whilst others like the one we encountered is super spotty like a cheetah. Their main color an vary between light yellow and white, like we have experienced it all depends on how the light hit the Eel and how deep it is! The spots on the Eel can vary from the Eel its self or because of its environment… Such as if the Eel lives in clear water close to reefs, the spots could be much larger as apposed to those who live deeper in the water without much reefs around… The ones we discovered is actually the opposite way round, but maybe that’s just Sodwana… Like most Eels the Honeycomb Eel loves warm water and will even settle for the red sea… These Eels can be found anywhere in the indo-west pacific ocean… They like to stay close to the reefs during the day and are ready to hunt at night! Next time you wanna plan a vacation make sure to book a beach trip to Sodwana – These Eels are real characters… Honeycomb Eels love tight spaces… Like any other Eel Honeycombs love hiding away in tight fitting holes, that’s if they can find a spot that is uninhabited by another creature… If there are no small holes which the Eel can sleep in they will also reside to lying under coral/rock ledges, since they are nocturnal, they are rarely seen active during the day, if seen at all! We were extremely lucky to have found this Honeycomb Eel Sunbathing during the day out in the open! Honeycomb Eels are super efficient for their environment, they help keep invasive species at bay, such as the Lion Fish. Most already know that lion fish can be super invasive and destroy entire coral reefs if not kept in check by their natural predators… I am so glad we have Moray eels in our reefs at Sodwana Bay, we have spotted a few Lion Fish in the rock pools already, good thing they will never the opportunity to take over our reefs… There are to other popular names for the Eels: the laced Moray or Leopard moray, makes sense on their color variations… Honestly I always imagined every Eel been really ugly… Since the most popular Eel is the electric Moray Eel and that one is super ugly!!! But meeting a couple Snowflake eels and now the Moray Eel I found that the myth of all eels been ugly is just…

Mar 18 2020
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The super noisy bunch – Cicadas @ Sodwana Bay ~ South Africa

By Sodwana Bay

Description of the Cicada: Cicadas are large insects made conspicuous by the courtship calls of the males. They are characterised by having three joints in their tarsi, and having small antennae with conical bases and three to six segments, including a seta at the tip. The Auchenorrhyncha differ from other hemipterans by having a rostrum that arises from the posteroventral part of the head, complex sound-producing membranes, and a mechanism for linking the wings that involves a down-rolled edging on the rear of the fore wing and an upwardly protruding flap on the hindwing. Cicadas are feeble jumpers, and nymphs lack the ability to jump altogether. Another defining characteristic is the adaptations of the fore limbs of nymphs for underground life. The relict family Tettigarctidae differs from the Cicadidae in having the prothorax extending as far as the scutellum, and by lacking the tympanal apparatus. Anyone who has ever stayed near a cicada hoard will know the eerie screams of Cicadas. Although they only awake every 17 years, their songs can quite literally be deafening… In the city I guess Cicadas try steer far away from, with people chopping down their habitat all the time and they just can’t compete with the constant buzzing of the city life… I would also much rather come sing my song in an environment that appreciates it… These creatures are really ugly matching their real annoying song… a couple of Cicadas can still be bearable, their song can be matched to some grasshoppers… But when those couple Cicadas become a couple hundred or even thousand Cicada’s it can really become a noisy band… Kinda like allowing your teenager to start a band in your garage with no noise limits! All though they are completely harmless – besides almost destroying your hearing – I think a lot of people are super tempted to kill these bugs the moment they see them… They are one of the ugliest bugs I have ever seen – apart from the Roman/Sun Spider – a frequent visitor her in Sodwana Bay -That is saying a lot coming from me, since I really try see the beauty in every creature. Living near Sibaya Lake close to Sodwana Bay we get a lot of Cicadas frequently flying into our house – Wouldn’t be surprised if some have even made a permanent residency inside… The worst part about these ugly “buggers” is when you getting ready to wash dishes and just as you about to start a cicada decides to in dive in your water or you grab the water jug to fill the dogs water bowl and one of these critters has been taking a swim in the water and pretends to be dead until you remove it from the bowl and it starts break dancing – This literally happened to me this morning – was not a pleasant early morning surprise… Cicada hiding in a drum… Anybody know which Cicada this might be? A few fun Facts about these creepy – Deafening Creatures – The Cicada: Each Cicada Species has a Variance of when they emerge… Some Cicadas will emerge once a year for a short while, whilst others will disappear for up to 17 years… This is a relief on your ears, that they don’t permanently have to hear the onslaught of Cicada singing… Where do Cicadas go after their cycle is done? Well you would think they would die off after they finished playing their song, but in actual fact they just regroup underground mating and keeping their populations strong and safe from predators… Our planet hosts some what – 1300 species of Cicada species as far as we know and South Africa has 150 Cicada Species of which have been discovered so far… Ok so I have done a little more homework on Cicadas, not all of them are as ugly as the ones we see around Sibaya… But honestly if I was a bug scientist, Cicadas would not be my first choice to study… Cicadas have their benefits to the environment… They help you prune your trees, they keep your tree roots in check and when they finally die they help fertilize your plants and rejuvenate the nitrogen in your soil. Best fertilizer ever! Just be careful if one of these critters lands on you, it might be harmless just looking for a place to rest or it might mistake your arm for a tree branch and attempt to feed… I will be very sure to shake any cicada off me from now on, not that I haven’t done this is in the past anyway… It is claimed that they don’t bite, but I am not really willing to find out what attempted feeding on feels like… It’s strange to think these small flying bugs can make such a huge noise and what is even more bizarre it is only the males who make these noises, hoping to woo the girls… I bet what we perceive as just horrible deafening noise is a beautiful melody to female cicada’s… But how can you choose between hundreds or even thousands of men tryna pursue you… That must be a really tough choice… Cicadas are a prize food in certain cultures and exotic nations, such as the Chinese, Central Africa even the posh ancient Greeks ate Cicadas… People who eat Cicadas claim the females are much more meatier then the males, some people will even eat their eggs and nymphs as well… No thank you, that is one thing I will not ever try is bugs, I think most girls will agree on this topic, bugs and guts is off the menu!!! Oddly enough there are a lot of myths and legends about these strange creatures… I really don’t wanna get into all the myths as there a lot of them… Obviously on top of the list would be Chinese myths along side the Japanese tails and Legend is not a true legend if the Greek gods were not…

Mar 17 2020
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The Steve Crab – Hermit Crab @ Sodwana Bay ~South Africa

By Sodwana Bay

Biological Description: Most species have long, spirally curved abdomens, which are soft, unlike the hard, calcified abdomens seen in related crustaceans. The vulnerable abdomen is protected from predators by a salvaged empty seashell carried by the hermit crab, into which its whole body can retract. Most frequently, hermit crabs use the shells of sea snails (although the shells of bivalves and scaphopods and even hollow pieces of wood and stone are used by some species). The tip of the hermit crab’s abdomen is adapted to clasp strongly onto the columella of the snail shell. Most hermit crabs are nocturnal. Source: WikiPedia I am sure everybody has heard the expression that some people are hermits… being reclusive. We were super excited to find a “Steve” crab in the rock pools… On Sunday, we were prowling Sodwana Bay beach for more video Footage for our youtube channel, unfortunately the tide was still a little bit high and we really didn’t want to wait till the low tide so we scoured what little rock pools could be seen. It’s not as exciting as being in the water it’s self, but you can find a few cute and different creatures that cling to the rocks and corals instead of swimming with the big fish. Hermit Crabs are definitely the kind to cling to rocks and coral and really hate being disturbed… Just like a Hermit person! I really wish we could have picked up one that wasn’t afraid to come out of it’s shell, but maybe one day one of these scaredy crabs might just allow us to see it’s true beauty! On the Left hand side is an illustration of what the hermit crab looks like without a shell   – Source: Mother Nature Network and on the left is a smaller crab taken by our GoPro. Both are hermit crabs, although they might be different kinds of Hermits they look similar to each 0ther, I am no expert in this matter… A few fun Facts about the “Steve” Crab: Anyone who has ever heard of a hermit crab most probably know this already… Unlike most crabs who have their own shells that shed and grow with them – the Hermit crab is designed to constantly scavenge for old shells as it gets older… Now we know who keeps on stealing the really cool and intact shells… This is something I really didn’t think existed – You get land hermit crabs and you get marine crabs… I know crabs stay close to water, but I always thought they were more like seals stay close to water to keep their skin moist and of course their main source of food is in the sea… But this is not the case both terrestrial and marine Hermit Crabs have gills and constantly need to keep their gills wet at all times – the only difference is terrestrial crabs have adapted to prolonged times out of water, whilst marine crabs can only last a few minutes out of water – Some hermit crab species are also kept as pets, but I would do my homework before getting one as a pet…. It’s a tough world for a crab – Hermit crabs have quite a tough life when it comes to choosing a home – Because they are constantly growing they constantly looking for a new house – much like a teenager, always looking for the next best thing – Some Hermit crabs will fight till the death to get that perfect home, whilst others will do the more civil thing and create chains waiting to get the right sized shell… A crab that is desperate for a new shell will often go pick on another crab – they will tap the other crabs shell until it comes out, once the crab is out the shell they will fight until one of them accepts defeat – this is kinda sad, they can loose limbs or even die from these encounters… At the end of the battle – the victorious crab gets to take over or keep the shell that was fought over… Now that I think about it – it’s kinda like having two neighbors who hate each other and finally battle it out for the prettiest girl on the block… The chain effect – Now this is a pleasant way to get what you want without the violence… One crab walks up to a shiny pretty shell he/she really wants, from a distance it looks to be the perfect size, unfortunately when it gets there – the shell is to big for it and will not do for it’s size… So it sits and waits… Hermit crabs will sit and guard that shell for up to eight hours if it has to – Mr Hermit decides he has nothing better to do so he sits close to the shell watching it… The next crab comes along seeing the same shell, but the shell is to big for this crab as well so it goes to wait in line holding Mr Crabs claw, this chain will stay unbroken for 8 hours, up to 20 crabs can for a single chain – eventually the crab they have all been waiting for – She is just the right size for the shell, without hesitation Mrs crab takes off her old shell and tries on the new shiny one – first inline is Mr crab – He takes off his old shell and puts Mrs crabs shell on and so the whole chain starts to exchange their shells each moving u to a bigger shell… This just proves that if Hermit crabs are not desperate for shells, they can work together in harmony to achieve all their goals together… Since most snails have a spiral shell (Hermits preferred shells)… Hermit crabs have adapted their soft bodies to be able to Spiral into the shell, clutching their tails around the inside of the shell… Although Hermit Crabs are very confident at fighting each other they are more like the hyenas and vultures of the sea… They scavenge the…

Mar 10 2020
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The Brown House Serpent! – Brown House Snake

By Sodwana Bay

Boaedon capensis, the Cape house snake, also known as the brown house snake, is a species of lamprophiid from Botswana, South Africa (from KwaZulu-Natal all the way through to the Western Cape), Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe. They are a non-venomous lamprophiid. This species was previously grouped in the genus Lamprophis but is regrouped with the genus Boaedon. I have always heard of brown house snakes, but never took the time to look them up and see what they look like. All I knew was they like living in peoples homes, are very tranquil, non-venomous and of course hence the name are brown snakes. But I always imagined the snake been a boring plain ugly brown color… So imagine my surprise to find out that they are not such ugly snakes and that have beautiful white markings on their face, almost like the Indian tribes…. We were cleaning up our yard  and found this cute snake underneath a pile of junk under an old trailer, we obviously suspected there would be snakes around and under the trailer, hence the clean up (less place for the snakes to hide in)… We were always quite concerned about that area because unfortunately our dogs never back down from a fight, would rather not take a chance in finding a venomous snake that could potentially kill our dogs… I was really not expecting to find a small brown house snake underneath there. As I mentioned before it was much prettier than I expected, if the dogs weren’t so volatile to strange creatures I might’ve tried keeping it as a pet. Well at least this one did not have an encounter with the dogs and got to see another day, at least I hope nothing else caught it later… I will definitely not consider a brown House Snake ordinary after seeing this one… Their Appearance: Cape house snakes are usually dark brown on top, but the color varies greatly from almost black through brown to olive green. The stripes that stretch from the rostral scale through the eye to the back of the head are very strong, thick, and bold. This species may have a lateral stripe running down the flanks, often resembling the links of a chain. They also sometimes have lateral stripes running along either side of the spine. Linking lines between the lateral striping is not uncommon. These body markings tend to be a paler brown/cream in color on top of the often dark, chocolate-brown base tones. These markings normally fade two-thirds of the way down the body until only the base color remains, but there are exceptions to the rule. Individuals without pattern are often found in the wild. These individuals have the head markings but no other markings on top of an often pale-brown body. Like all house snakes, Boaedon capensis is very iridescent, their scales often shining with an oily sheen in certain lights. Some fun facts about this Snake, their habitat and size: Like most frogs, the female Brown house Snakes grow larger than the males – Males will only grow up to 61–76 cm and the Females can grow up to 120 cm. Most probably the one we found was still a juvenile, cause it was relatively small compared to these measurements…. Contrary to popular belief, humans very rarely will introduce Brown House snakes to their homes, instead these snakes will rather welcome themselves into your home and help keep your rodent problem at bay… Their favorite food is of course  small rodents such as mice and rats and won’t mind eating a whole nest of mice/rats in one sitting. Although most people hate any kind of snake – I guess it’s in our human nature, since they did betray us on the garden of Eden- they an still be useful, if I have to choose between a non-venomous snake and rats that chew all your furniture and eat your food, I will definitely choose the snake that eats the mice/rats, also I doubt the snake will bite you for no reason like mice and rats do… Mature Brown House Snakes generally breed 1 or 2 times a year. These snakes are completely harmless, but don’t annoy them they might not like it and bite you… Depending on the person the snake bites, the poor snake might loose it’s life for human negligence… Don’t kill these snakes because you don’t feel like rehabilitating them, remember they are helping you get rid of your pests for FREE… So have a bit of respect for them! The Brown House Snake is the largest of it’s species – there are 7 different similar snakes which are classified under the same name. Like most reptiles they use the sun to warm up their bodies These snakes are not total savages, they at least kill their prey before consuming them, like most non-venomous snakes they are constrictors and will suffocate their prey before eating them, like a Python. These snakes to have teeth so be careful when handling them, you won’t die, but I can’t imagine it been a good experience been bitten by any snake Brown house snakes try act like possums in the face of death! For those who don’t know the possum way, they play dead in the face of prey… Some of their natural predators include owls and larger snakes Thanks for reading this post and hope you found this useful Info… Our factual sources for this article came from: Wikepedia and Animal Talk Send us an email about any exotic or scary encounters you have had under the water or on land and your story might go viral! Please go checkout our  Patreon Page Below… We wanna start giving you guys who are committed to us exclusive content and be able to further our channel and provide better content to our Patrons… To do this we need funds and all the support we can get… Also check out our YouTube Channel when you done reading this… Every view is one step closer to our goal, we need 4000 hours of our subscribers views and 1000 Subscribers to be able…

Mar 05 2020
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A spiny Venomous Fish – The Lion Fish @ Sodwana Bay

By Sodwana Bay

Pterois is a genus of venomous marine fish, commonly known as lionfish, native to the Indo-Pacific. Also called zebrafish, firefish, turkeyfish, tastyfish or butterfly-cod, it is characterized by conspicuous warning coloration with red, white, creamy, or black bands, showy pectoral fins, and venomous spiky fin rays. Pterois radiata, Pterois volitans, and Pterois miles are the most commonly studied species in the genus. Pterois species are popular aquarium fish. P. volitans and P. miles are recent and significant invasive species in the west Atlantic, Caribbean Sea and Mediterranean Sea. We found one of the coolest, but unfortunately most destructive fish in the ocean… The Lion Fish. We will get into what the difference is poison vs venom in a later article, but for now all you need to know about this fish is that it is Venomous, not poisonous… No matter if it is poisonous or venomous try stay clear of the creature when you encounter it. I wish these gorgeous Fish were not so destructive in the environment, otherwise I would add them to my favorite marine animal list… Luckily in Sodwana Bay their natural predators live there too so they can keep them sort of at Bay! While on our way back to shore we still enjoy keeping a look out in all rock pools for fish in case we find something cool or dangerous… On this occasion we were super lucky to find a lion fish. I knew lion fish eat live on coral reefs, but never thought that they would live in such shallow waters or be so near to shore, or could be found in South African waters for that matter, most cool things happen overseas not South Africa… Although I am starting to realize South Africa is a much cooler place than I thought especially when you leave the big cities!!! Somehow I imagined Lion Fish being much bigger, maybe we just found a juvenile one or they really are just so small… If that’s the case it is scary to think that such a small fish could make such a big negative influence in the ocean! Photo’s always seem to make these little fish look so much bigger than they truly are! A few fun facts about this animal and why you should be careful when swimming with them: Lion Fish – hence the name – are carnivores… They prey on small fish, practically any fish that will fit in their mouths, but they are not mindless fish that just eat what ever comes into their paths… They are predatory intelligent fish, observation might suggest that they blow out jets of water to disorient their prey and to make them face them – common knowledge these fish have picked up on – head first equals less energy usage. There are 16 different species of Lion Fish LionFish predators can have been confirmed are: themselves, Larger LionFish will eat their smaller counterparts with no hesitation, make sense with a huge appetite like theirs… Other fish like these also enjoy snacking on Lion Fish which helps keep their population to the right size: sharks, cornetfish, grouper, large eels, frogfish and other scorpionfish This is a sad fact, unfortunately in the Atlantic oceans where most fish feel uncomfortable living in, the Lion Fish Thrives! Why is this a bad thing? Well their natural predators hate the cold… Without any natural predators to keep their population at bay, and them being a natural predator of other fish their circle of life has hole in it and unwanted holes are never a good thing. The invasive Lionfish of the Atlantic ocean has a devastating impact on coral cleaning and eating fish, without the coral cleaner fish the coral might not be able to survive because there is to much debris for the coral to breath…   Wow here’s an interesting fact – Lion Fish Stomachs can expand up to 30 times its normal size… Imagine how many fish go into that! Now I understand why lion Fish are so invasive, they reproduce all year round, a mature female can lay up to 2 million eggs a year, that’s insane, imagine we could reproduce like that, there would be no space left on the planet to move! I guess it nearly impossible to see a baby LionFish when born they are only 2.5 cm long and an grow up to -38 cm long as adults! That is quite small for a fish that has such a huge impact on the oceanic environment. I doubt even a Megalodon Shark (Largest shark known to have existed) could make such a big impact… They can live up to 15 years in the wild, imagine what impact each one of them can have on the environment in 15 years! When a lion fish’s spines puncture flesh they have two(2) venom glands in their backbone that rush out poison through the spines… Depending on how many spines stung you, you shouldn’t be much in the danger zone, of course it also depends on your body tolerance for pain. It mild cases, you will have extreme pain and sweating… In extreme cases you could experience – respiratory distress or even paralysis… Scientists encourage fishing for LionFish… Below is campaign that encourages people to even eat LionFish, as long as you know what to eat they are not poisonous, just be careful for their spines! If you like fishing next time try catch one of these spiny fish and give it a try! “Lionfish as Food” campaign In 2010, NOAA began a campaign to encourage the consumption of the fish. The “Lionfish as Food” campaign encourages human hunting of the fish as the only form of control known to date. Encouraging the consumption of lionfish could not only help to maintain a reasonable population density, but also provide an alternative fishing source to overfished populations, such as grouper and snapper. NOAA also encourages people to report lionfish sightings, to help track lionfish population dispersal. To promote the campaign, the Roman Catholic Church in Colombia agreed to have their clergy’s sermons suggest to their parishioners (84% of the population) to eat the fish species on Fridays, Lent and Easter, which proved highly successful to decrease the invasive fish problem. When properly…

Mar 03 2020
0

Beware the Sandy sea life – Be cautious when walking in underwater Sand @ Sodwana Bay ~ South Africa

By Sodwana Bay

Sodwana Bay – Sea Life We all love swimming in the ocean when going to any beach. It’s a fundamental part of having vacation by the beach. As tourists, we never really take a step back and realise we are about to swim in the worlds largest marine aquarium… We all respect dams, lakes and rivers, knowing there is things that could ultimately kill us, such as Crocodiles, alligators, hippos even piranhas… We often just stay clear from these water spaces as much as possible and if need be enter the waters with extreme caution and eyes opened at all time. But yet when we go swim in the worlds largest Sea Aquarium – especially been close to the edge (Rock pools) we tend to forget we are in a wild underwater nature reserve… You will never climb out your car in a nature reserve, especially not knowing what might be lurking in the bushes, but for some reason we have made excuses for ourselves about why we can swim in water that we have know idea what might be underneath us at all times. Trust me we are no exception to this delusion, that swimming in a wild space like this is still safe, to list a few close call killer animals we have encountered so far under the water: The lion fish: Ok we haven’t actually swam with one yet, if we wanted to we would have to be it’s size cause all the ones we found swim in tiny holes. These fish are reported to be highly poisonous and dangerous… Will write a post in the future about their venom and impact on our sea life.   The sea Urchin: in rough seas the waves could bash you into these spiny creatures and their spines do break off, all though they are not poisonous, their spines are extremely brittle, if you miss a few pieces they can become septic and if not treated poison your blood stream and lead to death. See article to learn more: Thorns of the Sea – Sea Urchins    The Moray Eel: We encountered a honeycomb moray, one of the more prettier eel species, they can be friendly, but rather don’t take any chances… Usually these sea snakes will try hide out in holes and under coral ledges, So not easily seen, if they feel threatened they might try bite you, that is bad for both you and the Eel, because the moray eel has a lock jaw that only releases after what ever is in its mouth is consumed or it is dead, meaning if it bites you, the only way you get this poor creature off you is buy killing it. So please be careful of this sea serpents for their sake and yours.   The Blue spotted ribbon Tail ray: A gorgeously bright colorful ray. We found one of these beauties in Sodwana Bay’s rock pools once. They seem to be very scarce as I have looked everywhere to find one of these again with no luck… They are reported to be one the more poisonous and dangerous rays in the ocean. Although they will rather try flee than attack when threatened, their 2 barbs on their tails can still be deadly if the ray feels there’s no other way of escape. They are beautiful to look at, but if you ever have the privilege of finding one don’t make it feel uncomfortable, remember you are in it’s world now not other way round respect that it allows you to admire its home… Also always be aware when walking on sea sand in the water all rays tend to try bury themselves under the sand as a way to hunt and hide from predators. See Article to learn more: The Spotty Ghost – Blue-spotted Ribbontail Ray    Puffer fish: We have encountered a few different puffer fish while swimming in the rock pools of Sodwana Bay. These fish are most probably the most venomous fish in the sea, small, super cute – whether they blow up or just normal… their venom is more than 1000 times more venomous than cyanide. So stay clear of these cutey pies they are super dangerous… Avoid any contact with them, there are no known antidotes for their poison and you could be dead in 24 hours…   The Electric marbled ray: This was our very first ray we have ever encountered in Sodwana Bay Rock pools. We were so excited finding this awesome ray in January 2019, especially finding one in such shallow waters. Of course we did not know it was electric and dangerous, but like most creatures of Sodwana it was not aggressive and rather swam away once it realized it was spotted. If you find one of these proceed with caution allow it to swim away and get out its way, they can pack a punch without you even touching them… See article and checkout our YouTube video of our encounter with a Marbled Electric Ray: An Exotic find- Marbled Electric Ray (Article) and Marbled Electric Ray (YouTube Video). So these are a few creatures that are highly dangerous that are definitely swimming around in Sodwana bay rock pools. Always be careful when swimming in any unknown water especially the open ocean nature reserve… Never extend your hand out to an unknown fish or other sea animal, you never know if they are poisonous, keep your eye out for any potential predator and if encountered by an aggressive animal or fish, try get away as quick as possible, but be calm about it… Try keep your snorkel gear on and rather swim with your head underwater so you can see what is going on around you underwater as much as possible, most fish will try avoid you, but there’s always that unfortunate accident waiting to happen… Hope you guys found this article interesting and enjoy the extra content. Please go checkout our  Patreon Page Below… We wanna start giving…