15 + 20 points
The Callouses on Your Hands by Belacqua
September 24th, 2014 11:45 AM
This is the remnants of a subconjunctival hemorrhage.
I started working at the Tarpon Springs Aquarium when I was 15. It was a really great and unique first job to have. I was able to work with all sorts of unique fish and reptiles. After working there for about a year and pestering my boss he finally said that I could start doing the shark feeding shows. I quickly got certified to dive and began regularly diving in the tank.
Fish are a lot more intelligent than we give them credit for. It took some time for the fish and sharks to trust me. After a while though I developed relationships with them and they would trust me in doing bizarre things. One fetish I had was putting my hand in their mouths. For example, I would put our largest nurse shark on his back, putting him in tonic, take my gloves off, and stick my hand down his throat. We had a signal. He would push water out his mouth three times and on the third he would open his mouth wide so I could avoid getting stuck on his teeth.
There was one other fish though that I would regret doing this with. He was a goliath grouper named Tiny who weighed around 250 pounds. When these fish eat they open their mouths incredibly wide and suck water through their gills, catching fish on these little teeth that line their throats. He came to really trust me and at the beginning of shows he would swim up to me, open his mouth real wide, and let me scratch him through his gills like a cleaner fish would.
Well, one day, this arrangement didn't work out so well. It was summer time so all the fish were really hungry. Normally Tiny would leave the cleaner fish alone and not eat them. On this particular day I was just reaching in to put my hand in his mouth when a little angel fish swam past his face. All of a sudden he sucked in and inhaled my arm up to the elbow! Even worse he manged to jam my regulator so that it just kept purging all my air out. Startled, he quickly swam into the rocks with me attached. The neoprene of my wetsuit was caught in all the tiny teeth lining his mouth which made it almost impossible for him to spit me out. At this point I could not breath. The regulator purged all my air and the shock of it all knocked out what little I had left in my lungs. I was going to drown.
I forced myself to keep my mouth closed so as not to inhale any water. I was about to black out when I gave one last tug on my arm. Suddenly I was free. The B/C floated me to the surface where a co-worker was getting ready to help me.
The lack of oxygen and strain I put forth trying to keep my mouth closed caused enough pressure to pop the blood vessel in my left eye. It didn't stop me though from doing the next dive. I loved that fish.
I started working at the Tarpon Springs Aquarium when I was 15. It was a really great and unique first job to have. I was able to work with all sorts of unique fish and reptiles. After working there for about a year and pestering my boss he finally said that I could start doing the shark feeding shows. I quickly got certified to dive and began regularly diving in the tank.
Fish are a lot more intelligent than we give them credit for. It took some time for the fish and sharks to trust me. After a while though I developed relationships with them and they would trust me in doing bizarre things. One fetish I had was putting my hand in their mouths. For example, I would put our largest nurse shark on his back, putting him in tonic, take my gloves off, and stick my hand down his throat. We had a signal. He would push water out his mouth three times and on the third he would open his mouth wide so I could avoid getting stuck on his teeth.
There was one other fish though that I would regret doing this with. He was a goliath grouper named Tiny who weighed around 250 pounds. When these fish eat they open their mouths incredibly wide and suck water through their gills, catching fish on these little teeth that line their throats. He came to really trust me and at the beginning of shows he would swim up to me, open his mouth real wide, and let me scratch him through his gills like a cleaner fish would.
Well, one day, this arrangement didn't work out so well. It was summer time so all the fish were really hungry. Normally Tiny would leave the cleaner fish alone and not eat them. On this particular day I was just reaching in to put my hand in his mouth when a little angel fish swam past his face. All of a sudden he sucked in and inhaled my arm up to the elbow! Even worse he manged to jam my regulator so that it just kept purging all my air out. Startled, he quickly swam into the rocks with me attached. The neoprene of my wetsuit was caught in all the tiny teeth lining his mouth which made it almost impossible for him to spit me out. At this point I could not breath. The regulator purged all my air and the shock of it all knocked out what little I had left in my lungs. I was going to drown.
I forced myself to keep my mouth closed so as not to inhale any water. I was about to black out when I gave one last tug on my arm. Suddenly I was free. The B/C floated me to the surface where a co-worker was getting ready to help me.
The lack of oxygen and strain I put forth trying to keep my mouth closed caused enough pressure to pop the blood vessel in my left eye. It didn't stop me though from doing the next dive. I loved that fish.
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posted by Pixie on September 25th, 2014 1:29 AM
Perhaps the best story for this task I have read.
Every word interesting.
I don't know if this is true, but it would be cool if it were and the story is worth full points in my book!