BlogMarine Conservation
Re-Homing A Scorpion Fish
Towards the end of August our neighbor reached out to our Dive Instructor Kyle about a Scorpion Fish that he had continuously spotted on his beach. Scorpion Fish have enough venom that their stings can be fatal to humans if medical attention is not administered immediately. Our neighbor unfortunately had an incident in the past where one of his workers was stung by a Scorpion Fish (He luckily got the proper medical care quickly enough and made a full recovery) so he understood the danger that Scorpion Fish present.
True to their name, they often can be found hiding amongst stones, sometimes very close to shore. After having such a close call with a Scorpion Fish previously, our neighbor did not want to risk his children or any of his workers potentially getting stung. We were happy that he wanted to relocate the fish, and not just kill it to solve his problem.
Kyle went over to his beach with our boat, the Admiral Express, where he put on the appropriate protective gear and located the fish. With some assistance he was able to lift the fish using a shovel into a bucket of water which was then placed on the boat. Kyle drove the fish out to a reef where he released the Scorpion Fish. Placing the Scorpion Fish on a reef greatly reduces the change of the fish having any contact with a human as opposed to in the shallow rocks of a frequently used beach.
Divers in our area are briefed on the dangers of stone, lion and scorpion fish so by releasing the fish on a far out reef, chances are the only people who will ever have contact with it would be divers. We are excited that we were able to assist our neighbor in this project and hope we can help relocate other Scorpion Fish he locates in the future.
