Attacked by a cormonant (bird that can swim underwater)

[freediver blue]

I do not know if this has happend to anyone before, but when I was freediving I was attacked by a cormonant. I was in georgian bay (in Canada) and I was about 50 ft when a came out of nowhere and hit me in the face. It did just do this once, it attacked me on the way up to the surface, and when I was at the surface it was still attacking me. I did not want to hit the bird because there were people taking pictures of me and a tour boat was going buy so tried to out swim it and I could not. I could not out dive it because it is like a torpedo under the water. When I did get away from it I had a bloody lip and fingers and my ear was cut:crutch . why did this happen?? Has anyone bin attacked by animal let's hear your story!!

 

[deep thinker]

Sorry mate but rofl rofl rofl thats probably the funniest thing Ive read all day allthough Im sure at that time it wasnt as funny maybe even a little scary. Ive never heard of any birds acting like this for no apparent reason. Was there perhaps a outcropping or island nearby where the bird mite have been nesting or perhaps she or he was busy teaching the chicks to dive and hunt and was protecting its young as that could quite possibly be the only reason for birds attacking possible predators in such a aggresive way.

 

[Sergiu]

were you dressed up in a giant sardine costume?

this is bizzare indeed. my guess is that a bird would not attack you but rather something you were wearing triggered the beligerant attitude. you mentioned it attacked your face so it may be that you mask by sunlight reflection looked like a silvery juicy fish, hence the bump. It does not explain the vicious attacks at the surfice though unless the bird attacked its own reflection in your mask glass. freaky story nonetheless!

 

[freediver blue]

were you dressed up in a giant sardine costume?

this is bizzare indeed. my guess is that a bird would not attack you but rather something you were wearing triggered the beligerant attitude. you mentioned it attacked your face so it may be that you mask by sunlight reflection looked like a silvery juicy fish, hence the bump. It does not explain the vicious attacks at the surfice though unless the bird attacked its own reflection in your mask glass. freaky story nonetheless!

That was one of my ideas when the bird attacked, is that there was a reflection on my mask. I had a friend who used to freedive to get fishing lures and one time a fish came a took one out of his hand. Why it attacked me at the surface I do not know ?

 

[Huw]

rofl rofl rofl also

but... maybe the reflection wa thought to be a fish liek you guys already speculated, and perhaps it thoguht that you were taking fish that it was hunting for, and wanted to fisght for the territory, however i have seen more than one cormo hunting near to eachother over here before.

Huw.

 

[shoutatthesky]

Once whilst hiking at about 1500 metres above sea level and about 100km inland I came across a cormorant sitting happily on a rock in a stream. It let me approach within about 3 metres so didn't appear too concerned about my presence. This encounter left an impression with me of the cormorant as a very friendly bird. I guess it all depends on the circumstances. Some have suggested the bird you had the encounter with was attracted by something you were wearing or the territory you were in. Maybe the one I met was sick or suffering some other malady (this could explain also why it was so far inland).

P.S. Because I was able to get so close I got some good pics. I'll try find them and post them later.

 

[Erik]

Heehee! I was body-checked by a seal in rutting season at 20 metres, and he bit my fins and legs all the way back to the boat.

 

[fcallagy]

I asked a friend about this when he was out one day he found a comrant trapped in some netting and did the decent thing. He had to beat it off even after it was free, it kept at him till he got back in the van always going for the head.

 

[freediver blue]

Heehee! I was body-checked by a seal in rutting season at 20 metres, and he bit my fins and legs all the way back to the boat.

You were body checked by a seal!!! How big was it?

 

[Erik]

You were body checked by a seal!!! How big was it?

West coast harbour seal- not sure how much they weigh, but about a metre long or more. Certainly more adept in the water than me haha. rofl

 

[colt.45]

i once had a bluegill shoot out of nowhere and bite my nipple so hard that it made it bleed. but thats about the extent of my aquatic encounters.

 

[deep thinker]

i once had a bluegill shoot out of nowhere and bite my nipple so hard that it made it bleed. but thats about the extent of my aquatic encounters.

rofl rofl rofl so one o dem lake monsters got ya hey
only thing Ive been grabbed by while in the water was a octopus albeit a small one and a parrot fish once chased after my flipper unfortunately the over the shoulder shot :ko was a bit slow. Other underwater encounters and attacs Ive had doesnt belong in this thread...

 

[freediver blue]

i once had a bluegill shoot out of nowhere and bite my nipple so hard that it made it bleed. but thats about the extent of my aquatic encounters.

now thats funney rofl

 

[ocean_314]

Hmmm wonder when that last time he showered and bushed his teeth ? maybe he smelled like a fish lol.
On the serious side here in Northern California we had a huge overpopulation of bulegills in several lakes and they where attacking swimmers as they where gaurding their nests. It got so bad that the fish and game put stripers in these lakes to control the bluegill populations.
Nipples seem to be the number one target for these fish. but i hear its the males that gaurd the nests. lol

 

[shoutatthesky]

It got so bad that the fish and game put stripers in these lakes to control the bluegill populations.
Nipples seem to be the number one target for these fish. but i hear its the males that gaurd the nests.

What sort of fish is this! Nipples are it's number one target so you put strippers in the lake to control them. Hell that'll just make 'em wilder. And why the heck is it the male staying home while his partner is out looking for nipples and strippers? The very least she could do is bring back some entertainment for him.....

 

[bgill]

That bird woulda felt the wrath of the "three-prong" - I don't get mad...I get EVEN!!!!

Here in the states in some parts there are so many Comorants that they are killing fish populations with thier poop!!!!

 

[shoutatthesky]

Here is the friendly fella I ran into. It didn't seem very worried about me at all.

Check out the hook on the beak!

 

[penguinator]

Has anyone even to bothered to think that the explanation is as simple as - the bird simply didn't like you? Maybe you were strutting around in a particularly arrogant manner that insulted his delicate sensibilities, or maybe you made a particularly racist remark towards his species? Either way I think most people can agree with me, when I say that the victim here is obviously the poor bird.

rofl

I was diving quite shallow (5-10m) the other day, and one of those actually appeared out of the weed right next to me and swam off. A bird is definitely one of the last things you would expect to see diving

 

[trux]

... A bird is definitely one of the last things you would expect to see diving

Yes, that's really amazing. One would expect they'd be happy with their ability to master the air element, but no, they have to show us they are better underwater too.

However, those who saw Albert's Hitchcock movie The Birds aren't surprised at all about this story. We know very well, that if the little bastards decide to take you out, nothing will stop them, not even water.

​

BTW, paradoxically, birds when diving, take advantage of the same diving reflex as mammalians do (bradycardia, selective vasoconstriction). And of course, they also dive on empty lungs. They are probably still quite buoyant anyway and have to use their initial velocity and/or propulsion to overcome it, but otherwise they'd pop up like a cork immediately.

There are some documents about it on the web, but unfortunately many of them require a subscription:
Diving physiology of birds: a history of studies on polar species
Journal of Applied Physiology -- Sign In Page
http://www.iworx.com/LabExercises/lockedexercises/LockedDivingReflex-LS2.pdf

If you enter "diving reflex birds" into Google, you'll find quite a few other links though.

 

[Mayol]

rofl one of the funniest story I ever heard

you made my day better thx !! xD

But seriously, attacking you at 50' sounds crazy ???!
What a cormoran !