Phuket, the Andaman Sea and its photographs. Marine life in Phuket: what to watch out for
Holidays on the island of Phuket, washed by waters Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand, delights tourists with the snow-white sand of the coast, crystal clear waters lagoons and an abundance of colorful marine life. It is difficult to resist the temptation and not approach a school of fish to photograph them, or organize a photo hunt for a dwarf shark. But we should not forget that marine life can be dangerous and poisonous. So travelers who don’t want to spend the rest of their vacation in a hospital bed or introduce an infection into their body should be aware of which sea creatures they shouldn’t get close to.
The central beaches of the island, which are under constant surveillance, are absolutely safe, as are the waters around them. But if a tourist wanders onto a wild beach during an excursion or independent exploration of Phuket, he may step, for example, on a poisonous jellyfish or not notice the spines of a sea urchin. In fact, such unpleasant incidents on vacation are not uncommon, and all due to the carelessness of vacationers.
So, while spending your holidays on the island of Phuket, you should not come close or pick up these marine inhabitants:
IN coastal waters In Phuket, you can most often find beautiful jellyfish with long trains and bright colors. But ocean jellyfish are not as safe as regular sea jellyfish. Touching such a jellyfish causes a burning sensation, burns, severe irritation and results in the formation of blisters. If you get into a school of jellyfish and experience multiple contacts of their body with your skin, you may experience convulsions that lead to loss of consciousness. So, if you see jellyfish washed ashore after a storm or strong waves, you should not go into the water and try to pick them up. Moreover, young children should not be allowed to do this. Also, to avoid encounters with jellyfish, some species of which can be deadly, you should not swim in cloudy weather.
Sea urchins
Sea urchins can most often be found near deserted small islands. Hedgehog needles are not very poisonous, but if they enter the body they cause severe pain. Usually it is not difficult to see a sea urchin; they have noticeable colors. Therefore, in order not to accidentally step on such a prickly inhabitant of the sea, you should carefully inspect the bottom and not swim when muddy water.
There are quite a few species of snakes in Thailand, including sea snakes. Some of them are poisonous. The main danger of meeting such snakes is that they do not have bright colors, so they blend in with stones or sand. To avoid stepping on such a snake and avoid poisonous bite, you should swim only in resort areas and carefully watch your step when crossing rocks or while exploring caves and crevices on excursions. Sea snakes love dark and cool places most of all, but sometimes they crawl out to bask in the sun. When meeting a snake, a tourist should not make sudden movements so as not to provoke an attack.
Poisonous fish
Off the coast of Phuket you can find about 100 different species of tropical and predatory fish. Moreover, some of them are poisonous, as this is how they protect themselves from predators. To recognize poisonous fish, just look at their coloring and avoid sea creatures with spines, spines and long protruding fins. Poisonous fish in Phuket include primarily lionfish, also known as lion fish, scorpion fish, sea bass and a stone fish that you can step on without noticing at the bottom. Most often, the listed poisonous fish can be found near a coral reef, so divers or tourists planning to snorkel should be especially careful. Touching or being bitten by a poisonous fish leads to paralysis and rapid deterioration in health. Therefore, for safety reasons, you should never go diving or swimming on a wild beach alone. It’s also worth keeping an eye on the bottom and not swimming at night or in muddy water, when you can’t see if there’s a poisonous fish lurking near the shore. If you are interested in marine life, then you should go on an excursion to the Phuket Dolphinarium. You can purchase tickets and order a free transfer on the online-phuket website (https://online-phuket.ru/excursii-na-phukete/delfinarij-na-phukete).
Quite common in the Andaman Sea different kinds sharks For example, here you can meet tiger, white, dwarf, leopard and nurse sharks. To avoid encountering such a predator, you should not swim after a storm, and also do not swim on beaches beyond the restricted swimming area. On public beaches, a special net is stretched behind the buoys to prevent predators from swimming. In addition, sharks can be seen in the open sea, so when scuba diving and encountering a predatory sea creature, you should remain still and not make any sudden movements.
The beauty of the underwater world fascinates everyone who has scuba dived at least once in their life or at least watched the life of the sea inhabitants through the glass of a mask. This is a completely different world from the one we live in. In this world, fish live, shellfish crawl, stingrays and sharks swim, and starfish light their lights. Instead of houses there are grottoes and rocks, instead of trees there are coral gardens. It is not surprising that we really want to look into this world and become its inhabitant at least for a while. The underwater world has its own rules of habitation and its own laws, and they must be followed. Without the necessary minimum skills, it is dangerous. You may be stung painfully by a jellyfish, or you may step on a sea urchin or scorpionfish. You never know what else can happen under water. Many people are confused by the fact that they are not divers by nature and have never scuba dived. All this is not so scary and can be overcome. The main thing is the desire to plunge literally into a parallel world and enjoy its beauty! To begin with, I would suggest snorkeling, i.e. go snorkeling, and if you like it, you can get a diver’s license in a few days. Snorkeling is good because it does not require expensive and special equipment, and is accessible to literally everyone, regardless of age. All that remains is to find a suitable place for swimming, so that the water is clear and there are more living creatures of all kinds. And of course, diversity: colorful corals, fish of all imaginable and inconceivable colors, exotic sea shells on the bottom, predators in the crevices of the rocks waiting for their prey. And to get the adrenaline flowing, it would be nice to see a stingray or a shark! All this awaits you in tropical seas in general, and in Thailand in particular. What is also very important is that snorkeling is available at any time, i.e. left the hotel, put on a mask and have fun. Now let's try to find such a place on the map and in real life. From probability theory it is known that the resulting probability of seeing a complex event Beautiful places, a shark, and even close to the shore, so as not to swim far, is equal to the product of the probabilities of each individual event. When we multiply, we will shed a tear. It's not easy to find such a place. But let's not be upset - there are such places! This is the uniqueness of Thailand, that everyone will find what they are looking for. And we found one like this paradise on Long Beach of Phi Phi Island.
Phi Phi Island is a 2-hour sail from Phuket towards Krabi. We visited it for the first time in 2005 and fell in love with it at first sight. After that, we tried to visit it regularly, and I described its attractions in detail in a series of my previous stories about unusual Thailand.
This story continues the previous series. I will show you some photos of the island and tell you what has changed during this time. The main emphasis will be on the exceptionally beautiful and diverse underwater world, which anyone can see even without scuba gear. It is enough to take a mask with a snorkel, fins, and you can dive. There are many interesting places around the island, but perhaps the best place for snorkeling is located at Shark Island (Shark point). There are coral reefs here, you can meet many exotic tropical fish, and of course, swim with sharks. They literally swarm along the shore, and it’s simply impossible not to meet them. Many companies organize special trips to this place, and even refund your money if you suddenly do not meet a shark, but, in my opinion, this has never happened before. Here is a schematic map of the island with landmarks marked:
Long beach
We usually stay at Long beach - this is the closest place to Shark Island, and its location is indicated by the We are here arrow. Our favorite hotel is Paradise, which means Paradise in English. This is truly a paradise in every way: excellent bungalows on the seashore, flowers all around at any time of the year, birds of paradise singing, magnificent beach with snow-white sand, coconut palms on the shore, a wonderful restaurant with very tasty and varied food, few tourists compared to the main party place in the marina area, no noisy discos and shops, i.e. everything is here for a calm and peaceful holiday away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. And, of course, the most important thing is a warm, clean sea with clear water, the abundance and variety of all kinds of living creatures, and the most interesting snorkeling!
Our favorite hotel "Paradise"
The inscription reminds you that you are in Paradise
At the reception there is a New Year tree and....
resting cat. He also lives in Paradise and enjoys all its privileges!
This is what a bungalow looks like with all the amenities and air conditioning inside
Restaurant by the sea. Buffet breakfast is all included in your stay. The prices are very affordable.
For complete happiness - Thai massage
Opposite our place, the second island of Phi Phi Le is visible. It is uninhabited. Inside the island is the beautiful Maya Bay lagoon, where the famous film "Beach" was filmed. There are excellent diving spots around the island.
On a raid
Sea taxi in the morning sun. On such a boat, you can reach civilization at any time in 10 minutes and 100 baht ($3), i.e. to the port and cultural center Phi Phi Islands, where there are shops, a market with vegetables and fruits, restaurants, discos, noise, crowds and din.
You can walk to the center of the island (2 km). Along the way there are such sculptures carved by folk craftsmen on the trunks of dried trees
A few photos below will complement the picture of the beaches of Long Beach
Long Beach
Undersea world
Having acclimatized and rested on the shore, it’s time to dive into the sea and discover the beauty of the underwater world. In addition to a mask and snorkel, a light protective suit is advisable so as not to get burned in the water under the scorching southern sun of Thailand (we swim without leaving the water for 5-6 hours). The suit will also protect you from contact with jellyfish and will not allow you to get ragged on coral. It is also advisable to have gloves - it is convenient and safe to hold onto rocks in them at depth when taking photographs. In addition, I usually take with me a small pike for self-defense from sharks, rays, moray eels, sea snakes and other biting and poisonous ones, which I shoot at close range.
After such a short introduction, let's go underwater!
Seascape at a depth of 2 meters. The sun illuminates the bottom well
The first hard corals appear. This is a “brain” It is so named because it resembles the shape of a brain with convolutions
Mushroom shaped coral
This is also a hard coral
Sea cushion star Culcita - beautiful and safe
Another one Starfish- unlike the previous one, it is very poisonous and dangerous
And these colorful stars are probably making love - they look beautiful at the same time
Green tridacna
Tridacna is a genus bivalves, of which there are a lot in tropical waters Andaman Sea. Sometimes there are such mollusks with a shell, the length of which approaches two meters, and the weight reaches 250 kilograms, but I came across mostly small specimens, but very beautiful different colors and shades.This young tridacna, and when it grows up, it will represent great danger. If you touch inner surface, then the doors slam shut, and you won’t be able to free your hand (or leg). The same as surfacing with such a load.
Nature painted this tridacna more beautifully
If you look closely, you can see lambis among the fragments of coral.
When you turn a clam over, you admire the beauty of its shell
This is not a piece of rope, but a living creature that resembles a dragon with 7 heads. The length can be 2-3 meters. If you touch it, the tentacles hide inside and the whole thing shrinks to a thin wire and shrinks in size to half a meter, since it consists of emptiness. Belongs to the family of worms
In this photo there are two poisonous and very dangerous creatures - Blue Star and a sea snake.
Sea snake - ringed flattail. The body of the snake has a bright bluish background, along which wide black rings alternate. Abdominal side painted in lighter bluish-yellow tones. This snake is found in large numbers on coral reefs and in the surf. Stylish and super poisonous! The venom of this beauty is several times more toxic than any of the most powerful venom of a land snake. However, the Ringed Flattail is very peaceful and will only bite in self-defense if you try to step on it!
Pink jellyfish - stings painfully, the burn goes away only after 2-3 days
Lobster crawls out of its hole
Cuttlefish
A very interesting creature belonging to the type of cephalopods. The cuttlefish has three hearts - one heart for a pair of gills and one heart for the rest of the body. Green blood. Eight arm-shaped processes extend from the body, on which there are suction cups, and two grasping tentacles (which can be retracted into the bags located under the eyes). When I lecture on physics and tell students about jet propulsion, I casually mention the cuttlefish, which uses the principle jet propulsion while moving. She pushes her body through the water through a series of sharp movements, drawing water into a compression chamber that contracts to expel the water from a channel located under her head. To change the direction of movement of your body, it is enough to turn the hole in this channel and narrow the speed regulator located in it. Like the octopus, the cuttlefish produces an "ink substance", only it has it Brown and is called sepia. Cuttlefish ink has been used by people as a dye since ancient times. Although artificial colors have replaced cuttlefish ink, there are still people who are faithful to the “natural” dark brown sepia color. Despite the presence of such a protective agent, the cuttlefish uses it as a method of protection in the most last resort. To hunt for prey and to successfully escape from predators such as sharks and dolphins, it relies more on its ability to camouflage rather than on these protective inks. The cuttlefish can swim while hunting for prey, but, as a rule, prefers to remain on the bottom without moving. Merging with the bottom, they lie in wait small fish, crustaceans, sea worms and other small cuttlefish. Creeping up on prey at a close distance, the mollusk shoots at the prey with its tentacles, each of which has 4 rows of suction cups that allow it to securely hold the prey. In addition to the ability to camouflage its body in various environmental conditions, cuttlefish can change the color of its cover, especially when it is in an excited state. At the same time, her body seems to flash from yellow to red-orange and blue-green.
Fish gather around the corals
Fish tropical seas
A school of unusual yellow fish with a luminescent head appeared against the background of a sea urchin colony.
Sea urchins- This is one of the most common and very dangerous inhabitants of coral reefs for humans. The hedgehog's body, the size of an apple, is studded with 30-centimeter needles sticking out in all directions. They are very mobile, sensitive and react instantly to irritation. If a shadow suddenly falls on a hedgehog, it immediately points its needles towards danger and puts them together, several at a time, into a sharp, hard peak. Even gloves and wetsuits do not guarantee full protection from the formidable peak of a sea urchin. The needles are so sharp and fragile that, having penetrated deep into the skin, they immediately break off and it is extremely difficult to remove them from the wound.
They are not at all afraid of people, and take food directly from people’s hands.
The colors of the fish are very bright, variegated and of all shades. Some are painted lengthwise, others crosswise, others are checkered, like a taxi. There are also single-colored ones, blue, yellow, red. Their abundance and diversity makes your eyes dazzle! Of course, you won’t find such beauty in any aquarium. It’s amazing how nature painted them this way and why?
Green parrot
Lunar Thalosoma. Named for its crescent-shaped tail
The female has a brighter outfit
Checkered wrasse
Black-eyed thick-lipped Wrasse(Blackedge thicklip wrasse)
Family of colorful wrasse
Sergeant
The fish sergeant has four dark stripes, the same number as the sleeve patches on the US Army and Navy master sergeant uniforms.
sea butterfly
Butterfly fish- one of the most beautiful fish tropical seas. Their characteristic feature is a sharp muzzle and an elongated nose. On the picture Kabuba pennant from the butterfly fish family. I don’t know why it is called “kabuba”, but the pennant is clearly visible on the dorsal fin. The fins of this fish are like the wings of a butterfly. Magic! Beauty! You can’t invent it on purpose, but nature created it! These fish, like women, the more beautiful they are, the more poisonous they are!
Ruled surgeon
The fish is called " surgeon" because at the base of its tail there are “surgical instruments” - retractable scalpels - sharp bone plates that the fish uses in case of defense or attack. It would be interesting to see canned food on the store counter with the name “Pickled Surgeon”
Angel
Fish-Angel. More incredible combinations the brightest colors no other fish in the world have. Blue, red, emerald, orange, golden yellow, lemon, jet black are just some of the colors that adorn angelfish. There are more than 70 types of angels, I met one of the most beautiful - the Imperial Angel!
Clown fish
Clown fish love to hide inside sea anemones. Clown fish received this name because of their coloring and behavior. In both ways, they remind us very much of clowns in the circus. Pisces are very curious and love to pose. Clown fish very rarely swim even a meter away from the sea anemones in whose tentacles they live. These tentacles will sting anyone who touches them, but they pose no threat to clown fish, since their bodies are covered with a mucous coating that protects them.
Sea anemones- these are not plants, but sea animals from the class coral polyps. This is a typical representative of soft coral
A needle from the Svistulkov family. (Fistulariidae)
The body of the whistlers is very elongated and flattened. The snout is long and tubular, used by the fish like a very effective pipette to capture food. By alternately expanding and narrowing its snout, the whistle fish quickly draws small animals on which it feeds into its mouth. These fish always attract attention with their unusual appearance- long, up to one and a half meters, with huge jaws, leisurely swimming near the corals. Their names in different languages indicate their similarity to wind instruments: in Russian it is flute fish, in English - cornet.
Grouper - predator fish
Redtail butterflyfish
A beautiful flock with red noses and colorful blue and yellow tails
Checkered wrasse
Beaked whale
Red-breasted cheylin from the wrasse family
Fish breakfast
Monkfish - prickly, poisonous and dangerous
Moray
It's better not to joke with moray eels. This is a strong and cunning predator that suddenly attacks from ambush. In addition to the fact that she has poisonous teeth, she rushes at her prey and bites into it with a death grip, like a bulldog. It can be very difficult to get rid of it. Often its size is impressive; in Thailand I have seen moray eels from 2 to 3 meters or more.
Fugu fish.
This unusual fish belongs to the pufferfish family and has about a hundred species. It also has many names: Fugu, Fish - Dog, Four-Tooth, Skalozub, Fish - Death, Fish - Ball and others.
Instead of scales, this fish has thorns and sharp spines, fused teeth resemble a pair of powerful incisors on top and bottom. This amazing fish omnivorous, she can handle crabs, shellfish, and corals. Another amazing ability of hers is to inflate two or three times when in danger and turn into a ball.
“He who eats fugu is a fool, but so is he who does not eat,” says a famous Japanese proverb. Fugu fish is a legend of Japanese cuisine, an object of horror, curiosity and lust for gourmets around the world. There is no antidote. This is the most famous, expensive and dangerous dish, and not only in the country’s cuisine rising sun. You pay an average of $1,000 per set lunch and you get exquisite delicacy or... painful death. The thing is that fugu is literally saturated with the deadly poison tetrodotoxin. There is so much of it in one fish that you can easily poison 30-40 people. In its action, tetrodotoxin is 10 times superior to the famous curare and more than 400 times superior to strychnine. Lethal dose You can get it even if you just touch the insides of the fish with your bare hand. Better stay away from her
Stingrays
Stingray hid in the sand
We looked into each other's eyes for a long time
Sharks
At the end of the report from seabed my favorite story is about sharks. If anyone thinks they are easy to remove, let them try it themselves. It's not every day that you get a good shot. To get a good shot, you need to select a potential shooting location and time in advance. It is desirable that it is a sunny day and the sun illuminates the subject correctly, i.e. you need to choose not backlight, but direct light. In most of the photographs I have given, even the reflections of the sun are visible on the sharks. You can’t shoot from above; the background will be dark and uninteresting. You need to shoot from the side, and to do this, when a shark approaches, you need to dive and lie on the bottom, waiting for it to swim close enough. No sudden movements should be made so as not to frighten or provoke her. By holding your breath at the bottom for 1.5-2 minutes and waiting for the shark at a close distance (1-2 meters), you can have time to take several pictures. It is also advisable that your hands do not shake from fear, otherwise the picture will be blurry.
Now let's see what I got.
Rarely do sharks swim alone - more often a flock is coming from three to ten pieces. The first shark is seen being accompanied by a sticky fish
The first shark turns around, and its intentions are still unclear
The upper part of the first dorsal fin and the lower lobe of the caudal fin have black tips. This means that this is a blacktip reef shark.
The reef shark's body is shaped like a torpedo, which allows it to be very fast and make rapid maneuvers.
Often they pass by without paying any attention, it’s even offensive!
The food spectrum of reef sharks is extremely wide and includes a variety of fish (grunts, lethrins, small groupers, trevally, wrasses, surgeons, mullet, etc.) and invertebrates ( cephalopods and crustaceans), which they look for on seabed or reef crevices.
The length of an adult blacktip shark is usually 1.5-2 meters
Usually, reef sharks harmless, but not always.
Busy searching for food, the shark does not pay attention to me
Looks like this shark has good intentions too
This shark shows interest and wants to get closer. Fearless and curious, reef sharks can swim quite close to people, at a distance of up to one meter.
When a shark approaches, adrenaline starts to flow (for me, of course)
The main thing now is not to provoke her
When a shark is coming straight at you, like a torpedo, and you don’t know how it will react to the camera flash, you feel a little uneasy
It seems that this time everything worked out, she turns to the side..
and passes very close to me
With this we can finish today’s report from the seabed and wish everyone a pleasant snorkeling and thrill! I would also like, dear readers, for you to continue this topic and talk about your vivid impressions and the beauties of the underwater world. Maybe not only in unusual Thailand you can see all this. Share your finds, our website “Travel with Pleasure” will always welcome your stories and photographs from the bottom of the sea!
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People come to Thailand for the sea and the sun. Beach holiday in the kingdom of smiles is magnificent, which is facilitated by both the snow-white sand and the ultramarine waters of the Adaman Sea. However, they are the ones who can bring problems to vacationers, because marine life can sometimes be quite dangerous.
Of course, in tourist populated areas, for example, in Phuket, encounters with dangerous sea reptiles are kept to a minimum, although incidents sometimes still occur. You should be especially careful when swimming on exotic islands, many of which are uninhabited, so their coasts are colonized by numerous marine inhabitants. So who should you be wary of when swimming in crystal clear waters?
The most common marine life in Thailand is jellyfish. There are not many of them in resort areas, but most often they are found in Phuket on Patong Beach. Jellyfish should not be picked up, and in general it is not advisable to simply touch them. Of course, nothing bad will happen from touching a small jellyfish, but if you simultaneously receive a “kiss” from several of them, for example, getting into the center of their flock, the consequences can be sad. There are known cases where bathers lost consciousness or experienced convulsions from such exposure.
After an encounter with jellyfish, the area of contact may burn, irritation may appear, and blisters may appear, reminiscent of the effects of a burn.
The consequences after a meeting with a Box Jellyfish may be much sadder. sea wasp. This is one of the most dangerous species jellyfish, whose poison penetrates the heart and death can occur in ten seconds. However, no such cases were recorded in Phuket. They are most often found in the vicinity of Hua Hin.
How to avoid meeting a jellyfish: Most often, jellyfish swim out in cloudy weather, so when swimming in sunny hours, you can avoid meeting them.
What to do after an encounter with a jellyfish: if an encounter does occur, the first step is to remove any remaining tentacles if they remain on the skin. Next, the bite site should be poured with an acidic solution, for example, lemon or lime juice.
Poisonous fish
Thailand's marine fauna includes more than a hundred species of fish, about five percent of which are poisonous. You can recognize them by their bright colors, like most animals, this is how they warn that it is better not to approach them, and, in our case, not to swim.
Lionfish
Most often there is the opportunity to encounter lionfish or lionfish. It is easily recognized by its long striped fins sticking out in all directions. It most often lives in coral reefs, so divers should be on guard. A bite from thorns is very painful, after which your health sharply worsens, and a large portion of poison can lead to paralysis respiratory tract. Lionfish are very calm and non-aggressive, so when meeting them it is better to just swim away - there will definitely not be a chase.
Scorpio fish
This fish hides in coral thickets and skillfully disguises itself as them; to find it you need to swim deep enough. Upon contact with its thorns, a strong poison is injected into the human body, for which there is no antidote. Large portions may cause paralysis respiratory system and death. Naturally, meeting with this inhabitant of the seabed should be avoided.
Sea bass
In appearance it is very similar to an ordinary river perch, thanks to its bright fins. The fish also lives near coral reefs, and its spines can send a swimmer hospital bed. Its venom is not as dangerous as that of the scorpion fish, but it is very painful and requires treatment.
Stone fish
This ugly fish, as the name suggests, looks like a rock. It is found in rocky coastal waters or near coral reefs. During a storm, it can wash ashore, so in muddy water there is a high probability of stepping on it. Its venom is not dangerous, but the bite site should be treated with a disinfectant and placed in hot water. It is also recommended to visit the hospital and get a tetanus shot.
How to avoid meeting poisonous fish: most species of fish, both poisonous and completely harmless, live in coral thickets, as well as crevices of rocks or stones. Divers and snorkelers are most at risk of encountering them. Many of them also prefer to swim in dark time days or in cloudy weather when there is no sun. Therefore, the safety rules are simple: do not swim at night, do not go into muddy water and do not swim too close to coral reefs.
What to do after meeting poisonous fish: if you are bitten by a fish, then you should not spend a lot of time thinking about what kind of species got to know you better. In this case, you should immediately go to the hospital without wasting a minute.
It will be good if you still manage to remember what you looked like sea creature to quickly find an antidote. The main thing here is not to hesitate, as some poisons act literally within a few minutes.
Sea snakes
Thailand has over a hundred species of snakes, some of which are marine, which are found in Phuket. They live in cool, dark places such as water caves or rock and rock crevices. The most common are kraits or cones. They are not brightly colored and reach a meter in length, but appear infrequently in resort areas. Sea snakes are less aggressive than land snakes, their teeth are further apart, but the venom can be deadly.
How to avoid meeting with sea snake: You should not choose beaches where there are many caves or rocks as places for swimming. You should also avoid swimming in turbid waters, such as after a storm or in cloudy weather. If you do encounter a snake, do not twitch, splash, or make sudden movements. Since the snake is not aggressive, it will not attack first, but will try to swim away.
What to do after meeting a sea snake: in case of a bite sea snake You must immediately bandage the area above the bite with a tourniquet to prevent the poison from spreading throughout the body. You should also immobilize the bite site and call emergency services, as urgent hospitalization is necessary.
Antidotes for snake bites are available in all Thai hospitals, the faster the medicines are administered, the greater the chance that unpleasant meeting will pass without consequences for health.
Sea urchins
Sea urchins are found mainly on islands. They try to stay away from the shore, but sometimes they can swim to the very edge of the water. Their needles contain poison that is not so much poisonous as painful. Their needles are so thin that often you can’t even reach them; they dissolve on their own over time, which causes pain.
How to avoid meeting with sea urchin: here the advice is simple and obvious - watch your step when entering the sea. In unfamiliar swimming areas, try not to step on the bottom in deep water. The main rule is not to swim in muddy water, because it is in such conditions that you will not be able to see the hedgehog.
What to do after meeting a sea urchin: the needles remaining in the leg should be carefully removed with tweezers, and the puncture site should be disinfected. The foot should be placed in hot water for 60–90 minutes to neutralize the poison. After this, regular massages should be carried out around the damaged area so that the remaining needles inside are absorbed. This is very painful, but will help heal the limb faster.
Sharks
Sharks are found throughout the Adaman Sea and the Indian Ocean. In remote areas closer to the Indian Ocean, both great white and tiger shark. Less aggressive leopard, gray and whale sharks live off the coasts favored by tourists. However, meeting them is more a rarity than an everyday occurrence. Most often, divers who dive in the open sea can see predators.
How to avoid meeting a shark: all equipped beaches are protected by nets from sharks, so the main thing is to stay within the designated swimming area, and swim with caution wild beaches. If you do encounter a shark, you need to behave delicately - do not swim up to it, do not touch it, behave calmly and remain motionless.
What to do after meeting a shark: the question is rather rhetorical. It all depends on how the meeting went. Sharks are dangerous not with their poison, but with their sharp teeth, so the most best advice here - avoid them.
General safety rules
Of course, not many people will be able to meet the unfriendly inhabitants of the sea. To reduce these chances to zero, you should follow a few simple rules:
- The main advice is don’t swim at night! It is during the dark hours that most sea reptiles begins an active life and swims to the shore.
- Swim only in designated areas. All equipped beaches, both city and hotel, are like this. Of course, the temptation to swim in a secluded bay, where there is no one else but you, is great, but this is where you can meet not the most pleasant neighbors.
- Avoid swimming where there are a lot of rocks, reefs and corals near the entrance to the sea. This is where snakes, sharks, and many poisonous fish can hide.
- If you see something in the water, don’t touch it! Maybe it’s just a harmless shrimp, but it’s better to freeze and let the unknown sea inhabitant swim on about its business.
- Try not to swim after a storm or when the water is cloudy. Because of the sand, it can be difficult to see unexpected guests washed ashore by the waves.
- If still dangerous meeting occurred - immediately go to the hospital or at least call a representative of your insurance company to clarify how dangerous the injury you received.
Follow these simple rules and enjoy your holiday in this beautiful and sunny country. Sea inhabitants They also don’t want to meet you, so respect their habitat so that they don’t retaliate against you for inappropriate intrusion.
The Andaman Sea is a small, semi-enclosed sea, connected on one side to the South China Sea, and on the other, its main part to the Indian Oceans. The sea refers to the region, which in turn is a region of Thailand. (11 photos)
Talking about striking features sea, one can only note the fact that it contains in its waters a temporarily inactive volcano. By the way, it was because of its eruption that a tsunami occurred in recent 2004.
Tourists love this place for many qualities. Of course, this is the sea, it is quite warm, the water temperature in summer is +30 °C, and in winter +28 °C, in principle, this is already enough for an influx of vacationers.
The water here is clean, the climate is warm, the beaches are still polluted, nature also tries to preserve its original appearance, and what else does a naturalist tourist need? Many come here as “savages” and have a good time, there are not so many tourists here, so no one will bother you.
Phuket, Andaman Sea.
Who loves to relax in fun company, will also find some entertainment. There are several equipped beaches on the seashore. By the way, the beaches here are mixed, they can be made of white clean sand, or they can consist of large pebbles, it’s up to you which one you prefer.
Diving enthusiasts will also find a place to dive; there are coral reefs near Phuket. The Andaman Sea is also famous among big wave lovers, we're talking about about surfing. The fact is that constant winds, and the variable current gives the sea big waves and quite often.
The sea is located in a humid, monsoon, tropical climate. The salinity of the local waters is not that great, due to the rivers flowing into it and constant rains, which are the main source of water in the sea. Salinity in summer is 30%, in winter 25%. For example, it makes up 37% of the total composition of water.
The entire volume of water in the sea is about 660 thousand km³. Maximum depth reaches - 4,507 meters, average - 1,043 meters. The bottom is predominantly silty combined with red clay.
The animal world is quite large, which is good news. The waters of the Andaman Sea are home to numerous representatives of the flora; there are about 400 species of fish alone.
How local residents is actively used, the main percentage of the economy of this area comes from fishing. The local waters are inhabited by: clone fish, pantodon, pomacanthids, triggerfish, fish of the scorpionfish family, etc. There are also quite a lot of crustaceans, mollusks, and echinoderms. Sometimes sharks swim in, and such dangerous species as: great white, reef, tiger and black sharks.
Here it is, the sea in Phuket in the south of Thailand, and its photographs.
And you can also look at - ; ; ; .
For many years, Thailand has been famous for its turnover in the fishing industry, surpassing even the countries on the northern coast of the planet. The abundance of the underwater world of Thailand amazes all tourists and makes them dive underwater to see the inhabitants of the seabed. You must go on fishing trips and excursions with instructors who can protect you from dangerous fish species.
Sea fish
The underwater world of fish in Thailand makes a very large contribution to the economy of the state, both from industry and tourism. Almost every resort in the country offers tourists an exciting cruise with the opportunity to fish in the open sea. Below I have described the most popular sea fish in Thailand.
Marlin belongs to a whole family of fish, as it is divided into several subspecies. There are two types of marlin in Thailand - blue and black. In appearance they are very similar to swordfish, but the latter are several times smaller in size. Marlin can be confused because of its large bony growth in the nose area. The black look refers to the largest fish living in the waters of the World Ocean. Fishing for marlin is popular near the island of Phuket, where only with the help of an instructor will it be possible to catch such heavy prey.
Barracuda very similar in appearance to ordinary freshwater fish and in scientific circles its name sounds like sea pike. The main difference from lake pikes is big sizes individuals. On average, each adult barracuda grows to 2 meters in length. In Thailand, small specimens of barracuda are much more valued because their meat is tastier and easier to prepare.
sailboat- this slave is truly unique and beautiful, it is not for nothing that she has such a name. On the back of the tropical fish there is a huge fin, which always stands and resembles the sail of a boat. Adult individuals reach a size of more than 3 meters and several tens of kilograms. Sailboat is considered valuable fish, since its habitat is concentrated only in the waters of the Indian and Pacific Ocean, as well as off some coasts of Thailand. Local laws prohibit fishing for endangered species.
Wahoo refers to famous family mackerel and has a second name - spiny pyramid. In Thailand it is considered quite big fish, which you also need to try to catch. On average, one individual weighs up to 60 kilograms and exceeds one and a half meters in length. There are only two habitat areas for wahoo in Thailand - the waters of the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand. In many national dishes Wahoo is present in the country, as its meat is very soft and tasty.
Tuna in Thailand it is most often found in gray or silver color, but its full name sounds like yellowfin tuna. It was not given to him by chance, but due to the interesting coloring of the fins, which stands out very much in the underwater world. The dorsal fins of tuna are yellow interspersed with bright orange spots that stand out against the general background of the fish’s body. This particular type of tuna is considered the largest, since one individual reaches an average of 200 kilograms. Tuna plays big role for fans of sport fishing, fishing of which is included in the qualification.
Dorado is one of the most popular fish species playing great value in industry in Thailand. Adults are not very large in size, their length often does not reach one meter, and their average weight is 15 kilograms. Dorado have very bright tropical colors and delicious meat. The body color of the dorodo allows anglers to track the individual with centimeter precision.
Cobia has a second scientific name- nigrita and is considered quite popular commercial fish Thailand. The country's delicious and tender cobia meat is highly valued. Since individuals are not able to reproduce much in one season, and their eggs in most cases die, the country makes unique aquariums right in the waters of the sea. This allows the cobia to reproduce while still remaining in its own natural environment a habitat.
Sharks They are found quite often on the coasts of Thailand. Among sharks, the most common species in the waters of the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea are:
- blacktip shark;
- bull shark;
- Tiger shark.
Although these species can bring danger to humans, many tourists and travelers specifically go to Thailand to dive in the country's tropical waters.
Freshwater fish
Thailand has a diverse and fresh underwater world, which also surprises tourists from all over the world. In the waters of lakes and rivers in Thailand you can find a variety of fauna, including most which you can hunt. Most common freshwater species I described the fish below.
Arapaima is considered an immigrant who came to Thailand from a distant Latin American country - Brazil. The fish's weight of 200 kilograms gives it incredible strength, can handle it at the moment of fishing, which not everyone, even the most experienced fisherman, has a chance to handle. The oblong body is lined with beautiful thin red scales.
Snakehead has a beautiful greenish color and a cylindrical body. The head of the fish is not proportional to its size and is very large, containing hundreds of teeth. The weight of snakeheads reaches about 15 kilograms. They catch fish with sticks, but not every person succeeds in winning the fish, since it requires experience and strength.
It reaches a weight of approximately 50-70 kilograms, which is considered small by the standards of fishermen from Thailand. On paid ponds you can catch it with almost anything. These could be worms, bread or dough, corn and even sweets. The main rule is that after catching a fish, it must be released back into the lake or pond, leaving it unharmed.
- a symbol of Thailand, about which there have been centuries-old rumors along with the Russian catfish. The main bait for catching it is considered White bread, which is sold at paid ponds in Thailand. In the country you can catch catfish weighing up to 100 kilograms, although in world practice there have been specimens weighing more than 300 kilograms.
Dangerous fish
Swordfish one of the most recognizable species inhabitants of the seabed even among the most inexperienced fishermen and tourists. It is given out by the characteristic shape of the nose, which at the very first second attracts a person’s gaze. Her nose looks very long and dangerous. In fact, the swordfish is not capable of eating or attacking a person, but its sharp nose can instantly ram the bottom of a boat or cut off any part human body. Therefore, you should be wary of collisions with this type of fish.
Moray eels very funny in their own way appearance and are not even very similar to ordinary inhabitants of the seabed of the ocean. However, moray eels have such strong jaws that if they grab a person, they will immediately bite through the skin, ligaments and muscles. As a rule, this type of fish does not attack without reason. But they easily succumb to even the most minor provocations, such as incorrect movements of divers. It is worth looking around carefully and when you see a moray eel, remain calm and smooth in your movements.
Lionfish In comparison with the previous type of fish, it is not so dangerous, but there is still a risk of being caught by it during the hunt. Lionfish are distinguished by a peculiar attack on the victim, including humans, which manifests itself in the form of stinging with poisonous fins.
It attacks with its poisonous shoots, which do not really resemble ordinary fins. This type of fish can kill a person with its poison, unlike lionfish. Its color is very similar to the coral reefs, among which it hides and prepares a surprise attack.
Like other predators of the World Ocean, it has excellent characteristic features for camouflage at the bottom. She hides among the coral reefs, precisely between the boulders, since her color completely merges with the stones. With the help of poisonous thorns, it attacks a person and he has no chance to survive, since an antidote has not yet been invented.
The underwater world of Thailand is as rich as flora and fauna. In the tropical waters of the Gulf of Thailand and the Andamas Sea you can find unique and rare species fish, some of which are listed in the Red Book and are under strict control states.