Even people who dive with sharks say you shouldn’t mess with a triggerfish. Thing is, this diver wasn’t messing with any fish; he was just there. A viral video shows the moment the triggerfish turns on and attacks the diver, seemingly out of nowhere.
Thankfully, the diver’s mask and equipment seem to have protected his skin from the fish’s formidable teeth, which it uses to crush its hard-shelled prey. The triggerfish doesn’t pursue the diver; it just goes for the man’s face and then returns to grazing, leaving the diver stunned and disoriented.
The TikTok account DIVEwithNicki&Jason shared the footage, which has over 4.4 million views so far. There is no reason to believe the diver wasn’t keeping a respectful distance. In fact, though he was technically swimming toward the fish, at the moment of the attack, the diver was looking the other way, suggesting he was just taking in the scene and not trying to get close to the triggerfish.
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“Bro, I dive with sharks like they’re marshmallows; these [. . .] I stay away from,” wrote one person in the comments section. “They eat coral!! That means they can pick a chunk off your face like it’s made of cake.”
“I think dude just yelled at you to get off his lawn,” joked another person.
Watch as an angry triggerfish attacks a diver here (turn your sound on to hear the diver’s reaction):
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