During a recent snorkeling expedition in Costa Rica, I was able to get up close to a blowfish/pufferfish. I thought it was cool to see him swimming with his little tan fins and I captured him on my GoPro Session4. Since these are screenshots from my video, the quality and resolution are below [my typical standards](steemit.com/@zorro). Once he passed, I though I was done with him, but another member of the snorkeling party actually dove down and grabbed him with a bare hand! The defense mechanism of this fish is quite dramatic. Once threatened, the puffer will inflate itself full of water to over double its original size! If this insane immediate increase in size doesn't scare off the offender, its spikes which are typically all laid down against the fish's skin will become erect and any attempt to bite or grasp the fish will be met with a cactus-like spiky defense. Now, it should be noted that these fish are poisonous and being pricked by a spike will inject venom into the victim/attacker. Shocked, I yelled, "Aren't those poisonous?!" He replied, "yes of course, but if you don't squeeze too hard it won't sting you." He then offered it to me to hold, which I immediately declined. After holding him for a few minutes, the guy let him go and he quickly deflated and swam off into the murky depths. <br> Dude dove down and grabbed this thing with his bare hand!:  <br> Showing off his catch:  <br> Immediately after plopping him back into the water:  <br> Totally deflated:  As always, if you like my work please upvote, follow me, and check out the rest of [my blog](steemit.com/@zorro). Thanks for looking!
| post_id | 34,963,886 |
|---|---|
| author | zorro |
| permlink | up-close-and-personal-with-a-blowfish |
| category | photography |
| json_metadata | "{"app": "steemit/0.1", "format": "markdown", "links": ["steemit.com/@zorro"], "image": ["https://steemitimages.com/DQmbAvHCxz3VUtNbHUmXnC1K1tBqLDt3RHcDrJW2atovQsM/3.jpg"], "tags": ["photography", "nature", "travel"]}" |
| created | 2018-02-24 19:35:51 |
| last_update | 2018-02-24 19:37:36 |
| depth | 0 |
| children | 0 |
| net_rshares | 7,532,844,624,975 |
| last_payout | 2018-03-03 19:35:51 |
| cashout_time | 1969-12-31 23:59:59 |
| total_payout_value | 31.200 SBD |
| curator_payout_value | 9.420 SBD |
| pending_payout_value | 0.000 SBD |
| promoted | 0.000 SBD |
| body_length | 1,996 |
| author_reputation | 21,216,154,368,926 |
| root_title | "Up Close and Personal with a Blowfish!" |
| beneficiaries | [] |
| max_accepted_payout | 1,000,000.000 SBD |
| percent_steem_dollars | 10,000 |
| author_curate_reward | "" |
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