Some people are scared of the dark, or of space. But I am most scared of the ocean. There's so much of it that hasn't been explored, and I just don't know what's underneath...waiting. I was reminded of my fear when u/anchorwitch asked sailors, scuba divers, and surfers, "What is your creepiest ocean-related experience?" And y'all, I never want to put a foot in the ocean ever again.
Here are some of the responses shared that made my irrational fear of the sea seem pretty damn reasonable:
1. "I'm a submarine sonar tech. There are so many horrifying sounds in the ocean: Booing fish, random sounds that are like people screaming, a sound like a train coming out of nowhere, low hums that sound like muffled voices..."
2. "I was in the Navy. We were going through the Bermuda Triangle when there was this intense storm. They called away low visibility watch in the middle of the night. So, different people went to different places on the ship to see ahead or behind and tell the bridge if they see anything. I was in a tower looking over the flight deck, and the lightning was so intense that there were no breaks in between the flashes — it was like daytime. There was torrential rain, but the water was as smooth as glass other than the rain hitting it. And our magnetic instruments were going haywire. It was weird."
3. "I was on a night dive and both my flashlight and my backup light went out. I had to literally hold onto my buddy for the duration of the dive. It was total blackness except for the bobbing of his tank light."
4. "One time, I was really spooked while I was diving in the Galapagos. I went down quite deep, around six to seven meters. I saw an absolutely massive manta ray lying on the seafloor, bigger than me by at least 90 pounds. I continued on my way, looking at the colorful fish. When it came time to ascend through, I turned towards the manta again — it had been tracking my movement and moving towards me. When I looked at it, it stopped. I felt like it was up to no good. It felt very threatening. It didn't like me being there or something. Maybe it thought I was lunch. I got the hell out of the water and went to have a beer to calm my nerves."
5. "I encountered a moray eel chomped in half on a night dive. The eel was still swimming."
6. "I was scuba diving in Vanuatu on the President Coolidge, a very famous wreck dive that you can walk from the shore and dive the bow from 15 meters all the way down to 70 meters. I was 14 years old at the time, and my parents were lifelong divers — we dived the Coolidge twice that day already and our guide offered us a night dive. We were supposed to only dive down to a depth of 25 meters and check out these flashlight fish that would school together in a cargo hold, they had these really bright green eyes that looked amazing and lit up underwater. I still don’t really know what happened that night but it felt like we had been staring at those fish for forever. Suddenly, I didn’t feel right. My breathing felt funny. I tried to grab my gauge to check how much air I had left, and it took every bit of muscle I had to reach for my gauge connected to my waist."
7. "I’ve dove a number of wrecks that were graves, where many lives were lost, or their remains were still there. The spookiest experience would be diving through a large ship that was lying on its side, so it was easy to get disoriented in there. An inexperienced diver in front kicked up a bunch of silt. Even with a torch, it was black-out conditions — there was no chance to see where the guide was or know the way out. We were lucky to get out."
8. "We were descending for a wreck dive in Roatan, Honduras, when a really large moray eel emerged from the wreck and made a beeline to me and my husband. We were startled and swam away. It followed us, then dropped back. Then, we watched it approach our divemaster, who was facing the other way and distracted while helping another diver. We were desperately trying to get his attention about the imminent attack."
"Then, we saw it wind itself through his legs and twirl around him for a few pats. It was a friendly eel. We later learned that other people had been feeding it and it was habituated to humans. That's info I would have appreciated upfront so we wouldn’t have been so scared." —u/sequinsdress
9. "I was on a boat tour that stopped off in a small bay with really beautiful, crystal clear, light turquoise water and nearly-white sands. We'd just finished swimming with some stingrays when the tour guide offered to take some of us out for a swim in deeper water. I went along. There was a small group going at a leisurely pace that I could clearly see, so I decided to do some free diving. The water was gorgeously clear. I was diving down to these little reef outcrops and checking out the fish and had barely looked ahead of me other than to check on the group. I finished inspecting another little coral group and turned around to see where the group was, and suddenly saw the sandy seafloor disappear over a knife-sharp drop-off. The water was so deep and inky blue with no seafloor in sight and my stomach dropped."
10. "There were days and nights out on the Persian Gulf when the sea was perfectly calm. Too calm. It looked like glass. The stillness always gave me the creeps."
11. "I was surfing with my friend, but the waves sucked, so we were just hanging out in the water on our boards. Then, something grazed our legs. Immediately, I thought it was a bull shark checking if we were food. Then, we saw dolphins popping up. They were just passing through I guess."
12. "I was doing a dive in the back of a fairly regularly-traveled cave system, in an area where a body had been recovered from about a mile back the week earlier. That area isn't as regularly dived due to the cave passage geometry and other logistics. It's not a small dive to get back there. The recovery was really challenging and I saw signs of damage to the cave as we swam along where the body had been forced through restrictions and mud. But the real reality check came when we found his mask in the mud several thousand feet back. It had been dislodged, along with his nose, while the recovery divers tried to force him through a small area."
13. "The creepiest thing was seeing a 12-foot tiger shark swimming in the distance while I was diving in Hawaii. The water was clear, but there was a little haze. The shark was just far enough away that I kept losing track of where it was, then I would turn my head around and see it behind me again."
14. "I was diving, and saw a bobbit worm. It was hard to get some sleep after coming face to face with that."
15. "I was scuba diving at night, and started feeling a tapping on the back of my head. I was spooked. What exactly could be doing that 30 feet underwater? I turned around and was face to face with a Hawksbill turtle."
16. "I shined a torch over the side of a boat at night, over three miles from land. I saw hundreds of tiny sea snakes. Everywhere I pointed the torch, there was a writhing mass of snakes."
17. "A couple years ago, a buddy of mine rented a boat out for my birthday to go out in the sea with. We started to go out off the coast of the cape and the water was a bit chilly. We were maybe 22 miles out from the coast while still having sight of the shore. Before I got in the water, a weird chill came down my spine. Not paranoia, but superstition. I brushed it off and put my tank on my back, followed by my goggles, and got in the water. Then, I saw a pair of glistening eyes in the ocean. I thought it was a shark. I’ve had my fair share of training for six years with sharks and other deep ocean water creatures, so I thought I’d be able to handle it. It slowly started making it way toward me, and I got a better glimpse at it. It was huge. Sharks have a smooth, rubbery type of flesh. This creature had scales like a snake. This was not a shark. Blood was pouring out of its mouth, it looked like it was ready for its next meal."
18. "I was night snorkeling in the Maldives on the reef, far enough from the island that it would have been pitch black without my torch. There was really fascinating wildlife down there at night. I decided to enjoy some sensory deprivation, so I turned off my torch and just floated for a bit in the dark. When I turned my light back on, the first thing I saw was a huge reef shark headed straight for my face."
19. "I was surfing Scripps Pier in San Diego about six years ago. It was flat, onshore wind, and really messy conditions, but I spent 40 minutes driving there and said, 'I’ll just get in the water and paddle around a bit.' There was nobody else in the water. I decided to paddle around the pier, going from the north side to the south side. When I reached the last pylon, a HUGE fin popped up about five feet in front of me. I’ve been surfing my whole life, and I’ve been in the water with dolphins many times. This wasn't a dolphin. I knew instantly it was a massive white shark, 12–15 feet based on the size of its fin. The way it swam gave me instant chills: Fishy, more side to side and straight than the classic up-and-down, coming-up-for-breath dolphin movement. I froze."
What's the creepiest thing you've seen in the water? Let me know in the comments. Or don't! 😰
Note: Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.