The lionfish is a greedy predator that not only eat fish half of their size including grouper and snapper but also adult fish as their routine food.

If the lionfish reproduces in the area, imagine the potential chaos it could cause as it could easily endanger the symbiotic relationships among other marine species.

The most eco tourist diving place is South Africa; and widely known for being the best spot for viewing the Great White Shark. As it is the most feared of all the sharks. There are thousands of places where you can go and dive with this most dangerous defender of the deep; but always within the safety of a steel barrier; and of course, with other trained divers.

Instructors take you to areas where they will ‘bait’ the great whites to your area, so that you can get as close a view as possible. There are many sharks that will come to this area, because of the ‘bait’. You will not leave the dive unhappy or unsatisfied; but always remember; there is always a trained dive instructor with you. Close encounters with the great sharks are always guaranteed; for the instructor drops the steel cage and brings out a seal lure; so that you can get an even CLOSER look at these magnificent creatures. Most dives are between twenty and forty minutes in length. And as always, these dives are for people that meet the health requirements and have the certificate to dive.

They are territorial and when they feel intimidated, it darts into corals and erects its large and strong first spinee, which it locks in place with the second (the “trigger”); when the trigger is later withdrawn, the first snaps back down.

I had encountered this species a couple of times unscathed. But my dive buddy once were attacked at Tioman Island in Malaysia during our dive. He suffered minor cuts on his head but luckily did not require immediate medical attention.

Since their territory is in pyramid shape, one way of avoiding their attacks is by swimming straight and NOT going up to the surface. Once you have passed their territory, they won’t bother anymore.

Another tips is to bring along diving dagger when diving in area inhabited by triggerfish. If you bumped into them, just draw your dagger to protect yourself. I did that once and they went off after circling my group for a while.

Most importantly, NEVER PANIC! So you can plan your escape

After about 10 minutes, I was so amazed to see a group of Barracudas followed by a big Manta Ray, yes…I mean BIG!. It was a size of a van I can say, although our distance was about 15 meters, me and my dive buddies can see it clearly.

Manta Ray is the largest of rays. The largest known specimen was more than 7.6 metres (25 ft) across, with a weight of about 2,300 kilograms (5,100 lb). It ranges throughout tropical waters of the world, typically around coral reefs. They have the largest brain-to-body ratio of the sharks and rays.

The giant smalleye stingray on the other hand is a rare and elusive creature, winging quietly off the coast of Mozambique. Now, for the first time, this largest of the stingray species has been captured on film.

A BBC scuba diving crew grabbed a video of the smalleye, which is the largest and one of the rarest of the 70 species of stingray. The smalleye, which can grow to be more than two meters wide, was first discovered in 1908 and has been found alive only off the coast of Tofo, a small town in Southeastern Mozambique.

You can see the video at the BBC’s website, and the footage will also be part of the BBC Two documentary Andrea: Queen of the Mantas this Wednesday.