A saturation diver working on the ocean floor more than 700 feet down got the shock of his life when a swordfish suddenly charged out of the darkness and rammed its razor-sharp bill straight into his life-saving equipment.
The heart-stopping moment, caught on video by a safety ROV in April 2016 off the coast of Brazil, has resurfaced online and is once again blowing minds. and raising pulses.
Paolo Eduardo was deep in a routine repair job at 222 meters (721 feet) when the attack happened. He was operating from a two-man diving bell aboard the support vessel Wyatt Candies for Fugro, wearing heavy commercial diving gear complete with a bailout rebreather rig strapped to his back.
In the chilling footage, Eduardo is seen moving along the dark seabed when the roughly 5-foot swordfish appears from nowhere and launches itself directly at him.
The fish’s long bill jammed violently into the Divex SLS bailout system on his back. What followed was pure underwater chaos as the creature thrashed wildly, desperately trying to free itself.
Unable to reach behind him to deal with the intruder, Eduardo did the smart thing, he headed straight back to the diving bell for safety.
As he prepared to climb inside, the swordfish finally yanked its bill free and disappeared into the abyss.
Miraculously, Eduardo walked away completely unharmed. His bailout rig took some damage, but the diver’s gas supply remained intact.
Fugro Brasil’s Subsea Services Director Andy Seymour later revealed what likely triggered the bizarre encounter.
“It was a very unusual operational incident and we were relieved that both the guy and the fish were swimming around at the end of it,” Seymour said.
He added that the fish was probably drawn in by the bright lights and shiny gear in the otherwise total darkness at that depth.
“The diver reacted very properly, and that’s where the training comes in,” Seymour noted.
Swordfish are lightning-fast apex predators, but at these extreme depths they’re rarely seen by humans. The lights and reflective surfaces on the diver’s rig apparently made him look like an irresistible target.
The dramatic video has gone mega-viral multiple times since it was first released, with viewers stunned by how calm and professional Eduardo stayed while a swordfish was literally stuck to his back hundreds of feet underwater.
For commercial saturation divers, the job is already one of the most dangerous in the world. Add an aggressive “sword” from the deep, and you’ve got a nightmare scenario most people can’t even imagine.
This time, both man and fish lived to swim another day.
