Snorkeler Films Fish on Vacation—Horror When She Googles the Species

A video of a snorkeler who unknowingly swam alongside a titan triggerfish—one of the ocean’s more notorious and aggressive reef inhabitants—has gone viral on TikTok.

The clip was posted by @anita.summer and has amassed more than 1.8 million views since it was posted on March 22.

Text overlaid on the clip says: “Me snorkeling in Mauritius last year without a care in the world.” The video initially shows serene underwater footage featuring fish gliding through turquoise waters.

But the tone of the video shifts quickly as the screen briefly goes black. Another caption overlaid on the clip reads, “Wait … what was that fish?” as the camera later follows a striped fish.

According to the video, the snorkeler later did a search on Google and text overlaid on the clip says, “this is what I found.” The video then shows a series of screenshots from online search results titled “titan triggerfish attack.”

The user captioned her post: “Scared for my life when I found out I encountered this fish multiple times thinking nothing of it!”

Snorkeling remains a popular recreational activity. The Sports and Fitness Industry Association says there are around 11 million snorkelers in the United States, with some sources indicating there are around 20 million worldwide, per a 2024 report by the Diving Equipment & Marketing Association.

But even experienced snorkelers can be caught off guard by unexpected wildlife encounters. Titan triggerfish (Balistoides viridescent) may appear harmless to the untrained eye, but experts caution otherwise.

Jennifer Brandon, an environmental scientist and sustainability consultant with over a decade of experience in oceanography, told Newsweek that the species is “very territorial of their nesting grounds.”

Brandon added: “The males fiercely guard the nests from intruders, as well as their territory, which is a full circle in the water column above the circular nest in the sand.”

What makes the titan triggerfish especially feared among divers and snorkelers, according to Brandon, is not just its territorial behavior but its powerful anatomy. “They have incredibly sharp, long teeth, made to cut through coral. Those teeth can easily cut through fins or skin,” she said.

Brandon offered practical advice for those who find themselves too close to one: “If you see one charging you, swim horizontally, pointing your fins at it. Swimming vertically keeps you in their territory. Swimming horizontally removes you from their range and hopefully allows them to take a bite of rubber fin, not skin.”

Brandon added that bites may require medical attention: “Their bite can contain a toxin—ciguatoxin—that bioaccumulates in them from marine algae on the reef.”

‘I Swam for My Life’

TikTok viewers flooded the comments section with tales of their own run-ins with the aggressive reef fish.

“I’ve been attacked by a triggerfish,” wrote user Bishbashboshdj.

“The way I immediately knew. Yeah, never get too close,” added Jaydet23.

Another commenter, Daniela, shared “got chased by one in the Maldives and I wasn’t even close to its nest. I swam for my life.”

Several others echoed similar close calls. “I got chased by two when I was scuba diving. not sure how I didn’t get bitten!” posted Jodie.

One viewer, sarahmueller260, recounted how her mother was bitten during a swim in the Maldives, only to experience the same fish’s aggression firsthand minutes later. “The triggerfish stalked & attacked me. I was so scared,” sarahmueller260 wrote. User retro_242 added: “One bit me in the Maldives.”

Still, not everyone was alarmed. “Calm down, it’s not that scary,” commented warsaw_rats. Another TikTok user, user56411h, posted: “I’ve swam with these about a hundred times and never had any issues lol [laugh out loud].”

Newsweek has contacted the original poster for comment via TikTok. This video has not been independently verified.