Our next contestant in the FISH PAGEANT is the…. BARRACUDA! My first scuba diving trip I was followed by a Barracuda and I’ve been hooked on learning more ever sense. They are found all around the worlds tropical waters, living mostly in moderately warm water near coral reefs. They are sleek and impressive breed of fish but some of their nasty habits may impact their score. Barracuda will be ranked on Appearance, Special Skills, Volunteer Work, and Personality, lets get fishing!
Barracudas have very distinct and sharp features that may come off as threatening. Let’s start with their body, they are extremely thin and streamlined with pointed teeth. They have two rows of teeth: a row of smaller dagger teeth on the outside of the jaw and a larger set behind them. A nightly retainer might benefit to help organize these teeth in a cleaner and more professional way. These razor sharp teeth of theirs have holes on the opposite side of the jaw to fit into this allows Barracuda to close their mouth. While Barracuda’s silvery color is a strategic move to sneak up on prey it is a boring choice for a pageant. They do, however, have a very impressive size with the ability to grow up to five feet long. Barracuda earns a 6/10 in Appearance
In high school Barracuda was a star on the track team, especially on the short distance events. Generally you find them swimming as slow as they can while still moving, but when they have a target in sight they become an Olympic sprinter. Barracuda can top at thirty-five mph (beating Usain Bolts top speed of 27.8 mph) for short bursts to catch prey, causing them to be one of the fastest fish on the reef. They practice their sprinting everyday to escape predators and to catch all their meals; their dedication to health and fitness plus their commitment to working out gives them an impressive life span of fourteen years. Barracuda earns a 8.5/10 in Special Skills.
Barracuda loves to do their part to keep our oceans healthy. They should be seen as the police officers of the reef because they catch hard criminals such as groupers, snappers, herrings, anchovies, mullets, jacks, grunts, and tuna. They deal with these nasty criminals by making sure they cannot harm the reef any more by eating them. Barracudas main focus is overpopulation and they like to make sure that the reef is not overcrowded by handling all population control. What a saint! Barracuda earns a 9/10 for Volunteer Work.
Barracuda generally has a reputation of being aggressive due to their short but heartbreaking appearance in the film "Finding Nemo". It’s important to understand that not all barracudas are so vicious, just one barracuda had a bad day and it got caught on camera. Barracudas are generally very docile but are often perceived as threatening because of their sporadic attacks on divers. They aren't trying to attack the divers but may have their attention grabbed by a shiny object that they misinterpreted as a fish. They are more selfish than aggressive as they travel alone and never share food. Barracuda is even known to steal catch from spear-fishers. Barracuda earns a 4/10 in Personality.
Barracuda is very confident in their appearance and flaunt their ratchet teeth proudly. They consider themselves a great contributor to the environment however, they are still extremely selfish. Barracuda was a very interesting contestant for the fish pageant and while they most likely won’t win grand supreme they still did a fantastic job this week. Their overall score is a 6.9/10