Hazardous Aquatic Life
Questions
True/False, 10 points
1. Seawater is an excellent choice for irrigating a wound received in the marine environment.
( )True
( )False
Multiple Response, 10 points
2. Select all of the true statements associated with the general medical procedures for dealing with
marine/aquatic injuries. There are at least four correct answers.
[ ]The use of antibiotics specific to marine or
freshwater micro-organisms may be required.
[ ]Wounds should be thoroughly cleaned with a
10% bleach solution.
[ ]When dealing with a diver suffering an injury
from marine life, your only concern is the wound
or envenomation.
[ ]The general principles of first aid must be
monitored.
[ ]An anti-tetanus booster should be
administered.
[ ]Only irrigate a wound after debridement.
[ ]Meticulous attention to basic wound
management is necessary to minimize the risk of
infection.
[ ]Wounds acquired in a marine/aquatic
environment present little risk of infection.
Multiple Response, 10 points
3. Select the three species of shark responsible for the most unprovoked attacks on man.
[ ]Tiger
[ ]Gray Reef
[ ]Great White
[ ]Sand Tiger
[ ]Hammerhead
[ ]Bull
[ ]Sandbar
Multiple Response, 10 points
4. Select the correct advice to divers encountering sharks. There are at least four correct answers.
[ ]Sharks are less likely to attack a school of
divers than a solitary individual.
[ ]A shark hunching its back, lowering its
pectoral fins, swimming in a rapid zig zag or up
and down course or making rushes in your
direction is a bluff and can be ignored.
[ ]Playing dead is a good strategy during a shark
attack.
[ ]If a shark gets you in its mouth, be as
aggressively defensive as you are able.
[ ]If a shark attacks, the best strategy is to hit it
on the tip of its nose.
[ ]Stay calm and maintain your position in as
quiet a manner as possible.
Multiple Choice, 10 points
5. Barracuda are thought to be attracted to _____.
( )smell
( )colors associated with reef fish
( )shiny objects worn by divers
( )bubbles
True/False, 10 points
6. Most divers injured by moray eels have been bitten when reaching into crevices or holes.
( )True
( )False
Multiple Choice, 10 points
7. Trigger fish _____ considered territorial _____ aggressive.
( )are not / but are poisonous and
( )are / but are not
( )are not / but can be
( )are / and can be
Multiple Choice, 10 points
8. The order of progression for attempting to control bleeding from a serious bite from a marine
animal is:
( )compression over arterial points, direct
pressure, tourniquet
( )tourniquet, compression over arterial points,
direct pressure
( )direct pressure, compression over arterial
points, tourniquet
Multiple Choice, 10 points
9. Of the Blue Ring Octopus, Sea Snake, or North American Cottonmouth Water Moccasin; the
poisonous animal considered the most aggressive.
( )Blue Ring Octopus
( )All are considered equally aggressive
( )Cottonmouth Water Moccasin
( )Sea Snake
True/False, 10 points
10. Electric Rays can be found in temperate and tropical oceans of the world. They can grow to 6',
weigh up to 200 pounds, and can deliver a shock as high as 200 volts.
( )True
( )False
True/False, 10 points
11. Shocks from an electric ray are of minimal concern to divers wearing wetsuits due to the
insolating properties of neoprene.
( )True
( )False
Multiple Response, 10 points
12. Select all that apply to ciguatera poisoning. There are at least five correct answers.
[ ]Caused by meat of dark fleshed fish being
exposed to sunlight or left standing at room
temperature.
[ ]Recovery may require months or even years.
[ ]Treatment includes inducing vomiting and use
[ ]Impossible to know if a fish is contaminated
without laboratory analysis or feeding a sample
of epinephrine.
to an animal and watching for a reaction.
[ ]Symptoms usually clear within 8-12 hours.
[ ]There is no definitive field therapy.
[ ]About 800 species of fish have been known to
carry the toxin.
[ ]May cause severe disability or even death.
[ ]Contaminated fish may have a peppery or
sharp taste.
Multiple Choice, 10 points
13. Paralytic shellfish poisoning is caused by eating shellfish that have ingested _____ containing
toxins poisonous to humans but not shellfish .
( )scrombroid histamine
( )phytoplankton
( )ciguatoxins
( )tetrodotoxin
Multiple Choice, 10 points
14. A treatment common to punctures from sea urchins, crown-of thorns starfish, and wounds
from fish is:
( )urinating on the wound
( )to soak the wound in water as hot as is
tolerable
( )rinse the wound area with vinegar
( )applying ice
Multiple Choice, 10 points
15. The _____ delivers a potentially deadly sting; has caused death through acute respiratory
failure in as little as five minutes; is found in the Indo-Pacific.
( )Protuguese Man of War
( )Box jelly (sea wasp)
( )Lion's Mane jeffyfish
Multiple Choice, 10 points
16. Use of _____ to remove coelenterate tentacles will stimulate untriggered nematocysts to
discharge.
( )sea water
( )fresh water
( )urine
( )vinegar
Multiple Choice, 10 points
17. A 5% vinegar solution, drying the skin and applying then removing adhesive tape is a
recommended field treatment for contact with ____.
( )cone snails
( )sea urchins
( )fire coral and blood worms
( )stinging sponges and bristle worms
True/False, 10 points
18. Grasping a cone snail by the wide end of the shell opposite the radula containing proboscis will
prevent envenomation because the proboscis cannot be extended to reach around to the opposite
end of the animal.
( )True
( )False
Multiple Choice, 10 points
19. The venomous fish pictured here is a _____. Its venom is among the most toxic in the world.
Contact with its spines can be potentially fatal.
( )Stonefish
( )Bullrout
( )Scorpionfish
( )Lionfish
True/False, 10 points
20. Lionfish, native to the Pacific ocean, are now found in the western Atlantic ocean.
( )True
( )False