The Observer Effect?

[tilikum]

I am confused about Pete's post. Are you saying gloves are the best way to touch irresponsibly and you just mistyped?

 

[Steve_C]

I teach that gloves are the first symptom of bad planning and buoyancy.

Obviously wreck penetration is different but I never allow gloves on OW dives ever.

Or of diving in cold water

Or of diving around wrecks with surge

Or of anchor and buoy lines with lots of critters on them which you need to ues in a current.

 

[TMHeimer]

The gloves thing has been discussed a lot. There is also jellyfish stings--even in cold water, so I've found out. Or if you're my brother digging up clams--he does use a big knife, but said he wished he had gloves.
But I think the crux of the issue may be new/uninformed divers vs. the rest. I would think an experienced diver around a reef in the tropics would have to consciously think "I'm gunna touch this coral since I have gloves on". But I could be wrong--there may be exceptions. I always wear them no matter what. As well as a body suit in the tropics. That jellyfish thing happened to me on Long Island (NY) when I was wearing my shorty--they were all over, yikes.

 

[tilikum]

Back to the OP. I believe all human interaction with the wild, be it on land or underwater produces a net negative effect. The key is making an attempt to minimize the damage. As population and development increases, so will our collective encroachment. Dive while we still can, and enjoy it while it lasts.

 

[Dizzi Lizzi]

I'm in cold water so always use gloves. When I was in Cayman Brac I loved the idea of no gloves!! I only touched the coral once (that I'm aware of) with my pinky. Got a nice stingy sensation and stayed even further after that. I try to keep my distance, and if something comes up to me great! If it moves away I also move away. One problem I noticed in Cayman was that since I had a go pro people expected that I wanted to film everything. There was a little shark hiding under a broken fan and the DM was carefully lifting the fan so people could see it. I had seen it swimming prior to taking shelter and was staying away but I realized that DM was waiting for me to come film it. I came closer since I did not know what to do and filmed a couple seconds then swam away. Of course I was so far that you could not see the shark in my film. Now I realize that what I should have done was say no then swim away so the sharks shelter would be replaced. This is a troublesome topic for me, but good to think about and read all your replies.

 

[RainPilot]

Or of diving in cold water

Or of diving around wrecks with surge

Or of anchor and buoy lines with lots of critters on them which you need to ues in a current.

Sorry Steve I generalised to my warm clear diving while reacting to Pete's post about warm clear diving.

Obviously environmental conditions in other locales make gloves advisable or even indispensable.

YMM, as always, V.

 

[Steve_C]

All human interaction has an affect on the "natural world". That is because we are part of that natural road. We cut down trees. Beavers build dams, flood valleys and kill trees. Why is the beaver altering it's environment for a home any different than the animal man altering its environment for a home. There is a world and the creatures in it do stuff. Cancer is natural. It may want to make a home in me. I will try to stop it. I am not saying that we should not try to reduce our impact to a reasonable extent. If you let a farm revert to nature it will eventually turn into a mature forests which has less biodiversity than a mixture of meadows, wood margins, and woods. If man were to disappear tomorrow there would eventually be a major die off of pigeons and house sparrows who rely on us for habitat.

The ultimate bottom line is that either
a) we have an advanced technology and all that means or
b) another big asteroid will knock out all the critters and stuff we know and love sometime in the future.

Probability one.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I teach that gloves are the first symptom of bad planning and buoyancy.

Obviously wreck penetration is different but I never allow gloves on OW dives ever.

Well enough for where you dive, but if you try diving without gloves around here your fingers will suffer frostbite, and you'll most likely end up with some serious joint problems before too long.

As with most things, it comes with caveats. The same goes for the OP's "rules" ... but I'm not quite ready yet to inject my thoughts on those ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[The Chairman]

I am confused about Pete's post. Are you saying gloves are the best way to touch irresponsibly and you just mistyped?

It was poorly worded and I edited it. NO GLOVES should be worn on a reef. Ever. I don't even wear them in cold (low 50s) water or on a wreck.

 

[Steve_C]

I don't even wear them in cold (low 50s) water or on a wreck.

Why not?