Jay
Need to dive more!
People get arrested for riding whale sharks? I am all for keeping the ocean pristine but thats rather ridiculous IMO
It's quite simple in this specific case; the LOB rules say "look, don't touch", and it's a Marine Park covered by more rules & regs. Simple, don't do it, or face the consequences.
I've seen other intentional touching/interaction on LOBs inside marine parks and have overheard the subsequent justification for that and wondered 'what planet are you from'.
One parallel I see between those responses and your arguments and statements in this thread is the 'I know better / who are you to tell me what to do' attitude, but in fact you are no marine life expert.
I for one, find that approach to marine life quite repugnant, and I regard myself as a mere visitor there to observe. Again, quite simple really.
In an attempt to keep this post-moderated (1x) thread on-topic as per the OP, the simple fact is they broke a law and there's consequences dictated by that law. I note @IncreaseMyT you didn't challenge my quoted post.
You are entitled to your thoughts that Indonesian law is wrong in this regard (arrest & fines) but what alternative do you propose to apart from arrest for those people that don't care about LOB dive bans, or fines?