How to react to bad diver etiquette (coral poaching/destruction etc)

[drk5036]

Is it a local thing or is it the tourists?

It’s a local thing.

Having experienced it from multiple places, you get the feeling the Japanese really believe they own everything in the water. People here have mentioned getting upset about five guides reaching under to pull out octopus: I couldn’t count on my fingers how many times I’ve seen that done. Maybe I have enough toes, I’m not sure. But as a foreigner here, I don’t have much room to complain. I brought up the whaling trade once, and got a cold enough shoulder from someone I’m really close with that I know it’s just not worth fighting over anymore.

 

[jonhall]

Specifically hostile behavior towards maritime life (annoying fish, riding turtles) or damaging coral reefs ( by bad diving skills or actively breaking/poaching).

The type and severity of behavior would be a determining factor for me, along with who is performing that behavior. Not everyone will agree what is or isn't bad behavior as it relates to marine life.

Within my first 13 dives over 3 years - all in St. Croix with Scuba Shack/N2theBlue - the DM's I had were helpful and stressed good etiquette. I remember being told that the black coral on the Rosa Marie wreck had great value and that you could be in big trouble if you tried to take some. I received a great start to my diving.

I was first confronted with what I thought was bad behavior on dives in Aruba (still didn't have 20 dives to my name) by a diver who was an expert in anything we talked about during surface intervals. For 2 of my 4 days of diving, he took his camera with the long extendable arms and crowded in as close as he could get to his subject with no regard as to the coral he was hitting with the arms. Although I was concerned about the marine life, I was more irritated that he was getting in the way. Because of the dive plan used by the dive op (Dive Aruba), the DM wasn't in the water for the last ~25 minutes of our dives, so he didn't see a lot of this. No-one said anything to the diver, but my buddy and I were glad to have him off the boat.

Have to say that I have seen divers and DM's alike pick things up off the sea floor and put them back, but not purposely break anything. Have seen plenty of divers accidentally kicking coral or letting gear dangle and hit it. My thought is a good DM or dive buddy will catch this and give you a signal to ascend and discuss it topside.

Handling sea life (not of the coral variety) to me isn't as big of a deal. Harassing it would be. To me handling it is not the same as harassing it. I look at it as an educational experience. I don't go out of my way for the experience, but if it presents itself, then great. The first sea life I saw handled was by a DM from Ocean Frontiers in Grand Cayman - a sea cucumber that he allowed my wife and me to feel. Since that time I have either had a guide, DM, or allowed myself to feel some sea critters - dolphin, stingray, balloon fish, starfish, sea cucumber, and reef shark and a great white - just kidding if you're still reading. Have watched DM dig octopi out and put on my dive buddy's arm and watched huge grouper allow divers to touch it. Will admit that the octopi were in the harassment category as they want to stay hidden, but it was fascinating to watch....once.

As to confrontation, when I was younger, I wouldn't have said anything. Getting older, if I happen to see it or if a diver aware of the problem asked, I might make a suggestion or bring up the situation in a discussion on the boat. I find most people to be receptive to learning. The few know-it-alls are going to do what they want to do. But my main goals on a dive are to enjoy myself and keep an eye on my buddy - not watch everyone else and worry about how I want to confront someone. I'm 6'4" and, unfortunately, 15 lbs more than my normal 225, but if I see a guy in Walmart bigger than me, who took off his mask after getting into the store, I'm not confronting him about why he took his mask off and I'm not worrying about it! You used the term "hostile behavior" in your post - I don't need to see if a person has hostile behavior topside.

 

[Hoyden]

I was on a vacation trip with a local shop. I am friends with the shop owner, but don't generally travel with them on group trips. We were diving in Ft Lauderdale and on the first dive I noticed one of the divers kicking the crap out of the reef. After that dive I spoke with the shop owner who was leading the trip about it. On the second dive, the behavior was exactly the same. I swam up behind him and gently grabbed his fin tips and lifted them up about a foot. This guy didn't even turn his head. I spoke with the shop owner after that dive as well and he said that the guy was so much better than he used to be... and that I should not have such high expectations. I just stayed away from him for the rest of the trip for my blood pressure.

 

[TMHeimer]

My advice: if you don’t like seeing people touch/harass the wildlife, don’t dive in Japan.

I don’t think people should touch the wildlife, but I also don’t think suddenly bagging lobsters or harpooning fish is acceptable either. If I was on a dive and someone moved a starfish to get a better picture, and someone else shot a fish, I’d be much more upset about the person spear fishing.

I am happy to just swim by and look at the fish. I think scuba should be a spectator sport. Just my feelings on the matter.

An old topic argued before but-- I have a small poke spear and get about 6 flounders each summer for maybe 2-3 meals. The fishing boats on the Northern Gulf of Mexico have a limit (don't know if daily or whatever) of 6-8,000 pounds. Do I feel guilty?
I respect your opinion, just don't think it makes sense ecologically. Forget commercial fishing, even anglers catch way more fish than spear fishermen. But you're probably not just referring to the ecology of it.

 

[Saboteur]

I guess with A-holes of this magnitude ya try to sneak up behind one of them and turn their off. I have a knife too and it's very sharp, sharp enough to cause a leak in a LP with one swipe. Lucky for people like that there's only soft coral here in New England and I don't travel outside the USA and much inside either. I know I couldn't watch it or swim away and report it, self-control is not my strong suit.

Scuba is dangerous, “accidents” can happen....

 

[drk5036]

An old topic argued before but-- I have a small poke spear and get about 6 flounders each summer for maybe 2-3 meals. The fishing boats on the Northern Gulf of Mexico have a limit (don't know if daily or whatever) of 6-8,000 pounds. Do I feel guilty?
I respect your opinion, just don't think it makes sense ecologically. Forget commercial fishing, even anglers catch way more fish than spear fishermen. But you're probably not just referring to the ecology of it.

Right, I understand the ecology of it. If all fish that was consumed on earth was caught by spear-fishermen, we'd be much better off environmentally, it's certainly a fact.

I am, what you might call, a coward. I just don't want to see it. And even though I eat meat, I don't enjoy viewing the act of the kill, and it would probably upset the rest of my dive.

I'm not sure that this actually is very related to the original post, maybe it's just my own personal problem, haha.

 

[TMHeimer]

Right, I understand the ecology of it. If all fish that was consumed on earth was caught by spear-fishermen, we'd be much better off environmentally, it's certainly a fact.

I am, what you might call, a coward. I just don't want to see it. And even though I eat meat, I don't enjoy viewing the act of the kill, and it would probably upset the rest of my dive.

I'm not sure that this actually is very related to the original post, maybe it's just my own personal problem, haha.

Yeah that's cool--I thought that's where you may be coming from. The ecology aspect is a touchy subject (oh, pun...). Of course I have at times taken a beating over the years for my shell collecting. And of course, I rationalize-- Most (not all) shells are nowhere near endangered, shell shops in the South collect a million times what I do. Yes if every diver collected there may be a problem, but very few divers have any real interest in molluscs (read any dive mag--it's all about sharks, other fish, coral, anemones, etc.). All my rationalization--I just like to look at my collection.

Back to the OP's question-- That's why I advise not saying anything if you witness creatures being harassed, etc.
Ecologically, there are way bigger problems here- pollution, plastic in the oceans, agricultural runoff (the "Dead Zone" off La. & Texas), etc. Someone may make a comment about something a diver does once back on the boat. That same person just took a plane ride and then stayed at a hotel that when built destroyed a mangrove area, which in turn affects the nearby reefs.
No excuse for breaking coral. But bad as that is, perhaps a better approach is to organize somehow something to stop worldwide coral bleaching due to ocean temperature increases.
You know the old saying "Think Globally, Act Locally". I prefer "Act Locally, that's good, but more importantly Act, not think, Globally". Admit I haven't acted globally, so I'm all talk.

 

[wstorms]

Back to the OP's question-- That's why I advise not saying anything if you witness creatures being harassed, etc.
Ecologically, there are way bigger problems here- pollution, plastic in the oceans, agricultural runoff (the "Dead Zone" off La. & Texas), etc. Someone may make a comment about something a diver does once back on the boat. That same person just took a plane ride and then stayed at a hotel that when built destroyed a mangrove area, which in turn affects the nearby reefs.
No excuse for breaking coral. But bad as that is, perhaps a better approach is to organize somehow something to stop worldwide coral bleaching due to ocean temperature increases.
You know the old saying "Think Globally, Act Locally". I prefer "Act Locally, that's good, but more importantly Act, not think, Globally". Admit I haven't acted globally, so I'm all talk.

I am not sure I get your point here. It seems you are saying on one hand that speaking up is not worth it because there are bigger problems, but on the other hand you are saying acting locally is a good thing. I might be misreading this?

 

[ginti]

You know the old saying "Think Globally, Act Locally". I prefer "Act Locally, that's good, but more importantly Act, not think, Globally". Admit I haven't acted globally, so I'm all talk.

You are moving to philosophy here man But there is a practical implication, so let's go on

The thing is that, in general, activities in touch with nature (as scuba is) have an essential role in making people more aware of issues related to ecology. Aware people want to see more regulations in favour of pollution reduction, climate change, etc. This educational process is both "thinking and acting globally".

When people who perform these activities drift away from good practices, they do so because they stop respecting the environment, so all this educational purpose is lost.

Please, respect the sea and the environment, always.

I am, what you might call, a coward. I just don't want to see it. And even though I eat meat, I don't enjoy viewing the act of the kill, and it would probably upset the rest of my dive.

Are you happy when you know that animals live in horrible conditions before they get killed in a fierce way at an unsustainable rhythm? If no, there is nothing wrong in what you said. Otherwise, maybe you are right, there is a bit of nonsense in what you wrote...

 

[TMHeimer]

I probably got too wordy. I'm simply saying acting globally and acting locally are both important. But acting globally is galaxies more important than acting locally. Logic says that if we solved all the global problems, people doing bad things locally would have next to no impact on the environment (except in the case of extremes in a small area). Think of how the world is reported to be incredibly pristine prior to industrialization. Back then it wouldn't have mattered much if someone threw a candy wrapper into the Hudson River (if they had candy wrappers).

"Thinking" is more of a philosophical or an attitude/mental thing. Thinking solves nothing.