Any dive shops that do not chum the water or handle marine life?

[chillyinCanada]

Have to agree with peter here. Last year as I descended head down from the boat, 3 nurse sharks were bumping my legs and no one else was in the water yet. I certainly had no chum for them. While I don't agree with the practice it has always gone on since long before either myself or Peter began to dive in Belize. It will take more education and divers expressing their wishes for the alternative. What really frosts me up is when I see divers that most certainly should know better chasing after the sharks and pulling their tails and such. Or even some complete lead heads that grab onto turtles.

 

[peterbj7]

I remember the story of a young woman who visited here and went diving. She saw a nurse shark basking under a shelf and ignoring her, so she tapped it. No response. So she prodded it. No response. Then she pulled its tail and it turned and bit her. She needed stitches in her hand. Then she went on internet fora and said how dangerous nurse sharks were, and how dive staff in Belize were irresponsible in telling guests otherwise. After someone posted the truth of what had happened she wasn't heard from again.

 

[chillyinCanada]

LOL. On a recent trip the family of divers that ended up on my boat had a couple of older teens that were really harassing the sharks with tail tugs and such in attempts to get them in position to hug upside down. The DM didn't seem inclined to discourage the behaviour but he was most certainly aware of my complete and overwhelming disapproval. Towards the end of one such dive, the family goes to the surface and the DM and I continue on for a swim about. The next thing I know he's flipped me upside down, rubbed my tummy and then wore me like a hat. I was laughing so hard I couldn't keep my mask cleared. But the silliness of treating me like a pet nurse shark did serve to improve my mood and so I wasn't completely grumpy towards the family upon my return to the boat.

 

[Mike]

At risk of saying something non-PC, may I ask WHY you're so appalled at DMs handling some sea life? The nurse sharks here are very tame, and if they aren't approached by divers they will nudge the divers themselves. They WANT attention. Similarly some groupers, which actively want to be touched and stroked. At Esmeralda you will be mobbed by nurse sharks.

They want food, not attention.

There used to be a dive on Bonaire where they started feeding the marine life, there were a lot of big green morays at this site, so the feeding morphed to basically feeding all the morays. Over the years the population grew (marine life flourishes where there is food), and the morays became the show and pet like. As the morays learned, they associated divers with food, so when divers came near their holes they would come out and swim around their legs and such, over time the morays began to associate divers splashing in with food, so when divers jumped in the morays would come out of their holes to meet them, pretty soon the morays associated the sound of the dive boats with food, so eventually it got to the point that the morays were waiting right at the boat when people jumped in. As you can imagine the freaking out began and the long story short the marine park chose to kill all the morays because of how wild and aggressive they had become. The marine life always pays for dumb ass divers who think feeding marine life is no harm. In cozumel we've got groupers who follow divers around, like torpedos due to all the 'teaching' of marine life to eat lion fish, they are getting aggressive morays due to the teaching. Reports of divers camera's being attacked by aggresive morays becomes more common all the time, the morays are just associating divers with food.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Not to discount your story in anyway but I've encountered a grouper in Roatan that sought out the divers and definitely wanted affection/stroking. Divers do not feed the fish there as you likely know. Haven't seen nor heard about the puppy dog grouper in a while and I often wonder if it managed to get itself loved to death.

 

[Mike]

Yeah, groupers have a long history of puppying up not just for food don't they?

Being Roatan, it might likely have gotten poached by a local. Been told a few disturbing stories about stuff like that gong on there. Last time there dive masters were reluctant even to show their clients where they knew sea horses were due to what they indicated was trouble with some locals finding out. Seemed to have been a recent issue with some local there that had recently developed.

 

[Ralph Capeling]

Nurse sharks around Placencia do not seek out divers and if you approach them, they will swim away. I belive that is normal behaviour for wild sharks.
Regards
Ralph

 

[Downing]

Last summer in Placencia, the dive guide and I spotted a giant grouper at about 90 feet and went down to check him out. Maybe he really was just looking to score some food, but he certainly acted like he wanted to be petted. And it wasn't as if he came up to see us since we had to drop down 30 feet to see him. After maybe a minute of having him swim around and through us I finally gave him a small pat.

Friendliest grouper I've ever met.

My experience with Nurse Sharks around Placencia is the same as Ralph's. Relatively easy to find them resting on the bottom, but they always swim off eventually once discovered even if you stay back and hold still.

 

[Edward3c]

Hello fellow scuba divers -

I've seen at least one dive operator website with pictures of the owner hugging a shark during a dive, and numerous youtube videos of DMs chumming the water and/or encouraging divers to touch the marine life. I am personally against both of these practices - when diving, I want to see the fish as they would be naturally, not tempted by food or manhandled. I have been diving in Belize, St. Lucia, Barbados and Curacao and this is the first location for me where this seems to be "the norm".

Can anyone give me recommendations of operators that do not chum the water or handle marine life? We will be diving off of Ambergris Caye.

Thank you in advance!

These people are dedicated to protecting the reef, ReefCI

However, there not on AC, but right down South in the Sapodilla Cayes Marine Reserve

Kind regards