Article: The Number One Rule In Scuba Diving: No Touching!

[MXGratefulDiver]

Don't know about attacked but I was molested by a remora while on the hang bar.

I was molested by a swarm of stellar sea lions ... but they weren't attacking me ... they just wanted to play ...

... big puppies, they are ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[george_austin]

I break up tons of urchins to feed to fish - they like it!

 

[TMHeimer]

I break up tons of urchins to feed to fish - they like it!

I've collected a few. We have some surprisingly nice ones up here. PITA to boil & clean though.

 

[lowviz]

After much thought and reading this thread in its entirety multiple times I wanted to make some clarifications and shed some light on my thought process. However first I want to thank everyone who has commented on here for their input.

First and foremost I want to say that I did come off as defensive at first and didn't mean to do that. Regardless why it happened, it did and that isn't really who I am at heart. ...//...

Without everyone here I could not have refined my voice and made this change in direction. I hope you enjoy the things I write in the future as I will continue to post here for my SB family to read. Thank you again!!

I am most happy to see that post.

So now I'll share a bit about 'wrecking'. I seek to take a meaningful piece of each wreck I dive and then research it. I don't need portholes or other trophies. I like something meaningful that I remember from my dive. We share this info.

I'll now share with you one of my most valued artifacts.

Copied from Njscuba.net:

"Chile was still a nonbelligerent nation in the worldwide hostilities when the Tolten was torpedoed, on March 13, 1942. It was one of only two Latin American countries that had not severed diplomatic relations with Germany ( the other was Argentina. ) In order to maintain her neutrality according to international law, the Chilean government ordered all its ships to travel fully lighted at night so that Chilean flags could be clearly seen by enemy lookouts. This logic was based on the assumption that German U-boat commanders cared to honor the law of neutrality. All too often they did not.

While the Tolten was discharging her cargo of nitrate at Baltimore, Maryland, Captain Aquiles Ramirez received a communique from the Chilean government in which he was instructed to abide by all U.S. Navy regulations. The Navy Patrol Service in Baltimore warned him that for the last leg of his passage to New York he should maintain blackout conditions aboard his ship. That meant proceeding without showing navigation lights at night, having all portholes blanked, turning off corridor lights before opening outside doors, and not smoking on deck.

At first Captain Ramirez failed to comply. The Tolten proceeded to New York in ballast, and fully lighted. Around midnight on March 12, the freighter was hailed by a patrol boat and was told in no uncertain terms to switch off her lights in accordance with previously issued instructions. This time the captain complied.

Shortly after the captain ordered the lights switched off - between two A.M. and four A.M. - a torpedo struck the Chilean freighter a devastating blow. According to the only survivor, electrician Julio Faust, the freighter went down in less than six minutes and before any lifeboats could be launched. Faust was thrown clear, swam to a loose life raft, clambered aboard, and passed out. Twelve hours later a Coast Guard patrol boat pick him up, "suffering from exposure, shock, and bruises." He was taken to the marine hospital at Stapleton, on Staten Island, where he was treated. Faust recovered from his ordeal. Nothing was ever seen of the other twenty-seven crew members.

The U.S. sent a communique to the government of Chile, informing them of the tragedy. Chile's Foreign Minister Juan Bautista Rossetti ordered an extraordinary Cabinet session to which German and Italian ambassadors and the Japanese minister were "summoned" in order to discuss the ramifications of this flagrant act of aggression. The Axis powers were losing credibility in South America.

Very quickly there occurred a repetition of the rioting that transpired in Brazil after U-boats sank several Brazilian ships. ( for that story, see Cayru in Shipwrecks of New Jersey: South, by this author. ) Shouting "Down with the Axis, " mobs protested the sinking of the Tolten by smashing the windows in the building that published the pro-Axis newspaper Chileno, and damaging other German establishments. The U.S. Acting Secretary of State played it up for all it was worth, claiming in a press conference that the Axis powers intended to sink all ships of the American Republics without distinction. His purpose was to broaden the credibility gap between South America and the governments of Germany, Italy, and Japan, and to convert neutral Latin American nations to the Allied cause. This eventually led to pro-Ally factions taking control."

And here is part of a fuse block that kept those lights on. Note on the extreme left that the copper machine screw deposited its copper into the brass strap, making it red brass. It is all rotting away on the east coast.

Aside: Here is to you, Julio Faust! You as the Tolten's electrician maintained that part of the electrical cabinet, I as an amateur historian preserved it.

@ScubaWithTurk, So now you know something that would surely be lost to time (from someone who touches). -but touches carefully.

 

[shoredivr]

I am most happy to see that post.

So now I'll share a bit about 'wrecking'. I seek to take a meaningful piece of each wreck I dive and then research it. I don't need portholes or other trophies. I like something meaningful that I remember from my dive. We share this info.

I'll now share with you one of my most valued artifacts.

Copied from Njscuba.net:

"Chile was still a nonbelligerent nation in the worldwide hostilities when the Tolten was torpedoed, on March 13, 1942. It was one of only two Latin American countries that had not severed diplomatic relations with Germany ( the other was Argentina. ) In order to maintain her neutrality according to international law, the Chilean government ordered all its ships to travel fully lighted at night so that Chilean flags could be clearly seen by enemy lookouts. This logic was based on the assumption that German U-boat commanders cared to honor the law of neutrality. All too often they did not.

While the Tolten was discharging her cargo of nitrate at Baltimore, Maryland, Captain Aquiles Ramirez received a communique from the Chilean government in which he was instructed to abide by all U.S. Navy regulations. The Navy Patrol Service in Baltimore warned him that for the last leg of his passage to New York he should maintain blackout conditions aboard his ship. That meant proceeding without showing navigation lights at night, having all portholes blanked, turning off corridor lights before opening outside doors, and not smoking on deck.

At first Captain Ramirez failed to comply. The Tolten proceeded to New York in ballast, and fully lighted. Around midnight on March 12, the freighter was hailed by a patrol boat and was told in no uncertain terms to switch off her lights in accordance with previously issued instructions. This time the captain complied.

Shortly after the captain ordered the lights switched off - between two A.M. and four A.M. - a torpedo struck the Chilean freighter a devastating blow. According to the only survivor, electrician Julio Faust, the freighter went down in less than six minutes and before any lifeboats could be launched. Faust was thrown clear, swam to a loose life raft, clambered aboard, and passed out. Twelve hours later a Coast Guard patrol boat pick him up, "suffering from exposure, shock, and bruises." He was taken to the marine hospital at Stapleton, on Staten Island, where he was treated. Faust recovered from his ordeal. Nothing was ever seen of the other twenty-seven crew members.

The U.S. sent a communique to the government of Chile, informing them of the tragedy. Chile's Foreign Minister Juan Bautista Rossetti ordered an extraordinary Cabinet session to which German and Italian ambassadors and the Japanese minister were "summoned" in order to discuss the ramifications of this flagrant act of aggression. The Axis powers were losing credibility in South America.

Very quickly there occurred a repetition of the rioting that transpired in Brazil after U-boats sank several Brazilian ships. ( for that story, see Cayru in Shipwrecks of New Jersey: South, by this author. ) Shouting "Down with the Axis, " mobs protested the sinking of the Tolten by smashing the windows in the building that published the pro-Axis newspaper Chileno, and damaging other German establishments. The U.S. Acting Secretary of State played it up for all it was worth, claiming in a press conference that the Axis powers intended to sink all ships of the American Republics without distinction. His purpose was to broaden the credibility gap between South America and the governments of Germany, Italy, and Japan, and to convert neutral Latin American nations to the Allied cause. This eventually led to pro-Ally factions taking control."

And here is part of a fuse block that kept those lights on. Note on the extreme left that the copper machine screw deposited its copper into the brass strap, making it red brass. It is all rotting away on the east coast.

Aside: Here is to you, Julio Faust! You as the Tolten's electrician maintained that part of the electrical cabinet, I as an amateur historian preserved it.

@ScubaWithTurk, So now you know something that would surely be lost to time (from someone who touches). -but touches carefully.

View attachment 447810

Thank you for this historical note and photo, very interesting.

 

[The Chairman]

I've nearly 4,000 dives worldwide and can honestly say I have never been attacked by a marine creature ...

I certainly have. T-boned by a mama manatee because I was "there". Three cracked ribs and a humongous bruise. Ouch. Defense? Sure, but I was there first. I've even petted manatees that nudge me. I do that to my cats too.

When I started back in 1969, I bought my first mask, snorkel and fins from Mr. Scuba, aka Hal Watts. He was larger than life and told me that I could kick the crap out of the reef and never hurt the fins. I still own those fins and guess what: they don't show any damage! Wow, has our collective attitude towards the environment changed. We've gone from one extreme to the other. The pendulum swings and we can either follow it blindly or learn from it. My attitude has been shaped by 49 years of diving. I've been stung by a battery ray, stung by all sorts of jellies, fire corals & Man-a-war, had my ear torn by a DAMNselfish, bruised by a whale shark, chased by a turtle someone fed at one time, scraped by the skin of an aggressive bull shark and yet have more positive experiences than I ever could recount.

Consequently, I'm a toucher within reason. I don't mind playing with a critter like an arrow crab, but I put it back where I found it. I've picked up conchs to show peeps the pretty side, but then I put it right back. I've let my fingers be cleaned at a cleaning station and even my teeth once. I don't touch fish that freak out easily, like a puffer. I have let baby peacock flounders swim onto my hand so I can show others. Often I can point to one at the bottom of a spring and people won't see it until I touch it to make it move. Can it bite or sting? Then it's best left alone. If I don't know the critter, I assume it can hurt me and leave it alone. I also follow the rules, within reason. I was recently in a SPA (Special Protected Area) and saw a conch upside down and wedged in a crack. No way for that critter to right itself, so I helped it out. Quite often, I will show a diver how to make a Christmas Tree worm disappear and encourage them to do the same. I'll even show them how to gently feel a sponge and warn them from touching fire coral. FWIW, I consider myself a reef hugger who doesn't touch the reef unless I'm volunteering for www.CoralRestoration.com, where I get to fondle, cut, epoxy, string up and otherwise get to play with the coral everyone says I shouldn't touch. Go figure. Don't hate me because I'm different: Dive and let dive!

My first rule will always be to keep breathing and that BOYLES law really stands for Breathe Or Your Lungs Explode Stupid! BTW, have you ever seen how fish freak out when you exhale? Talk about stressing them out! I'm not going to stop breathing just to make them less stressed. However, it's one of the reasons why I like a rebreather even shallow.

My second is to Always have Fun or You can call a dive at any time for any reason with no questions asked and no repercussions. I try not to do anything on a dive that will impede my fun. Getting hurt always impedes my fun.

The third is stay close to your buddy. They won't always stick close to me though.