Cozumel Gloves/Knife

[diveborg]

In their defense, I'm pretty sure that it's not the same folks who make the marine park rules who approve the building of cruise ship piers.

Pretty sure you are right about that. Plus the cruise lines have more money than the fish.

 

[Mawg]

No harpoons or explosives???? Dang it, I'm gonna have to go someplace else! ;^)

I too was trained to carry a knife but, not for the reasons listed here. I was taught that if a large shark started acting in an aggressive manner, you take out your knife, slash your dive buddy in the throat and swim for the boat. Made a lot of sense to me.

 

[Soggy]

IMO, not allowing gloves or knives is pure bozonity. Do you really see people pulling out their knives to stab stuff just for fun? I can't imagine the idiocy of an individual doing something like that. That's akin to a grown adult taking a butcher knife, going into the woods, and randomly stabbing trees...just for kicks. I doubt it really happens, or at least not on any scale that is seriously an issue for the environment. I bring scissors, anyhow...with or without permission. I will not enter the water, anywhere, without a cutting tool.

The no-gloves thing is at least mildly justifiable, in that there are a lot of moron divers out there that can't keep their fingers to themselves, but for me, gloves are for *my* protection. I had a diver literally *FALL* on me on my last trip to Cancun. It was a wreck dive, so gloves were allowed, but if I had been on a reef and the same thing happened, I just hope there was no fire coral below me.


This is an enormous pet peeve of mine....I hate that places like this are required to cater to the lowest common denominator.

Let's be real here...gloves aren't the problem...fins are. There is no possible way that touching the reef does even close to the amount of damage that even a close call with a fin does. Most divers don't know how to swim and are constantly kicking the bottom and the coral. Should we outlaw fins?

Like I said, these laws are pure bozonity and don't really hold up to scrutiny.

 

[HammerNoMore]

This is an enormous pet peeve of mine....I hate that places like this are required to cater to the lowest common denominator.

Personally, I appreciate the efforts to keep the reef healthy for the rest of us...

 

[Soggy]

Personally, I appreciate the efforts to keep the reef healthy for the rest of us...

Then get rid of fins....

 

[rje634]

you take out your knife, slash your dive buddy in the throat

You should really just want to wound them, if you slash the throat they won't thrash around enough to attract the shark....
Go for the leg, that way you are able to swim faster than they are..

 

[redacted]

I have run into monofillament line a number of times in Coz. On one occassion, at the top of a deep reef, I actually managed to get it on my tank valve. Buddy cleared the tangle without having to unsheath her shears. More often I have found it on shore dives inshore of villa blanc reef. It tends to be a fairly long piece of heavy line, layed out on the bottom straight in the current. It has always been covered in growth making it fairly easy to see. (The one on the reef was also but I didn't see it. It is easier to see once you are aware it might be there.) Shears and a small folding kniife are just part of my rig and I have never had any problem carrying them. But if someone wanted me to leave the folding knife behind, I'd have no problem. EMT shears are a more useful alternative. I carry gloves, but find them generally unnecessary. Again, I have never seen anyone wearing gloves have a problem with the dive op or use their gloves as an opportunity to abuse the environment. But when the rare problem does crop up, like a boat throwing a line to divers to tow them away from a cruise ship, I'd rather be wearing gloves than put my vacation in jeopardy over an infection from a minor cut.

 

[HammerNoMore]

Then get rid of fins....

Ok, don't really need them much in Coz anyway. Might throw off your trim though...

There are two issues here. Some divers are willing to live with a minor (and I mean really minor as there is no need for either in Coz) inconvienence to help keep the reefs healthier for everyone.

Some seem to think "Reefs be damned, I'll do whatever I want".

Glad I fall in that former group...

 

[Mawg]

You should really just want to wound them, if you slash the throat they won't thrash around enough to attract the shark....
Go for the leg, that way you are able to swim faster than they are..

Or, or I could jam their gloveless hands in to the boat prop. That oughta work.

 

[Stirling]

Then get rid of fins....

People who get close enough to touch with their (gloved) hands will do even more damage with their fins than people who maintain a little distance. I don't like to see people hovering inches away from the reef for a lot of reasons, apart from touching and stirring up silt and sand with their fins.

I can understand your frustration with rules that seem to be aimed at idiots, but look around you - the world is full of idiots. And we have a lot of rules that are aimed at minimizing the damage that idiots can do. Like it or not, these rules do make a difference because they at least restrain some of the more destructive behavior that too many people engage in. Some easy to enforce bright line rules (no gloves) help to enforce other rules that are harder to police (no touching), and the less people feel the need to reach out and touch something, the less likely they are to feel the need to get in close to it.

If you don't think little bits of stuff like this add up, I invite you to come visit the Petrified Forest in northern Arizona. Good luck finding any little pieces of petrified wood to look at - all of the tourists passing through on Route 66 carted away just about every piece they could lift into their cars. If it weren't prohibited, the reefs in popular dive spots would be carved up into little coral souvenirs and flown out of the country in hundreds of thousands of suitcases and carry-on bags.

On edit: And if little rules like this *don't* work, eventually they *will* be followed with "no fins" rules, and then "no diving" rules to protect the environment.