Diving Twin Lakes Saturday Morn

[overandover]

Hmmmm....

 

[ScubaTexan]

Sign at CSSP:

 

[Dee]

On the matter of feeding the fish at TL;
In this instance, I disagree. This is an environment that has been artificially created for divers, it is not a nature preserve. It is just as artificial for a horde of us divers to jump in the water with those same fish every weekend, as are the trailer/bus/plane/boats that are put in the water for divers to use.

No, it's not a nature preserve but it IS a natural lake regardless of whether divers get in the water with them or not.

If the owner or managers have a problem with it, I would have hoped that they would have said something. Perhaps they were trying to be polite by not saying anything and hoping for improvement in my behavior as my knowledge of diving increases, next time I'm there I'll ask if they mind. I judge that I am not the first person to feed the fish by the behavior of those people, or that of the fish.

Unfortunately the owner doesn't care as long as people fork over the $$. He doesn't dive and has no clue what we're talking about when we've tried to get him to ban feeding. Just because others feed the fish doesn't make it right.

As far as killing the fish by feeding them corn, puh-lease. I see no harm in frozen corn or peas. Now the nitrates in potted meat, or the yellow death that squirts out of a can...maybe you have a point there. I do, however, agree that feeding them does make them more aggressive, it's just that I've never met a person who has come out of a pond having been made a "bloody mess" by the bass therein. I guess that since it has never happened to me nor anyone that I know, it is hard for me to believe that a bass of the size I saw in TL could draw blood or leave a bite mark on a wetsuit. Dee, this has really happened to you, by a freshwater fish?

Anything that is not a natural food source has the possibility to cause harm. For instance the husks from corn kernals. (gross alert!) When you eat whole kernal corn, ever wonder why the corn is still visible in your stool? Your system can't digest it either but luckily your system will pass it. Fish aren't so lucky.

Yes, I can show you the marks on my suit and could probably list names of divers who have come back from dive with bloody body parts. And I'm sure Beast will be more than glad to regale you with tales of bloody ears and lips. Folks don't wear hood and beanies in 85º+ water for their thermal properties! And it's not the bass that are so vicious, luckily they are still on the shy side. It's the various species of perch that bite like bulldogs. I've personally had them bite hold of my ear and shake it like a dog. And yes, they do have teeth...several rows of them in fact. They have gotten so bad that several instructors have stopped teaching classes there because the fish pester the students so bad. As a Divemaster I have personally had to deal with students who have had panic attacks because of the pestering fish.

All that being said, I also think that feeding sharks is stupid and dangerous. I also hadn't thought about the nuisance that it would be to have to teach a class being distracted by a bunch of little beggars. That part actually makes some sense to me. Not touching the reef critters or feeding the reef fish that 400,000 people a year, besides myself would like to be able to enjoy-that makes sense to me.

I'm stubborn, but really not all that stupid. Convince me of a good reason for doing, or not doing something, and I'll be willing to change.

We aren't a bunch of green tree huggers! We enjoy the fish as much as anyone else. But we are all speaking from experience with the darling little buggers! We've seen the effects that feeding has caused and are simply trying to break the chain that continues it.

 

[BillT5]

That is the question... :huh: I used to have an aquarium at home, that's about the only time I've ever actively feed fish on purpose. :11doh: overandover, sorry we missed you, we'll try again sometime. I will often just show up down there and dive with whoever I can find at the time, if my son doesn't come down. I did buy a beany to wear, I haven't been bitten, but have had nibbleing on me. I have also been up to CSSP and the pearch do seem more agressive there for some reason! I don't bother with the fish much except to observe them, anything else just seems to further muck up the water, which I do enough of already.

 

[ScubaTexan]

I've never been nipped on the ears at CSSP, but I have had my knuckles nipped by the piranha perch. This is not a joke -- PLEASE DO NOT FEED THE FISH!

 

[ParamedicDiver1]

I know I have personally been nipped twice on the ear while helping with a class at TL and just fun diving. I now wear a lycra hood when diving there, and the Open Water students that I have helped with have been nipped too. No comment on the feeding thing, different strokes for different folks, etc. ;o)

 

[Foo]

Perchana made hamburger out of my husband's ear once, while he was on a platform waiting for students to do skills. He said it felt like a pit bull had him, and tried to shake his ear off his head! I didn't realize that it was the feeding that made them so aggressive, I just know that there's no WAY I would dive CSSP without my beloved and oh-so-attractive beanie.

 

[overandover]

Uncle.

 

[Foo]

Uncle.

Whew, we convinced him! Okay, hope to meet and dive with you soon, overandover. I'll be the one in the beanie, and I'm sure you'll have a new Dee-rag on...