Do Not Touch

[drbill]

NOTE: I should add that I dive in temperate waters where reefs are rocky rather than made of coral and most species here are well protected against the "abuse" that storms give them. When I am diving in tropical seas with coral reefs, I am much more cautious about what I will touch... because I may not know the species and its sensitivity, and do not do coral reef research so I don't have the same scientific motivation.

 

[desiredbard]

Pages:
I started off that way on advice of another user here, but it was ment as a list of "selfharm" fishes, sorry for any unclarity
Mark:
I personally will move a bot of kelp on order to get a good shot in the irish sea, that is differnt from breaking coral reefs to get your lens in
Dr Bill
Finally

NOTE: I should add that I dive in temperate waters where reefs are rocky rather than made of coral and most species here are well protected against the "abuse" that storms give them. When I am diving in tropical seas with coral reefs, I am much more cautious about what I will touch... because I may not know the species and its sensitivity, and do not do coral reef research so I don't have the same scientific motivation.

AMEN
However
Mark Dr Bill
If a DM hands you a species or disturbs it in order to get you your pic, when do you tell him no. I mean annoying a grouper is different from annoying a seahorse.

If annyone harms a critter intentionally I will at all times abandon my dive. And although ignorance is an explanation it should not be an excuse.

No buddy or DM or guide will annoy/puff another puffer in my pressence. But what are other species like this? (And please dont say all of them)

BTW Bill whats diving in CA like? the Ms wants to take me out to her uncle in SJ but I'm only going if I can dive.... Had to big let downs in the US (well NY actually) and dont want to put a long haul flight in for the same crap, sorry

 

[RICoder]

I'm not trying to stir the pot back up, but I have to chime in here. First, 99.9 or 99.8, you're WAY off base. You might consider reading around this entire board before posting about the horrors of bad divers. Even if you think your numbers are right on, the membership here really doesn't need to be repeatedly chastised for something that the vast majority of its membership either don't do or actively try to stop.

Having said all of that, I completely agree with the spirit of the original post, insofar as people need to be careful what they touch and what they harass underwater. I take the approach of having a conversation with people I see doing things that are non-friendly underwater, and then taking it up with a DM if I feel it is necessary.

 

[dlndavid]

as others always say, it is the bad instruction they receive, coming from bad instructors.

 

[Guba]

Just returned from Cozumel, and I saw the same percentage of "touchers/nontouchers" as I have viewed in the past...about 1 out of ten. However, the "one" was a doozy. He made a point of pointing out interesting things to me (I was carrying a video camera)---right before he "interacted" with the subject. Before I could stop him, he literally goaded and pushed a feeding turtle until it relocated. (He informed me that he was disappointed that I backed off when he did this. He was about to "give a good show" by RIDING the turtle.) I was positioning to get a good view of a nurse shark resting on its belly under a ledge when the shark unexpectedly moved. I'd move too if that same guy were tugging on MY tail! He chased a flounder although I was trying to get a shot of how perfectly its markings blended in with the rock it was on. The list goes on and on. Did I express my displeasure with him? Yes, but possibly not adequately. Did I report his behavior to the DM. Didn't have to--the DM saw it for himself and spoke with the guy.
However, the others on the boat (we were a mix and match boat--my group and at least a couple of others) were extremely cautious of handling the marine life. We took photos, studied intently, and then went our way. It's the same rules sane people should observe where ever they are in the wild. Don't pester the bears, give the buffalo a wide berth, and let the hiding fawn keep hiding (its survival may depend upon it). Don't hack the vegetation and step lightly in delicate growth. What makes us think it should be any different underwater?

 

[Monkey Knife-fight]

It doesn't seem to me like this is an exercise in preserving the health of the underwater environment. What it seems like to me is that you want members of this board who vastly support touching nothing to give you a list of things you CAN touch (as in the inverse of this list you are attempting unsuccessfully to create). You say earlier "I have touched in the past and will touch in the future" (paraphrase). Nothing personal but i don't think many people here feel like giving you a list of critters you can (and have promised you WILL) harass in the future just so you can get a picture you like or whatever.

I take pictures too and if the DM or anyone else moves something to give me a good picture (even if their intentions are good) i just swim away. I must say this is one strange thread to start.

Chris

 

[RikRaeder]

With the exception of scientific research like Dr. Bill mentioned, I personally think it's far cooler to take photos of things as they are, not as we imagine them to be. I'll leave that to the photographers at Playboy. I'd also like to say that I'm proud to be in the elite 1% minority who doesn't like to touch wildlife. Seems like everyone on these three pages so far is similarly elite. Well, all but one (Dr. Bill doesn't count).

 

[Sideband]

Lets see if this post manages to not get deleted without an explanation...

http://www.cdnn.info/eco/e031123a/e031123a.html

Go ahead and touch stuff. Sometimes it "touches" back.

Joe

 

[usmc4x4]

While on a deployment I had the opportunity to dive in Okinawa as well as Guam. Anytime you move from one "base" to another you have to do an indoc and they go over the wildlife amongst other things and usually if its a popular dive location they put up slides of what will kill and what will hurt. I think if alot of the "touchers" knew the dangers to them much less the wildlife they would back off. Unless I have my camera I tuck my hands behind my back under my tank. This not only encourages peak bouyancy but it also stops me from touching inadvertantly, and stopped that early diving annoying habit of trying to use my arms for propulsion or backing up.

 

[Amazon]

I must confess that while off-gassing in the shallows I have been known to pick up a little hermit crab, or little green crab, and marvel at it when it comes out of it's shell in my hand. But that's the extent of my "interference". And I've only done this to ones that were out for a walk in the sand. I've never taken one out of it's hiding spot.

(flame suit ready to wear)