Do you touch?

[Calamari68]

Bull. People without gloves (experienced or not) will learn very quickly to keep there damned hands off the live coral. That is a less, IMO, they need to learn early on. I didn't always believe this, but my last two dive trips have convinced me there is no other way for some people to get a clue.

Absolutely! And then they can hold their hands away from the coral as their body is pushed into it or rubs against it causing damage on more area! Awesome....

People don't get it... you can't legislate morality.

 

[guitar_lord]

Why would anyone *NEED/WANT* to touch a coral?
seriously... why would you?
Touching a soft coral lightly will not kill it, but they are very sensitive organizms. I keep corals in my aquarium and have touched them on occasion when moving them around.

Hard stony corals on the otherhand are extremely fragile and bumping into one would most likely break it. It takes many years for these corals to even grow back an inch.

So why would one even risk taking that chance? It doesnt make any sense to me

IMO, fish are a lot more hearty then corals and touching a fish wouldnt kill it (if it lets you touch it - at your own risk of course)

Somone tell me though why ANYONE would EVER touch a coral?
thats just asking for trouble

 

[aHeavyD]

I don't touch

But here's the not so funny part, I'm taking SSI Stress Rescue training.

I watching the video and a girl swims up and grabs the coral with her hand in it. She didn't touching it but graped it, then it shows her touching coral with her fins, like she needs to stand up on the bottom. This vid of the girl was showing the way your are suppose to swim calm and relaxed. Then it shows a couple with the gauges hanging way low and I thought I saw the gauge console touch..

I couldn't believe what I'm seeing from a training video. I was trained not to touch and here's SSI training video breaking the rules. For the record I just bought the book/vid so they are brand new off the shelf in the last few weeks.

 

[mousek801]

i was always tought not to touch, by my brother asked for a rock back from south america so i think thats ok.

 

[oly5050user]

I love touching things. If you don't know about the critter, don't touch it, but there are lots of things we can safely touch with no damage to ourselves or the environment. Here's someone else who agrees. A better rule is don't harm things (unless of course, you're getting supper) and don't hurt yourself. When in doubt, don't touch.

totally agree with Walter..I find most of the "don't touch or it/you will die" people posting here are divers with very limited experience(less than 50/100 dives)..Dee has a wonderfull program in Bonaire and gives you information on what and how to interact with the marine life and environment.Here in the northeast I show students all the time how to interact with life here,touch a anemone and (bare handed) and see what the sensation is,I might grab a lobster and let the student hold it ,horseshoe crab,spider crab etc..I find they loose certain fears this way and appreciate the dive more..

 

[cowboyneal]

The only thing stupider than the "no touch" "rule" is the "no gloves" "rule." Personally, I will wear my exposure protection wherever and whenever I like, and no one is going to tell me whether I can wear gloves or not. It's a ridiculous premise to believe that somehow forbidding gloves will somehow keep people from touching things. There are plenty of ways around the "rule" anyway, and the best way is just put your gloves on while descending into a dive. Most of these divemasters are so self-centered they never notice. Further, I touch all kinds of wildlife and things every day on land, why would I change that in the water? The rule really is (and Walter expressed this all clearly) when in doubt, do not touch. If you are going to harm something, do not touch. For years and years we dove and touched and did pretty much whatever we wanted until the inexperienced, incompetent and inattentive got involved in diving and started breaking things, killing things and ruining things - this was the genesis of the no touching rule. Learn how to interact with marine life, and then do it the right way.

CN

 

[VBlueV]

to all the boat divers... does the anchor dragging (past the sand) into the coral reef, count as touching?

 

[Diver Dennis]

It is a big pity that diving certs cannot be pulled.
As a PADI professional it would be just perfect if I could pull the cert off an idiot who shouldn't be diving.
Then I would be pretty busy at PG in the Phillipines!!!!

I was just there and I didn't see anyone touching stuff. Which dive op did you go with?

 

[bennedc]

Let me re-vamp this old thread...

I don't touch. This came about after my husband decided he wanted to pick up a bristle worm to show to me once, since he couldn't get my attention (I was a bad buddy that day and was in my own little world)...he just kind of got under it and floofed it up in the water without putting any pressure on it....BAD IDEA! He had little fine spines all in his gloves, through the leather palm and into his hands, and I had to hear about it. Since then, I have made it a rule not to touch anything living.

 

[Walter]

Well, never touch a Bristle Worm. From your description, I'd say he got off easy.