Do you touch?

[MaresMan1]

I never touch anything. I take only pictures and leave only bubbles.

However, on my last trip to Hawaii (Big Isl and Maui/Lanai), we went on a dive with a very popular Op. Big boat with lots of snorklers, but only 6 divers. The dives were very nice but the dive guide went and grabbed an octopus and showed it to all of the divers. The poor thing was desparately trying to get away, spraying ink all over.

Next, he picked up a lipstick urchin and.............brought both back to the boat to show the snorklers. He proceeded to walk around with them in a bucket of water having everyone pet them. When I asked the guide why he did that, he said that he has been doing that for years with no problems.

At that point I cancelled all of my remaining dives with that Op.

Dive Smart; Dive Safe
Enjoy the ride
MM1 :14:

 

[dmmike]

The only coral that should be touched is that which is clearly dead, and only to prevent contact with other sections of coral, and with a single figer tip.

And in regard to the comment about hiking, yes I have an issue with people who "stray" off the path and damage plants and other things just because they cannot respect the rules.

This is only my opinion........

 

[scubaguy655]

Again, I'm not trying to start a fire here, but I fail to see the negative impact that scuba divers cause in the large scope of things.

Not being an expert, I have no scientific data that I can quote to you. What I do know is that if you dive a shallow reef that is popular (gets a great deal of traffic from divers) the reef is nowhere near as healthy as one where fewer divers are found. In many cases, the reef is just a pile of rocks with some algae on them. I suspect that this is the result of the divers you see going fin first on to the reef. I would consider this a negative impact from scuba divers.

As far as the wildlife goes, I really don't have enough information to make a statement one way or another. The only thing I would say is that if the world below the surface is anything like the one above, we must be very cautious. History has shown that a great deal of the wildlife above the surface can be affected negatively by our attempts at interaction.

Needless to say, I don't touch anything underwater on purpose and make every attempt to let the wildlife go about their business without my help.

....just my opinion

 

[mislav]

I touch the sand, I touch the rocks, I might even tease a fish or two (without touching) but that's about it. I never touched a coral underwater.

But, being a guy who likes to think for himself and not give in to the hype, I must say I strongly agree with fishb0y, walter and the rest of the open minded gang here.

However, it is often much easier to explain "don't touch" policy to beginners than to explain every aspect of "don't harm" policy. I guess a better approach to people who like to use their brains on this would be the "don't harm" one.

Oh, and I'm not trying to offend anyone, I do understand that some people just don't want to get too deep into environmentalism and I respect that.

 

[Daylonious]

Had a friend that liked to touch everything... he was newbie and on a trip to Belize he came out with me and the DM for a resort dive....not knowing what he was doing, he hugged a firecoral outcropping as a joke.

No more touchie for him... although it was kinda funny all of us on the dive boat taking turns urinating on him to stop the burning.

"Stop whining, Leo, I'm a trained rescue diver providing first aid...just keep your eyes closed..." <whizzzzz...>

Ahh, if I only had a camera with me that day... He was whelped up pretty bad arms, face neck for a couple of days... Lesson learned.

D.

p.s. I just got back from Cozumel a few days ago and took a picture of what looked like a centipede like creature. The kind folks at my LDS told me it was a Bearded Fireworm.. it looked so cute and fuzzy, but they said that it made firecoral seem like a warm bath by comparison...

SOO again, no touchie for me, no matter how cute and fuzzy it looks.

 

[Ishie]

Depends on where I am and what I'm doing.

In the Philippines, I tried to use the 1 finger rule. But they have a lot of hard coral I didn't want to break. I was messing with a clownfish, though didn't initiate touching it nor did I go into its nest, and it bit the *** out of me for it! LOL

Stuff along the coast of NorCal is pretty hardy. I don't deliberately mess with it, but occasionally I'll move a crab (or accidentally drop it on dive buddy's head because it wriggled) or touch a starfish. I've touched a sunflower star a few times because they feel neat, though now that I know what they feel like, not so much.

I'll touch a harbor seal if it's hanging out and seems cool with idea. I won't mess with one on the beach, and especially not their pups but if a critter is deliberately interacting with me, I figure it's all right.

I have nothing against grabbing a lobster (in season)! Though I have accidentally "touched" the sea urchins doing so. Ow!

Oh, and I confess, I do mess with the tube anemones from time to time.

I'm not that touchy by any means, and I'll only touch stuff in my own backyard, knowing what it is and that it's hearty (like a starfish). If I accidentally move something (like move my hand and the wake knocks a nudi away), I'll carefully move it back to where it was.

But I'd say I touch stuff on maybe one of twenty dives, and not much stuff. I definitely won't try to stress something out, though after reading about what pufferfish can do, I wouldn't anyway!

 

[Brandon]

You can't run around touching everything... but there's some critters that are plenty hardy enough to be handled a little bit.

For example... the huge starfish we have around here (pycnopodia helianthoides) make great underwater hats, especially during night dives when you want to freak your buddy out. You won't hurt them, and they won't hurt you.

I agree with mislav and others... the "don't touch anything" rule is great for beginners and purists, but eventually education and experience will teach you that some things underwater can be handled safely.

-Brandon.

 

[dkktsunami]

I just came back from the Dominican and I managed to squeeze in 10 dives while I was there. I had a small dive party with me and the dive shop we were with put some people with us.

I noticed though that one of the women in the dive party was always touching stuff on the reef, or going after the fish.... and I have always held the belief... you don't touch.

Do you touch?

I never touch coral but occasionally certain animals (grouper and nurse sharks) swim up to me and seem to enjoy human interaction. If they want to touch I oblige, but only when they approach me.

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

Sometimes I touch them with a spear gun.

 

[tiburon72157]

i'm a critter magnet. i have a gift. i touch my underwater friends all the time...many times they approach me out of curiosity first. true, gentle interaction without harming anybody or anything. my diving amigos know how much i adore and respect both the ocean and the animals within. now go hug a shark and eat that lobster. as for punching out some drunken ahole...that's a completely different story.