Do you touch?

[Cold_Under_Here]

On my first check-out open water dives, my assistant instructor removed a rock so that he could grab a lobster and show off to the female students. Grade "A" moron.

 

[Lonefox]

Anyone who insists on touching everything obviously isn't familiar with the undersea environment, and eventually will learn the hard way not to touch things, especially when they try to stroke the soft velvet of a fire coral, I pity any novice diver that feels obliged to poke their fingers in a giant clam. I keep my hands to myself personally, for my safety and that of the life around me.

 

[Eagle-scuba]

if everyon touched , then there would be none left..NO, don`t touch or interrupt the activities going on around you...Remember the "PRIME DIRECTIVE"...lol... see ya` under

 

[Kevfin]

Depends...

Obviously, if you are hunting, there are crabs, lobster, etc. that you are going to touch. If going through kelp, you are going to touch it. If you find a pirates treasure chest...

But, as a general rule, no I will not touch things...

 

[partridge]

I would love to say I do not touch anything but this is just not true. With the currents here, you find yourself holding on to something to keep from being swept away. A very nice dive is to go with the current and when you get to the corner, just hang on. No reef hooks but just find a rock or non living thing.

As a general rule I will not touch anything. But I do not subscribe to the hype that one touch will set the coral back a hundred years.

 

[00scuba]

I'd bring a plate to pass around if I could, but that is how I was raised...never go anywhere empty handed.

seriously...i try not to touch. I use my great buoyancy skills and watch my p's and q's. Have had a few cool encounters where I was touched first...so I interacted. But I think under h20 is like going anywhere else...you have to respect others and their homes.

 

[Sasquatch]

It's a good topic and I believe the general rule should be followed for a long list of good reasons. But, the saying and the doing, for me, took a little effort.

Now, when I'm down at 100FSW and I see a portable radio, well, I've just gotta pull the antennae up and do a little dance. It just happened. Maybe I was narc'ed. Recently I was doing my initial descent on a boat dive and when the bubbles cleared I was within arms reach of a large barracuda. He was just hanging there watching me. He was so big and I was so impressed that when I angled around him I had to cope with the urge to touch his side. Now intellectually I knew better but that little kid in me said "Pet the fishie!" and for a nano-second it seemed OK. It was a brief "duh" moment for me.

Within that same week I watched some snorklers standing on a reef head to rest and take pictures out of the water. It was a recovering reef, too.

I think the rule "Don't Touch" is a great one and that by recognizing it I believe it promotes the understanding of why the rule is there.

And, as always, self preservation for all of the reasons previously stated is a pretty good reason to keep your hands and fins to yourself.

Sea ya

 

[Walter]

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.

 

[wedivebc]

Some critter just beg to be touched http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=125513 and sometimes if you put your hand out and they crawl into it of their own accord I can't see the harm. Grunt sculpins for instance will climb on your palm and walk around on their pectoral fins. They don't seem to mind. If I thought I was harming the critter in any way I would not do it.

 

[fishb0y]

if everyon touched , then there would be none left..NO, don`t touch or interrupt the activities going on around you...

How did this come about? Is Greenpeace/PADI putting this out? I have yet to see the dead fish washing ashore near some of my favorite sites.

I have seen a fish with a large chunk taken out of him, and then a month later see the same (i think) fish, a little thinner, but I'm guessing the same albeit missing some flesh. I've wrestled a large tako (octopus) that got away whom I believe had a run-in with an eel (it only had 6 arms). What about all those wild dolphin encounters, are they causing wide spread destruction? I firmly believe that our environment is stronger than most people think (notice I did not say healthier).

Yes, don't hold down that turtle, don't wiggle your fingers in front of a moray and don't chip away at the coral... but why shouldn't you touch the pretty fish? What is the harm in flipping over that rock to get that lobster? I'm personally in the opinion that what little contact we scuba divers have, the educational benefits are much greater. Now gill nets, that's a different story...

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.