Do you touch?

[mislav]

Or you'll sound like a surfer dude whose rich daddy gave him some expensive equipment.

Hm, hate to say it but actually you sounded exactly like that - just the way you've descibed it yourself.

Trust me, commercial fisherman will do far more damage to the eco-system than divers who touch, will ever do.

Agreed. Put hunters and 'science research' on that list too.

 

[jbichsel]

Nope, only the sandy bottom!

A. want to be environmentally friendly
B. don't want to get a rash or burn or something
C. don't want to pi$$ off the 'cuda (here cuda cuda!)
D. only if the fish touches me first!

What about the gobies, flatfish, rays, etc. that might be in the sand?

Yes I touch certain things. Sharks whenever possible. I love the way they feel and the power that they have.

Small fish that bite my ears. Yes, I touch them back!

Sometimes in shallow water with the surge, I have to put out a finger to push me away from the reef so I don't crash into it. Should I not try to push myself away in order to not touch? I figure a finger tip is less harmful than my tank.

I try to keep it to a minimum and not touch what I'm not sure about. There is a great difference between touching and grabbing.

 

[desiredbard]

Actually good point on the catch and release for anglers.....
But the movie is damnright stupid... playing with an eel like that not to mention the ray
He's tossing with them as I do with my neighbours boxer an spaniel.

And finally the people who see the exceptions....

By the way... handed that conger molesting idiot...(the one that dislocated boulders and might have crushed it for all i know....a nice big lobster last sunday..... not the "JCB" we have around here (his back id 4-5 hands wide) cause that would have taken his finger right off ..... although he would have deserved it...... but big enough to make him lose his reg when he got snapped... (dont worry I was righ beside him) its bruised

If I only would have been able to take a shot of that with my cam ..... LOL

 

[TheFoggyMask]

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........

Personally, I love to play with the wolf eels and octos. But I won't touch corals.

First of all, fire coral is not coral, it is a hydrazoan. Everything that will sting you underwater will be a hyrda, jellyfish, or anenome. Possible urchins and some fish if the spines aren't apparent enough to you. Corals don't sting people, they have chemical defenses and acontia to have coral wars with their coral neighbors.

The reason why you don't touch corals is because the living part of the coral is a thin slick of slime and polyps. If you break the connective tissue between the polyps you can kill a section of the coral. You should not touch or bounce off corals. Nor should you touch a coral that is "clearly dead," as bleached corals will appear to be dead since they're completely whited out. Those corals are still alive and can be for up to two weeks while they wait for conditions to hopefully improve and zooxanthellae to return. Even if a coral appears dead you should not touch it. Picking up and moving rocks, if they are in an area where you know, for example, that in winter the rocks are chucked around, is not going to cause any harm. Rubble fields are pretty used to being shoved around. Rockmover wrasses, among others, move rocks around all the time.

The real concern is FEEDING animals. When animals start to recognize that people bring food they can be aggresive toward divers, and morays don't have pointy teeth just because they like having pretty smiles.

The diver damage caused to reefs is not just from people picking corals out of the water and standing on them and bouncing into them. In popular areas, seepage from septic tanks and garbage from picnicers will be causing most of the damage. Collection for personal aquariums is another damage source. Even oil slicks from suntan lotion can block sunlight and damage coral growth by shading.

 

[Lamnid]

I absolute have to resisit the urge to touch because i´m desperate to pet the fish but i never do cos i know it´s all too easy to damage things with out human hands! Coral will die if it gets scraped as only the lower layers are toughened and dead.
Personally, I feel bad if i stir up the bottom! I was just thinking about this the other day though. It would be like a bunch of sea creatures coming onto land and all being so excitied to see everything that they destroyed our buildings and cities. We´d belike "Hey! That has been there for years and took us years to build and you just come along and wreck it like it´s nothing and then return back to the sea cos it´s not your problem!"

 

[aboalreem]

No touching at all......only when wolf eels comes to me and bag for petting!!

 

[Lost_At_Sea]

Never never touch. The reefs get destroyed enough without us touching them. When we dive, we are in a very sensitive environment, because of that we have to be very careful in what we DON'T touch.

 

[cascbagrl]

No to touching the reef but, yes I have touched the animals, shark, octo (with out a glove) some sea cucumbers, starfish. I touch very delicately and I am with Fishb0y enjoy the interaction.

 

[sharkattack]

No to touching the reef but, yes I have touched the animals, shark, octo (with out a glove) some sea cucumbers, starfish. I touch very delicately and I am with Fishb0y enjoy the interaction.

YES YOU DO!! YOU PULLED THIS POOR FROG FISH OFF THIS REEF AND PLAYED WITH HIM!!!! Proof!!

 

[cascbagrl]

I said yes to touching animals I love the frog fish!