Don't Smile With A Regulator!

[FreeFloat]

I'm not sure I understand the posts about not touching anything underwater. Maybe I'm nieve but I don't get the joke. Clearify?
~Thanks~

It's not a joke. Humans have quite an interfering effect on underwater habitats and wildlife. Would you go up to a lion or grizzly bear and pet and stroke it? Probably not.

Sometimes underwater organisms are so fragile that the gentle placement of one single finger can cause irreparable damage - in the case of coral, for example, that finger will kill the spot it touched. On a night dive sometimes just illuminating a fish with your light is enough for a predator to swoop in and eat it, when the predator might otherwise never have seen it.

Best policy: as stated by my open water instructor: Don't molest the wildlife. By "molest" he meant touch, contact, bait, anything.

We humans are only visitors to the underwater world. You have to respect that. The ocean is not a playground for us to grope, play with, or otherwise 'molest'.

 

[fishfreak44]

Well I know not to touch stuff, but I don't get where that fits in this conversation so I figured it was some kind of odd joke. :06:

Those sharks have lived at the dive center for years and get stroked numorous times a day by divers and instructors. It's even a joke there that you have to kiss one if you dive there on your birthday. Plus they get top-notch vet care so if it was hurting them, I doubt anyone would do it.

 

[Henryville]

Well I know not to touch stuff, but I don't get where that fits in this conversation so I figured it was some kind of odd joke. :06:

Those sharks have lived at the dive center for years and get stroked numorous times a day by divers and instructors. It's even a joke there that you have to kiss one if you dive there on your birthday. Plus they get top-notch vet care so if it was hurting them, I doubt anyone would do it.

Three words: Siegfried and Roy


It's obvious from your other posts and your willingness to look at your bad experience that you are thoughtful and serious about diving. You have got a great set of experiences ahead, I wish I had started when you are starting. You're just getting some protective instinct from some of the folks here. You can't even predict what people are going to do, let alone animals in the wild or that once were in the wild.

Have fun, be safe, and KEEP DIVING!

 

[SueMermaid]

Well I know not to touch stuff, but I don't get where that fits in this conversation so I figured it was some kind of odd joke. :06:

I believe it was directed at your saying that you were petting sharks.

 

[fishfreak44]

That explains a lot. Thanks for clearifying. I may not be a very knowledgable diver, but I know where to draw the line. I would never do anything to hurt anything from the ocean. (I want to be an marine ichtheologist, or in other words, a marine biologist who specializes in tropical fish. It's been my goal for years.) I'm glad I have the support from diving know-hows.

 

[underwater daphne]

Well I know not to touch stuff, but I don't get where that fits in this conversation so I figured it was some kind of odd joke. :06:

Those sharks have lived at the dive center for years and get stroked numorous times a day by divers and instructors. It's even a joke there that you have to kiss one if you dive there on your birthday. Plus they get top-notch vet care so if it was hurting them, I doubt anyone would do it.

wow, what a terrible place!

example nurse sharks (i have to translate this, so it might come out weird):

"Nurse sharks always almost sleep in the same cave, but are very sensitive to interferences. Just a small touch is enough and they will never return to the same habitat/spot ever again, although they don't react spontaneously to interference."

so whatever you do in your petting zoo is your business, but generally, if you really like marine life, you'll refrain from disturbing the animals for various reasons.

 

[fishfreak44]

Just cause I'm younger doesn't mean I don't know what I'm doing. I've read the 20 volume set of "The Ocean World of Jacques Cousteau" 3 times and imnumerable other marine life sources and I've never come across such a reference on nurse-sharks. With the excuse of the huge blunder made by my instructor that first day, I think that dive facility is very well run and scientifically backed.

 

[outlawaggie]

Just cause I'm younger doesn't mean I don't know what I'm doing. I've read the 20 volume set of "The Ocean World of Jacques Cousteau" 3 times and imnumerable other marine life sources and I've never come across such a reference on nurse-sharks. With the excuse of the huge blunder made by my instructor that first day, I think that dive facility is very well run and scientifically backed.

Fishfreak, I would simply ignore Daphne. A Swiss citizen that would quote Michael Moore's fairly tale of fiction obviously does not base her opinions on fact. She instead bases them on the fantasy of emotion. i.e. don't touch the poor fish, animals.

Daphne, are you a vegetarian?

 

[fishfreak44]

My thoughts exactly but I didn't want too be rude. ENVIRONMENTALISTS!!!

 

[outlawaggie]

My thoughts exactly but I didn't want too be rude. ENVIRONMENTALISTS!!!

Like our great President, G.W. Bush, I'm from Texas. I'm not rude I just tell it like it is.

By the way, of the research I've done the Nurse shark is not bothered at all by handling which is why they have become a popular attraction on Ecotourism ventures. Daphne's quote is BS.