Don't Smile With A Regulator!

[Bubble Blower 479]

Is this a question about the nurse sharks in fresh water?
Because that is what came to my mind first off,I live in Florida and we have a shark that will occasionally go into fresh water(Bull shark),but we don't pet these guys here. Not even small ones(much less 8 footers)This would be because these guys are responsible for the majority of shark attacks in fla gulf. Now while we do have nurse sharks here I can't say that i've ever seen or heard of one above the brackish water point(not in fresh water). Maybe I need to watch out for them too?But we have to stay aware of whats around us here in fla 'cause when you are out of shark territory
your in gator territory
I was wondering where this "inland spring" was myself.

As stated above, Bonneville Seabase in Utah is a Salt Water spring of warm water. They have 8 foot nurse sharks and several other tropical fish (Angels, Jacks, Pompanos, Eels, Tangs, etc.). Check out www.seabase.net .

 

[ScubaPilot]

I'm not a environmentalist per se, but sometimes when I see animals in cages at a zoo or aquariums I feel a bit sorry for them. Then I dated this veterinarian who explained to me that these places, petting zoos included, help educate the public about these animals. She justified it as benefitting the animals in the wild.

I try not to touch anything when I'm under water.

On one of my other threads, I blew an opportunity to swim in the Shark aquarium tank in Maui last week. Still kicking myself for doing it. I didn't really care to pet any of them, but I would love to conquer the fear of being in a tank full of them.

When I was in Maui, they had Discover Scuba courses everywhere. That seems kind of risky. But then, my first scuba experience was in Aruba. The same guys that had been handing me rum punches handed me a BC and a tank and let me go scuba diving. I had no clue what I was doing AND I was intoxicated. That was very stupid. And before anyone yells at me for that - I was too ignorant about scuba to even know I was doing anything dangerous.

Anyway - my whole point was that while these petting zoos may seem a little cruel, I suppose they have a bigger benefit.

And yeah - I'm a carnivore. What's that Ted Nugent says, "Can't grill it 'til you kill it!"

 

[DelightedDiver]

Glad everything turned out ok and glad you got fully certified. The instructor shouldn't have taken you down without more instruction.

 

[bgi]

On my first dive ever we went down with our instructor about 40ft.

'nuff said. the instructor shouldn't be.

 

[Wijbrandus]

But then, my first scuba experience was in Aruba. The same guys that had been handing me rum punches handed me a BC and a tank and let me go scuba diving. I had no clue what I was doing AND I was intoxicated. That was very stupid. And before anyone yells at me for that - I was too ignorant about scuba to even know I was doing anything dangerous.

Who was this with?

 

[Chaseh]

sst:

I always lose a few bar when I laugh underwater!
My hubby and I when we were first learning how to maximise our air consumption were always checking.
At one stage he was 20 bar higher than me, so I gave him the age old \/ signal which caused him to burst out laughing. By the time he had stopped laughing and got his breathing back under control we were equal.

(Oh, and before you think we were reckless, this was at 4m on the way up from and after our safety stop, with just over half a tank left each).

My wife once couldn't stop hiccuping for about 15mins on a dive, which led to me laughing quite a bit, but I don't think either of us had any air consuption issues because of it.

 

[Chaseh]

I'm not a environmentalist per se, but sometimes when I see animals in cages at a zoo or aquariums I feel a bit sorry for them. Then I dated this veterinarian who explained to me that these places, petting zoos included, help educate the public about these animals. She justified it as benefitting the animals in the wild.

I try not to touch anything when I'm under water.

On one of my other threads, I blew an opportunity to swim in the Shark aquarium tank in Maui last week. Still kicking myself for doing it. I didn't really care to pet any of them, but I would love to conquer the fear of being in a tank full of them.

When I was in Maui, they had Discover Scuba courses everywhere. That seems kind of risky. But then, my first scuba experience was in Aruba. The same guys that had been handing me rum punches handed me a BC and a tank and let me go scuba diving. I had no clue what I was doing AND I was intoxicated. That was very stupid. And before anyone yells at me for that - I was too ignorant about scuba to even know I was doing anything dangerous.

Anyway - my whole point was that while these petting zoos may seem a little cruel, I suppose they have a bigger benefit.

And yeah - I'm a carnivore. What's that Ted Nugent says, "Can't grill it 'til you kill it!"

I don't feel sorry for various fish in aquariums as I do for many sea mammals in captivity.

Aquariums seem to be much more educational, while "sea parks" seem to me to be more like enslavement for our entertainment. Certainly most of us can agree that dolphins, toothed whales, etc. are capable of more complex thoughts and emotions than a nurse shark.

While many people do personify a fishes actions to be intelligent or assume certain emotional responses are present, basically all fish are really devoid of true emotional responses.

They are however beautiful and I hope to continue enjoying the ocean for a long while. So, my stance is generally to avoid touching most things, especially coral, but there are exceptions. If a turtle or a nurse shark is nestled under a rock for a nap, I'd leave it alone because why bug it? If one's cruising by though, a quick pat shouldn't cause physical or emotional harm. It's more often your own well being that's at risk.

Protecting an ecosystem is really more a function of environmentalism, while protecting a fish starts smelling a bit more like fanaticism.

 

[Tollie]

Without kicking this horse too much longer a word about the instruction in a Discover experience which this sounds like.

First, as has been said previously 40 feet is within PADI standards. You can have a really bad day at 40 feet or at 15 feet in a swimming pool.

Second, The instructor was observant and assisted the participant properly.

Third, Regulator clearing by both purge and exhalation is supposed to be a required skill as part of the discover experience. Was the student taught this, was he attentive to the instruction or did he panic underwater and start to bolt but was prevented from doing so by the instructor?

Fourth, the required PADI brief as well as all ordinarily accepted diving instruction that I’m aware of highlights the potential perils of contact with sea life both for the marine organisms as well as the divers.

 

[fmw625]

Back to the original post, diving gives me pleasure, pleasure makes me smile, sometimes laugh. Yes, I get water in my reg. No problem just exhale and it all goes away.

 

[Diver Dennis]

I'm not sure about salt water fish but I practice catch and release (mostly) when fishing here in Canada and am very careful about having wet hands and handling fish carefully as not to rub off the protective slime. Salt water fishing I release all big fish now but smaller fish like Toros we don't have to be as careful. They don't seem to have the same slime. So no, I don't touch a lot of things in the ocean when I dive.....or stick my fingers into dark holes or crevices in the rocks.