Feeling like a hypocrite...

[DaleC]

It's hard to recognize how chill you are DaleC, considering how you went for the jugular in your first post.

It sounded to me like the OP was looking for others to provide a loophole to justify actions that went against her stated beliefs, otherwise, why provide that personal information up front. I thought it was a discussion regarding her ethical values and decided not to waste time chasing the red herring of justifying the violation.

If I had known, as it turns out, the OP was just wanting to collect stories from others I might have responded in a different way and talked about myself more. I might have described the experience I just had in Port Hardy of momentarily wanting to feed wolf eels urchins but then refraining because it violated my values in that area. I might have described how easily I almost forgot those beliefs in the moment, due to the excitement of wanting to see something interesting. My mind could have gone to all sorts of justifications regarding how it was the eels natural food source, there were plenty of urchins around etc... but I could not get past the fact that I would be intentionally taking one animal out of its habitat and causing it to die, just so I could see something cool.

I might have also described my struggles with giving up fishing, which I really really enjoyed, because I could no longer justify what I was doing to the fish in the name of entertainment. I may have expanded a bit on the fact that sometimes my values conflict with some activities that I might otherwise enjoy but, if I were to drop those values whenever a better offer came along, they wouldn't really be beliefs at all. Sort of like marriage vows and Los Vegas.

I might also have added that those are only my beliefs and I don't hold others to the same decision making process. In Port Hardy my good friend did feed an eel (because she does not share that belief) yet she did not swear. I, on the other hand, swore a lot, because I don't have any ethical values in that area.

I might have ended by saying that I don't wear my beliefs out on my sleeve for everyone to see or use them to define who I am as a person; they are not descriptors. They are just the personal framework I choose to use in which to live my life.

 

[chillyinCanada]

I love that you gave up fishing.

 

[MrChen]

You drove dozens of miles in a fossil fuel burning vehicle, spewing carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas) to the site, you step on your breaks and you shed microscopic particles of asbestos into the parking lot which will eventually get washed into the water, you hook up a regulator made with polymers from our precious oil reserves, The metal components of the regulator and the plating was done with a chemical process that uses toxic chemicals and metals, you check the pressure on the tank that was filled with a compressor that runs on more fossil fuels, then you don a garment made of more fossil fuels, put flippers on your feet made from more polymers that were made in a chemical plant ... and you are worried about flipping rocks in a quarry?

I feel so guilty, I'll never dive again...

 

[jezellw]

yyyyy

 

[cb5150]

I agree with others, you are over thinking this issue. You fed a crawfish to a bass...no big deal.

These people who wave the flag of animal rights and conservation crack me up. They're the same ones who drive cars, wear leather, eat meat, use plastic products, smash the coral with their fins so they can get that one good macro shot of a turtle's eye, ride a dive boat to a dive site, use batteries in their cameras...need I continue?

Dive your dive & live your life. Feed the bass and wear two different colors of split-fins. Others see pretty fish when they dive, I see what I'm going to order for dinner. "Waiter, I'll have the grilled bass with crawfish sauce. Hold the salad, I'll have a bowl of turtle soup!"

Seriously though, be nice to the environment...but don't fret about it.

 

[ScubaSteve]

Two different colored split fins? Now THAT just crossed the line.

 

[drbill]

These people who wave the flag of animal rights and conservation crack me up. They're the same ones who drive cars, wear leather, eat meat, use plastic products, smash the coral with their fins so they can get that one good macro shot of a turtle's eye, ride a dive boat to a dive site, use batteries in their cameras...need I continue?

Serious bit of over-generalization here (although some truth to it of course).

As a marine biologist of some 45 years, I strongly favor conservation since I've seen serious decline in marine resources within my lifetime. We can't keep that up. Every species alive modifies its environment. I try to minimize my personal impact on the environment in every way I can, although I certainly do not have a carbon neutral footprint. There are many others who do likewise... live consciously with respect to their impact on other species. I am an omnivore and as such find no problem with being part of The Mutual Eating Society... I eat meat, fish, poultry along with my vegetables and salads. However, I do have to laugh when I see some of the extreme animal rights folks wearing leather shoes or belts... but even more so when they are willing to sacrifice the lives of 50-100 native species in favor of saving goats and pigs that aren't even native to North America.

 

[SailNaked]

Ethics, yay!!!! for me something is right or it is wrong or it is in the middle, and of course there are justifications for doing something wrong, but it is still wrong and you get no prize for doing what is right.

I would say feeding animals to other is wrong, I may still do it, I like to open a can of tuna in the ocean. it has an effect and it is small and likely wrong, but the fish think it is right.

I no longer can eat squid or octopus, they are way to intelligent.

If you see a $20 bill on the street, do you pick it up? it is not yours, so maybe you are stealing. up to you. You will know if you have consequenses in your own integrity.

I would think asking SB about it means you feel guilty, and I would stop doing it. even if 100 people say it is ok.

I once tried to catch a lobster and broke his long pointy thing. I felt bad about injuring it, but on the boat another diver came unglued at me for touching it. to me a lobster is food and the only thing saving him was a park rule about it. It is still only a justification, I should not have touched him and the other diver was justified, and I am responsible at some level for causing botht the lobster and her pain. but of course she is responsible for how upset she got. I think we are all individuals and we are all the same being. seperate parts of the same God. and we eat animals, and they eat each other all part of the workings of the world.

Philosophy 101

 

[randy88k5]

DiverGirl1972, in a lot of the quarries around here, I will put bread in a Ziploc bag and put it in my drysuit pocket. Around a platform, or when I see a lot of fish, I will take it out and feed them with that. Keep track of the bag, it can be hard to see in the water when it is empty.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Bread???!!