Fish Food to use during snorkeling

[Damselfish]

not only do you not need to feed the fish to get pictures ... but the food is as likely to mess up your pictures. You can cloud up the water, and it may make some fish stick so close they actually get in the way of taking pictures. (Some fish are camera sluts and do this without being fed.)

 

[diversteve]

I'd be careful with a bag of bread

I've read that bread is a really bad idea. It can cause constipation and even related death.

 

[vinegarbiscuit]

I'd be very suprised to hear that you really do not see a difference between unavoidable introduction and intentional introduction.
While a commercial fish food may be a lesser sin than, say, a hotdog, it's still better to simply leave the fish alone.

Agreed. Even if the food on offer is as 'natural' as can be, the act of feeding wildlife is not. Many commercial shark diving operations offer fish and squid to attract the sharks, but just because the food offered to the critters is wholesome doesn't mean we should be the ones offering it. The fish should be hunting for it themselves, as nature intended. For an extreme example of what can happen when marine life equates humans with a free feed, see this oldie-but-goodie: Untamed and Uncut: Eel Bites Human Thumb Off : Video : Animal Planet

 

[noreastDIVER84]

Find some natural fish food in the area you are snorkeling, usually shellfish will do, you can crack them open with a rock or other hard object and then watch the feeding begin. I do this on a rare occasion with mussels and the butt end of a dive knife.

 

[diversteve]

Find some natural fish food in the area you are snorkeling, usually shellfish will do, you can crack them open with a rock or other hard object and then watch the feeding begin.

You may not want to try that in the Marine Park which is most of the West side:

No taking of any marine life alive or dead.

And there's this:

Violation of any of these laws is an offence carrying a maximum penalty of Cl$500,000 fine and one year in jail.

As referenced above: http://www.doe.ky/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/marine-parks-january-2008.pdf

 

[vladimir]

it may make some fish stick so close they actually get in the way of taking pictures. (Some fish are camera sluts and do this without being fed.)

Exhibit A, the yellowtail snapper:

 

[Marek K]

http://www.doe.ky/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/marine-parks-january-2008.pdf

As referenced above: [URL]http://www.doe.ky/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/marine-parks-january-2008.pdf[/URL]

I dunno... Do people not pay attention to this because it's just a foreign country? And not a "real" country at that?

*edit* Actually, people do pay attention to this. On our last trip to Grand Cayman, I didn't see anyone feeding any fish except for the (authorized) Stingray City.

 

[NC Wreck Diver]

I'd advise you not to feed the fish. Doing so screws up the ecosystem, teaches fish to associate people with food (and that includes the ones with big teeth...) and is just generally a bad idea.

I agree. Please don't feed the fish.

When we dive Bainbridge Quarry in PA, they sell fish pellets at the gate. We don't ever buy it, even though it's most likely better than than any human food. The fish are so accustomed to this practice, you will see Bluegill, Pumkinseed and Large Mouth Bass follow you around in schools, behing you. Strange.

At Dutch Springs in Bethlehem, PA, we will flip rocks and snag a crayfish. The students want to see this, so at least it's a natural food. But it still trains them like 'Pavlov's Dogs'

There should be so many opportunities to photograph fish if you just remain still, you won't need food. Just let them come in. They most likely will think they are going to be feed anyway. Good Luck.

 

[Deac in the Wake]

One of the A #1 quickest ways to get yanked topside, banned from a dive boat and operator and get a name for being a "risk" in the Caymans is to endanger a dive operator's license by doing something stupid and unnecessary like feeding a fish. The Caymans take their marine laws extremely seriously and dive operators aren't going to allow someone to screw with the ecosystem and possibly jeopardizing their Marine Park permits by breaking the rules. I know of more than a couple of people who've had their divecation ruined by breaking DOE rules. There are Caymanians who've spent time in jail for breaking marine laws. And I wouldn't hesitate for a second to call RCIP Marine and report someone doing it.

I'm biased because I love the Caymans. Sometimes you need a little knee-jerk reaction when it's the right thing.

And did someone here say that stingrays bite?

 

[vladimir]

And did someone here say that stingrays bite?

As I understand it, the bite risk at Stingray City comes from eels getting in on the feeding action. Stingrays deliver an occasional hickey or sting, though it's not completely clear from these Undercurrent.org quotes:

None of the company’s tour participants — some 600 per day — has ever suffered “any serious injuries,” he said. “They have the odd sting now and again.”

But, there are injuries. Last year an 11-year-old boy was bitten by an eel at Sting Ray City. During a six-hour surgical procedure on Grand Cayman, doctors used a vein from his leg to help restore blood flow to his hand, then the boy was air evacuated (the flight cost was $21,000) home to Wisconsin for further surgery.

Sting Ray City: After scores of moray and stingray bites and hickeys, not to mention boating accidents, the Cayman Government says it will regulate activity, though to what extent is unclear. While guidelines have been in place for years, many operations flout them. Nancy Easterbrook, a partner in Divetech, wants the new regulations to dictate the number of visitors and boats at any one time, and regulate stingray feeding. Now, they are overfed, often with unnatural food like processed cheese or someone’s left over dinner. Not only is the feeding harmful, but also it has led to serious accidents.