Hand signals?

[Skittl1321]

On some of my first dives the more experienced divers were great about pointing things out to me- some used signals, some just pointed, some made a "camera" signal to tell me it was something to take a picture of. I took all the pictures I was told, then came home and tried to figure out what the heck all this stuff was!

 

[sharky60]

Blenny's & fireworms, I make a #1 with my first finger and wiggle it. if I'm over a round coral head and point to a hole...it's a blenny. If I'm just over the reef, it's most likely a fireworm.

I do Mossman's thing for nudies, then make the "worm" sign..."tiny worm"

I also do MOST of my hand signals with one hand, if possible, because of carrying a camera. Like for turtle I basically make a 'shaka' and wiggle my thumb and pinky in a circular motion, rather than putting one hand on top of the other and wiggling the thumbs.

In case you want to id individual turtles; hawksbill: make your fist look like a hawksbill with your fingers protruding over your thumb. Green: make a fist and bend your wrist a little, it looks like a geen's head, more rounded than a hawksbill. Loggerhead: bump your fist on your forehead and make the turtle sign.

Trumpets are easy, play the trumpet

grouper, rub your tummy (they're good to eat)

 

[cvchief]

I also do MOST of my hand signals with one hand, if possible, because of carrying a camera.

Right, they should all be one handed!

grouper, rub your tummy (they're good to eat)

Good gravy, you almost made me pass out at the horror of the thought....

 

[sharky60]

The sea slug signal from the posted chart is the one we use for nudis.

a lot of animals are similar and signs can be interchangeable because of it, but still using it will help your fellow divers have some sort of idea what they are looking for.

we came across a large green moray under a large shelf, the cavern was FULL of Sweepers, if Mateo had just pointed into the hole and not hadn't given us the eel sign & indicated it was big, we would have never known it was there.

If something's in a hole or under a shelf, try and get that across too. I motion one hand under the other.

 

[Mossman]

And Greg, I generally don't care to have another Caribbean lobster pointed out to me but I don't know what the pointer may spy next. Ergo I'll still be taking a little interest in what's pointed out to me, unless it's lobster, lobster, lobster.

If it's the DM pointing out a lobster to a newbie, I'll give the DM another chance as long as he's not being demanding that I come over and see the damn bug.

On the other hand, if it's another diver getting so excited about a bug that he's practically spitting the reg out of his mouth, I know who to avoid. There's no way that diver will spot anything I care to see that I haven't already spotted myself.

 

[PARADISE HUNTER]

All good signals so far. Another handy one is to scratch at your crotch area to indicate a crab. You can use one or two hands if you like.

PH

 

[eab]

... especially if the DM does them as part of the dive briefing.

I usually ask the DMs to do the signals in their briefings, not just for the fish but also for safety procedures, so everyone is on the same page. Around here, our signal for lobster is the same as the one in Coz for crab. Usually confuses me for the first few sightings ... here and there.

 

[mstevens]

I don't dive to look at animals

Seriously, though: if a whale shark were gliding by behind you, you wouldn't want anyone to point that out? Or a Fingerprint Cyphoma off to the side?

 

[ggunn]

My wife came up with a new hand signal during a night dive when a cattle boat dumped at least 20 newbie divers right on top of us. Suddenly there was a crowd of flailing bodies around our DM (I don't know where theirs was/were) trying to get a look at whatever he was trying to point out to us. My wife and I pulled back from the melee. She looked at me, made a circle with her left forefinger and thumb, and shoved all the fingers of her right hand into the circle.

I knew exactly what it meant.

 

[cvchief]

She looked at me, made a circle with her left forefinger and thumb, and shoved all the fingers of her right hand into the circle.

Alot of garden eels?