Hassling the Fish

[brnt999]

I have read some posts from people lamenting that there are not as many fish around on the reefs as there used to be.

I am a new diver but some examples of what I have seen are:

-in Thailand a sea turtle was lying on the bottom. There was 2 buddys diving and one had a video camera. One diver dove down and hassled the turtle from behind causing it to swim away so the other guy could get a good video shot.
-in Thailand there was a couple of cuttle fish lying on the bottom--they looked like rocks. A couple of divers with cameras got real close causing the cuttle fish to move away.
-in Mexico a stingray was lying on the bottom partially covered in sand. The DM swam up to it and touched one wing causing it to swim away.
-in Mexico the DM scooped up this fish that puffed up like a ball and started playing catch with it.
-in Mexico an eel had his head sticking out of his hole and the DM flapped his fin close to its mouth causing it to swim out and try to bite the fin.

I am not a marine biologist but I think its only common sense that if day in and day out the fish are hassled they are going to get stressed out and leave the reef.
Is there not some kind of ettiquette about not hassling the fish?

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

There's lots of ettiquettes. There's also lots of people who either don't know or don't care to observe them.

The increasing use of cameras underwater has changed how a lot of people dive, and all too often the priority is more on getting the picture than sustaining the marine environment for the enjoyment of everyone else.

I was on a dive in Port Hardy (British Columbia) last year when we came across a large octopus laying out in the open, sound asleep. This is a rare treat for divers and photographers alike. The ettiquette is usually for divers to approach the animal one at a time, take a few pictures, and move away for the next diver to get their shots. In this case, the first pair approached the animal, the wife got her pictures, then her husband decided to "wrestle" the octopus so the wife could get an action video. He grabbed the sleeping octopus in a bear hug, which of course caused it to attempt rather dramatically to escape. I watched in disgust and disbelief as he pulled and tugged while she recorded. The octopus eventually got away, inked and swam off. Afterward on the boat I gave him my opinion of such behavior. His response ... "you should've stuck around, it didn't swim off very far." The jack-ass didn't even comprehend that there was anything wrong with what he did ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[JamesK]

Each one of those people would have pissed me off to the point having words with them on the surface.

I agree with Bob. Cameras are cheap and everywhere now. I prefer to see the fish act naturally, not see how they react to someone being a douche waffle.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Another thing I don't like is people feeding the marine life ... we have a constant stream of people around here who bring things down to feed the wolf eels, in order to make them come out of their den. They're doing it ... of course ... for pictures and videos.

The issue I have is it changes the behavior of the animal ... basically teaching them to associate divers with food. This mimicks what happened with bears in many of our national parks years back, and led to a lot of less than pleasant human-bear encounters.

People ... if you want to feed an animal, get a dog! Leave the wild animals to forage for their own food ... it will allow all of us to see them in their natural environment, rather than in some kind of a petting zoo.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[supergaijin]

The major causes of fish numbers in decline is reef degradation through man-made pollution. Hassling fish (while bad) doesn't have a major affect on fish or marine life numbers in a meaningful way.

Some territorial species such as seahorses do get stressed through constant diver attention. Their territory is so small that they are easy for guides to show constantly to their guests and the constant harrassment (often due to cameras, fins and sticks) causes them, and their mini ecosystem harm.

 

[g1138]

There are plenty of people with scientific backgrounds that also believe "I'm not harming or stressing it"
Despite the octo ink that occurs after handling one.

It's all about perception. Some people just don't believe they're doing anything wrong. Their perception of a stressed animal is all based off land critters, so the slow motion moving of some marine animals looks like calm-nonchalant rather than stressed flee/escape.
There really is no arguing with those people.

 

[Bob DBF]

There really is no arguing with those people.

Which leaves us to the final solution.



Bob
------------------------------------------------------
Pole Spears, not just for lionfish anymore.

 

[261311]

Great thread, I can't say however that I personally wouldn't calmly follow marine life I'm interested in (specifically clown fish, leatherback and hawksbill seaturtles) but that's because I don't feel that becomes a large disturbance in their territory if it's for brief time in waters that aren't heavily populated. It would be from a respectable distance and if I appeared to stress them out, that would be an instance to leave them be. Racing around to pet and feed or act in even more disrespectful instances such as those NWGrateful pointed out is what stresses animals out because they then act in more defensive and aggressive natures, and not by choice. Feeding will also ween species off, even minimally in their ability to feed themselves. If there's a lull in tourism, those animals then starve, in peak seasons other species may get out of control. I believe* that's what happened to lionfish. We hunted their predator too aggressively and now they're an invasive species in most parts because they've over populated.

Half the issue is humans don't realize the large impact they have even in such a small area. We selfishly do things because we want to and figure because the ocean is so large, it's cool. We couldn't possibly affect marine life on such a grand scale. The other sad side to that story is even though we can impact such small areas, we won't ever choose to implement positive solutions such as conservation methods so these animals can thrive.

 

[JamesK]

Another thing I don't like is people feeding the marine life ... we have a constant stream of people around here who bring things down to feed the wolf eels, in order to make them come out of their den. They're doing it ... of course ... for pictures and videos.

The issue I have is it changes the behavior of the animal ... basically teaching them to associate divers with food. This mimicks what happened with bears in many of our national parks years back, and led to a lot of less than pleasant human-bear encounters.

People ... if you want to feed an animal, get a dog! Leave the wild animals to forage for their own food ... it will allow all of us to see them in their natural environment, rather than in some kind of a petting zoo.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

We do the same with humans. lol

 

[Doc]

Certain fish, such as Damsel Fish, are just begging to be messed with. Show them a mirror if you want real fun.

Serves 'em right for all I care.

Little bastidges.

And don't get me started on those cranky Ocean Titans. They really got up on the wrong side of the bed.

I say, screw em. Annoy the ones with attitudes all you want.