Interacting with sea life look but don't touch!

[DaleC]

I get a kick out of how it's wrong to "touch" an animal underwater.. unless you want to eat it. Then it's ok to stab it with a spear or put it into a pot of boiling water. Riding a turtle is bad.. but riding a horse is fun. It's wrong to harm sea life unless it's an invasive species.. then all bets are off...

The convenience of picking and choosing ethical positions based on how little we need to change to up hold them while insisting others do all the heavy lifting. Delicious! Perhaps the real problem is that some people have no tangible basis for their decision making other than "how it makes them feel" and "how they value the animal". Feelings change with the weather and no one ever asks the animal what they value. We just impose our assessment upon them.

 

[BUDMANOK]

Touch, poke, prod all you like

Maybe you missed that part. No one needs permission to do as they please.

Riding a turtle is bad.. but riding a horse is fun

You're correct we all make choices as to what is acceptable behavior

 

[NAM001]

Dont you think its human nature. One sits in thier living room and the dog comes in and what do you do???? You pick it up,,, set it in your lap and pet it. Most people , admit it or not, function as if the world is centered on them. Some believe they exist around something. Then there are those who believe they sit above it all and attempt to control both the center and what revolves around it.

what's the big thrill with touching sea life? Am I missing something here? I understand getting close to observe but why touch? Curiosity?

 

[BDSC]

Spot on DaleC!

 

[redacted]

I get a kick out of how it's wrong to "touch" an animal underwater.. unless you want to eat it. Then it's ok to stab it with a spear or put it into a pot of boiling water. Riding a turtle is bad.. but riding a horse is fun. It's wrong to harm sea life unless it's an invasive species.. then all bets are off...

The convenience of picking and choosing ethical positions based on how little we need to change to up hold them while insisting others do all the heavy lifting. Delicious! Perhaps the real problem is that some people have no tangible basis for their decision making other than "how it makes them feel" and "how they value the animal". Feelings change with the weather and no one ever asks the animal what they value. We just impose our assessment upon them.

There is a "legal" consideration involved when it involves endangered species. From NOAA:

Protection, Conservation, and Recovery
The listing of a species as endangered makes it ille
gal to "take" (harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot,
wound, kill, trap, capture, collect, or attempt to do
these things) that species.


I'm not sure where one might draw the line when it comes to harassment. Riding? Touching? Altering behavior?

 

[Allison Finch]

I wasn't referring to touch in general but just in this one particular case of touching sea life while diving. Touch, poke, prod all you like I just choose not too and I still don't understand the fascination.

I think people do it to prove their dominion over all that they see and encounter. It's a power thing.....

As for showing "dominion" over a horse....for some that is a reason for riding. For me, I spend my time on horses who enjoy what they do. It is a partnership I seek, not dominion.

Where is the partnership in poking an animal NEEDLESSLY? I will kill what I eat, but I won't torture it first.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I don't know about that Allison ... perhaps that's what it is with some people. With others, it's just a fascination thing ... we see something we like and we want to touch it. Why do people pet animals? Is it about domination or love? Or is it just some instinct to somehow "connect" with another living creature?

Do people, when they interact with creatures underwater, inherently believe that they're harming the creature? Or dominating it?

I think it's difficult to make blanket statements about either the motivations or the outcomes of these interactions.

Around here we have people who take herring or (shudder) hot dogs down to feed to the wolf eels. Is it harmful or beneficial? I don't like it ... because it changes the behavior of the creature and makes them less wary of humans ... and therefore easy prey for those humans who are looking to harm these animals for whatever reasons.

Some divers are just malicious people who get off on destroying things ... and that is a power trip. But most divers who interact with animals underwater just want more of an experience than they'll get by looking at them, or photographing them. It's not an intent to harm, or dominate, or anything other than simply to get more out of an experience that they mostly see in positive ways. In some cases they might do harm ... but it's more out of ignorance than intent ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[100days-a-year]

Assuming everyone shares your values =ass u me.Trying to force your values on everyone else=ass u. Today's lesson in semantics.

 

[diver 85]

I don't touch(lol---or try not to), but do take pics every once in a while---of others........

[/URL]IMG_0738 by GEAUXtiger, on Flickr[/IMG]


EDIT:....btw, this one told me when we were leaving he 'loved being the center of attention'........

https://www.flickr.com/photos/80825593@N08/8187443362/in/set-72157631917831223

https://www.flickr.com/photos/80825593@N08/8187473634/in/album-72157631917831223/

 

[Allison Finch]

I love the groupers in the Caymans. Even though they were trained to approach humans by being fed, it is a thrill when they initiate contact. Going back to my original post here, if the animal initiates contact, I have no problem with it, at all, as long as it is careful and not harming the animal. Patting with a bare hand is definitely preferable to a gloved hand, as gloves have more potential for harming the slime coat.

Unfortunately, some of these groupers, notably Ben, in the 70's, get speared for being so easy to approach. They are tasty, after all.

It is the non sought out attention that bothers me. The chasing, the grabbing, the poking of animals out of their cover.