I dive a lot. I dive with anyone. Experienced, inexperienced, good at it, not good at it, (diving that is) I love to dive. Like a lot of people that are addicted to diving I have honed my skills and knowledge of the skill/sport.
I love using my camera/video setups. I love to hunt.
I have found that in order to use these tools I needed to get very, very good at bouyancy skills. I dove almost 200 dives without either to hone my dive skills. Only fish are better than me now
. (outside of techskills)
So for you Kari I missed a few the other day because they went into holes that if I shot I would have likely hit the coral head so I didnt shoot. EVERY OTHER SHOT I TOOK did not hit a single thing other than through the fish. You see one needs to know how far the sling will go past the fish in order to do that. I practised at Villa Blanca on plastic water bottles first. Also I was trained by the best of the best at the art. I can think of a lot of other dms I'd like to out and play with doing this. Truly most want to just dive, they do this to save their reef. Most feel bad about killing the animals because it's a life. We talk about this believe it or not. But their show is in jeopardy. What really gets me is outsiders slamming them for keeping the reef from being decimated. There are rules and the park is freaking out on how to suitably fix this. But money hungry folk see a dollar here. So now the park has to deal with them. Instead of being happy with the way it's been going the park is forced a hand. They know we are doing a service, they also know that the past year has literally been saved by many of us. Do you know how many slings the dms could afford? We divers that love this place and come here alot bring these to them so they can do it other wise they would not buy them. They would make them. As I have seen the elf tool hand made. I think it is a real poor sense of integrity to say they invented it. I can have a hundred of them made at likely 5$ each by guys on the island. I will buy the material. It's easier using the sling, at least for me. And several that have tried that tool.
Kari, Rodive I leave Saturday at 2pm otherwise I'd go to this crap show/propaganda play. I cannot believe for a second that you Matthew need to do a certification to learn how to use this tool. I will teach you for free. Likely do a better job too, maybe show you some upsidedown maneuvers that are pretty cool. This is used in the swim throughs. Also I'll teach you how to hit them will drifting along, teach you about the way water refracts images. hmm you likely already know that. I am being factious about that last line as I am upset you are playing into their hand.
I have talked to two people that this tool was taken to for sale, they where turned down because of the cost. This is a business venture and it is turned into a disguise reef preservation ploy. The poor park guys are caught in the middle.
By the way I went to the reef project the other night for turning the park into a UNESCO SITE. How come you wherent there rodive if your all preservation minded?
Leave well alone, the park is loved by the people that work it. Not everyone is allowed to use the killing tools.
What I would like you to do is put it out there to stop allowing photography by 50% of the divers. Way way more damage being done there. Now do you think that is going to happen? Not likely no money in that. But there is a cert card for photography.