oil rigs off Texas coast

[blueeyes_austin]

So in current you won't hold onto a mooring line during a safety stop or (as they do in FG) pull yourself down to the reef using one? Because there is plenty of slime and barnacles on those ropes! And you won't use your hand to stir up a bit of sand to expose an interesting artifact? Or pick up an interesting empty shell to take a closer look at it? Or pick up a piece of trash that has algae clinging to it?

I'm not suggesting that one should go about knocking sponges off of rig spars. But if there is a patch of bare metal, and you're in current, again, I don't see the harm in grabbing a hold of the rig and watching the show.

 

[RTRski]

I just knew if I posted any opinion at all that some clown would come in and make the obvious "gee, don't you do this?" comparisons. :blinking: Congratulations; the look fits you

a mooring line? Yes, I'll hold it. That's an issue of my safety and that of my buddy and others, and that's what the line is there for (to use for divers and boats in lieu of more damaging anchors). My safety still comes first, once I've made the decision to go diving in the first place. but if current isn't bad and my air level is good, I will often try to 'hover' near the line rather than hold it for buoyancy control practice. but not to avoid contact in that case.

stir up stand to expose artifact? Maybe...if its not obviously attached to something organic....and if I can do it with a handwave. I won't play Schliemann at Troy, and dig in.

pick up a shell? hell no. the next guy's got as much right to see it as I do. may as well pick up dead coral while you're at it because it's "interesting".

trash? depends - if it has only algae on it and is obviously really recent, as well as buoyant enough it's going to move around and never become part of the 'environment', sure. if it's already silted in, buried, with more long-term growth on it - nope.

There's no need to 'grab hold' to watch the show on a rig. You can hide in the current shadow of the members quite easily enough to keep station with minimal to no effort. And no rig I've ever dove has had "bare metal". Even the algae/weed mat is food for the turtles...and I quite enjoyed hovering within touching distance (but not touching) of one watching it take big bites down to the metal....

Just my opinion. I'm not rabid about it - won't go cursing or shunning a diver who violates "my" rules. But I do try to dive that way for me. <shrug>