Responsible Diving

[Sludeking]

Hey everyone. I am currently studying and writing a paper on responsible diving. I am a certified diver myself, not as experienced as many of you, but it is something I love to do and responsible diving is a topic I am very interested in and I believe many of you are too. Here a few questions to help you get started. If you feel like you want or need to elaborate please do so.
I am looking for both experienced and new divers’ opinions on the topic.

I may decide to use some of your responses in my paper, so when answering please let me know if you prefer to be anonymous.

What makes a responsible diver?

1. What is responsible diving? (this can be taken from any perspective. i.e. safety, environmentally, etc.)
   1. The equipment?
   2. Knowledge of the dive, the dive spot, etc.?
2. Where should the teaching of responsible diving start?
   1. The dive shop?
   2. Online?
3. Please describe any situations where you have experienced irresponsible diving.
   1. Wrongful interaction with sea life?
   2. Equipment issues?
   3. Experiences while on holiday.
4. What can we do to stop irresponsible diving and promote responsible diving?

Regards,
Sludeking

 

[tomfcrist]

You just opened pandora a box buddy.

 

[Sludeking]

You just opened pandora a box buddy.

I'm ok with that. I hope

Bring on the discussions.

 

[Steve_C]

There are a number of discussion related to this already on the board.

To start, you can look at the 1,234,567 posts relatng to the buddy system in several threads.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

In the new divers forum there is a sticky at the top titled "who is responsible" been there for several years. I would expand on this and may do so later but need to get ready for work.

 

[Storker]

Sorry, the questions are way to ill-defined to provide any valuable information, IMO.

What makes a responsible diver?

1. What is responsible diving?

That's the crux right there. Responsible in which way? Safety? If so, whose? Environmentally? Otherwise?

You're going to get a lot of different answers depending on how people interpret "responsible".

 

[tbone1004]

Storker hit it right on the head. What is responsible for a new open water diver vs. someone with years of technical experience? How does that translate to the quality of their initial education, not all certifications are created equal. You can't say not diving beyond your certification level as a blanket because of that previous point, as well as where the individual divers mental capacities factor in, i.e. are they calm despite being put in insane situations that should induce panic, or do they freak out regularly.

Way too many variables to respond with anything of value.... I would suggest reading the DIR Fundamentals of Better Diving book as that will offer some insight.

 

[tech_diver]

Momma always said, "Responsible is as responsible does."

 

[Sludeking]

Sorry, the questions are way to ill-defined to provide any valuable information, IMO.

[/LIST]
That's the crux right there. Responsible in which way? Safety? If so, whose? Environmentally? Otherwise?

You're going to get a lot of different answers depending on how people interpret "responsible".

Thanks for the input Storker. Have included a change in the original post. To comment on your post: i'm interested in all interpretations. People do interpret differently and that's one part i'm interested in. What do people define as responsible (be it environmentally, safety, etc.)

---------- Post added November 4th, 2014 at 03:55 PM ----------

In the new divers forum there is a sticky at the top titled "who is responsible" been there for several years. I would expand on this and may do so later but need to get ready for work.

Thank you Jim. Will definitely look into that sticky.

 

[industrious95]

In partial answer to your question, one thing a responsible diver does is learn how to have minimal impact on the environment.

My pet peeve is seeing a vacation diver bouncing up and down on a coral reef, killing thousands of polyps and years of growth, because he/she doesn't have proper buoyancy control. If you're going into the marine environment, you have a responsibility to be well enough trained that you don't destroy it.

Other things a responsible diver does/doesn't do:

Doesn't throw non-biodegradable garbage over the side of the boat. If your lunch is in a plastic bag and it's windy, a responsible diver keeps his hands on that plastic so it doesn't end up in the belly of a sea turtle.

Hunt/kill species that are out of season. There are reasons state & federal fisheries have set seasonal rules & limits on fishing. Usually, they're good reasons, such as breeding seasons.