thats just nuts
The biggest threat to coral reefs: Prices on Under Water cameras
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thats just nuts
driftwood
Contributor
Thanks Samaka for bringing this subject up. I happen to agree with a lot of your thoughts. I look at the problem like this. One of the cardinal rules of UW photography is to get as close to your subject as possible. That tends to violate staying off the reef to protect it. It takes a lot of practice to stay close but not touching and calm enough to get a good shot.
The biggest problem with the digital revolution is that you are no longer limited to how many frames of film your camera holds. I can now take hundreds of photos each dive instead of 24. That encourages a shoot often approach instead of careful setup and preparation. A digital camera is like a machine gun compared to a bolt action film camera. There is a lot of 'spray and pray' photography going on.
Dive shops and resorts are pushing cameras as way of increasing sales and there is nothing wrong with that. What would also increase their sales and help address a problem, is to limit camera use to people with special certifications, just like they do with Nitrox sales. "Love to sell you this camera for your trip, but Bonaire requires you to have this cert to dive with it there."
The course can be fun, address the problems and practice solutions. Include buoyancy control with how to slowly approach a subject, and more importantly how to move away, with the basic photo course and you have a specialty that address' a lot of the issues. It is easy for a marine park to write regulations when there is an industry wide standard for 'reef friendly' photography practices. A required photographer certification will allow resort operators to discriminate without unduly irritating divers. "Just the regs our marine park has set to protect the reefs and we follow the rules."
I have seen a lot of very good photographers and others that blaze a path of destruction in their quest for the perfect shot. Let's just set a high standard for certification that weeds out the real clowns and get the parks/resorts to enforce it. Nothing can solve all the problems, but this would be a good place to start.
The biggest problem with the digital revolution is that you are no longer limited to how many frames of film your camera holds. I can now take hundreds of photos each dive instead of 24. That encourages a shoot often approach instead of careful setup and preparation. A digital camera is like a machine gun compared to a bolt action film camera. There is a lot of 'spray and pray' photography going on.
Dive shops and resorts are pushing cameras as way of increasing sales and there is nothing wrong with that. What would also increase their sales and help address a problem, is to limit camera use to people with special certifications, just like they do with Nitrox sales. "Love to sell you this camera for your trip, but Bonaire requires you to have this cert to dive with it there."
The course can be fun, address the problems and practice solutions. Include buoyancy control with how to slowly approach a subject, and more importantly how to move away, with the basic photo course and you have a specialty that address' a lot of the issues. It is easy for a marine park to write regulations when there is an industry wide standard for 'reef friendly' photography practices. A required photographer certification will allow resort operators to discriminate without unduly irritating divers. "Just the regs our marine park has set to protect the reefs and we follow the rules."
I have seen a lot of very good photographers and others that blaze a path of destruction in their quest for the perfect shot. Let's just set a high standard for certification that weeds out the real clowns and get the parks/resorts to enforce it. Nothing can solve all the problems, but this would be a good place to start.
SteveC
Contributor
On our night dives on a recent trip to Bonaire, my wife and I took turns shooting video while the other person hung back and kept an eye on the shooters feet. This seemed to work very good. If I got too close to the reef, she would simply pull my feet away.
BioLogic
Contributor
I like driftwood's idea of making sure the photographers have some idea of how to do it with due care. But taking direct action to limit camera use, like a tax or a straight prohibition? Suicidal.
People will not protect what they do not love. Yes divers impact the reefs negatively while we're there to some degree. (The responsible diver aims for the *smallest* degree possible.) But the fact that we love to dive motivates us to protect those reefs from more widescale damage. When we share our love of the reefs, through pictures often, we help motivate more people to join in the conservation effort.
Besides, taking photos is a big part of what attracts some divers to diving at all. I love just visiting and have no desire to take a camera, but not everyone is me. A dear friend of mine loves taking wildlife pictures, and to him diving is a great new venue for that. Is his attraction to diving somehow 'unworthy' because photography is a main draw? Not in my view.
People will not protect what they do not love. Yes divers impact the reefs negatively while we're there to some degree. (The responsible diver aims for the *smallest* degree possible.) But the fact that we love to dive motivates us to protect those reefs from more widescale damage. When we share our love of the reefs, through pictures often, we help motivate more people to join in the conservation effort.
Besides, taking photos is a big part of what attracts some divers to diving at all. I love just visiting and have no desire to take a camera, but not everyone is me. A dear friend of mine loves taking wildlife pictures, and to him diving is a great new venue for that. Is his attraction to diving somehow 'unworthy' because photography is a main draw? Not in my view.
Given we now pack 100lbs of camera gear around I really don't need to pay anymore taxes, and of course I have perfect buoyancy 
Along with a lot of other divers I have gone over this subject backwards, forwards, sideways, from the top and from the bottom. The best solution will be one that makes everyone a little angry and in reality not everyone will abide by. To begin (IMHO) there are three things that have to happen and it will be a long process. All input and ideas welcome.
1. Need to come up with the guidelines. IMHO they need to be short and to the point. In the form of bullet points rather than statements.
2. Start getting people within the dive community to sign some form of petition saying they support the Guidelines.
3. Last try to cut through the politics of each certification agency to get one set of uniform guidelines accepted. Push the fact we ALL need to be involved in saving what we love and the cert agencies need to put aside their personal agendas for the good of all, blah, blah, blah....
If we can make that happen most of the dive operators I have talked to would happily post them, cover them in briefings, and work to practice them under the surface. OF COURSE there will be those who will thumb their noses at it or just give it lip service but no one said it is a perfect solution.
Along with a lot of other divers I have gone over this subject backwards, forwards, sideways, from the top and from the bottom. The best solution will be one that makes everyone a little angry and in reality not everyone will abide by. To begin (IMHO) there are three things that have to happen and it will be a long process. All input and ideas welcome.
1. Need to come up with the guidelines. IMHO they need to be short and to the point. In the form of bullet points rather than statements.
2. Start getting people within the dive community to sign some form of petition saying they support the Guidelines.
3. Last try to cut through the politics of each certification agency to get one set of uniform guidelines accepted. Push the fact we ALL need to be involved in saving what we love and the cert agencies need to put aside their personal agendas for the good of all, blah, blah, blah....
If we can make that happen most of the dive operators I have talked to would happily post them, cover them in briefings, and work to practice them under the surface. OF COURSE there will be those who will thumb their noses at it or just give it lip service but no one said it is a perfect solution.
White Knight
Contributor
Of all the things that damage our reefs--SCUBA divers taking picture? On the scale of things? Well, I wouldn't bring that up to any congressional committee if anyone seriously expects to get help for our underwater gardens and reefs. People are stupid. That's the problem. A legal government law enforcement agency needs to identify people to stupid to live and then issue them citations against breeding. It's the only answer. Stupid people can't be allowed to breed!
NudeDiver
Contributor
I guess you guys missed the overwhelming sarcasm of my tax suggestion.
imasinker
Contributor
How will you be able to determine who is good enough to use a camera or not? Just because someone passes a course on "HOW TO DIVE AND PHOTOGRAPH" or Padi's " UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHER 1 & 2" doesn't mean they will be perfect. I understand what you are saying and agree to some of your points but, It isin't just the bad photo/video divers that hurt the reefs but plain old careless divers as well. I see this on wrecks, people swim by and kick rails or drop down the the decks, pick up things they shouldn't. It is hard to watch and not be upset but reality is, not everyone is perfect. Education pressed into the minds of all divers is where IMO this needs to be applied. It is not covered near as much along with many other items of importance during early dive training. The best we can do as divers is to remind those we see of the potential problems, hazards they or equipment can cause to aquatic life and the reefs in hopes they remember next time and pass off the word to the next diver.
1_T_Submariner
Contributor
When on a trip a few months ago I was on a trip to Roatan and there was a newly certified diver mother and daughter. They had a camera and predictably lost all sense of where they where and bounancy control. The next trip they resort supplied an extra DM and asked them to please not dive with the camera. The extra Dm helped them with bounancy and basic skills. By the end of the week the Mother and daughter had made significant progress and a few dives with their camera torward the end of the week.
It was great to see the staff at the resort to take the time and effort to help them out. As much as I like Bonaire, Florida Keys and Pensacola etc... I have never seen the dive operators take as much time and care to help new divers with a camera.
It was great to see the staff at the resort to take the time and effort to help them out. As much as I like Bonaire, Florida Keys and Pensacola etc... I have never seen the dive operators take as much time and care to help new divers with a camera.
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Studies show that coral and other marine life are in grave danger because of bleeching from global warming, hypoxia from pesticide run-off and many other pollutants. Even one PADI book states that reef damage from divers is very minimal. I've heard "Think globally, act locally".....If we all do the first part and pressure governments to clean everything up, reefs will be fine. If we all do the second part and none of the first part gets done, then we really have done nothing to help. The cameras (and us shell collectors) are not the problems that need solving. We have to put things in perspective.
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