The biggest threat to coral reefs: Prices on Under Water cameras

[rawls]

I tend to believe that simple things turn out to be the best solution to problems such as this. The message of protecting marine life and habitats needs to be repeatedly stressed by instructors during basic open water courses, as well as subsequent ones. During our classes we do not just mention how important it is to maintain the integrity of underwater environments and life, we come back to it over and over. There are many topics where this subject can be integrated into the lectures. Just like equalization...do it early and often

 

[Papa_Bear]

Buy a Reed's Rod and learn to use it! I give classes! Two Tanked Productions HD & SD Underwater Productions and video services
We are saving the reef one diver at a time!

 

[samaka]

What I see is a rush to just go dive...in the last 20 years, I have not seen any dive operator even ask if we needed a weight check, or discuss buoyancy/camera use before a dive.....and if they had, not sure what they would have done with the information.

Here in the Red Sea we do all of the above... and more... I even debrief my guests after every dive in those matters...

The first day on every liveaboard is a "warming-up-day" to get the weightings right and all that...

.....a.....

 

[IceIce]

Good post, and I believe everyone is guilty at some points.

I have seen many new divers damaging the reef and even my head by kicking hard. The typical is, when they kick something, instead of moving away to avoid, they kick harder to get rid of the target so they can move freely.

Damage by photographer, so far from what I've seen, many photographers are quite experience, those who are not, proudly announce that she/he brings camera when you know they are doing AOW or unskilled, end up losing the camera to all my delight. Ignore my advise and eye rolling, well, I'll go back and retrieve the camera.

How many times I saw divers destroy almost all the sea feather just to squeeze out the squat lobster and take picture? How many times I saw how a diver pay so much attention to get good pictures and after they are done, they swim away and kick the poor seahorse with the coral 'accidentally?'
Numerous.

How many times I see divers stress out clown fish to get amusement? Kick or stir coral and bottom and touch for fun? Many.

I really agree that once a diver is armed with camera, they tend to get distracted and destructive as the result, but the most caring people that I know is also those who grow far more protective because they fall in love with the life through the shots they take.

My point is, the price of the camera or whatever financial related causes and solutions don't make any difference if the divers don't have the awareness.
I still hopeful that those taking camera for 'the cool of it' will give up or even all who become divers just for the cool will give up.

 

[J.R.]

Ya' know... I've re-read through this... and some other threads and while I have a certain appreciation for those taking the PC stance and wiaving the SAVE THE REEF flag while chanting the "we need more rules" mantra... it occurs to me that once again we're treating the symptoms and not the core of the problem...

Quite simply... does anybody but me find a certain irony in an industry that will beats us over the head with protection of the reef issues and at the same time fanatically pushes diving as something that you can learn over a weekend (or some other very short time)?

The solution to the problem is one that dive industry will not take... make learning a more protracted process. Require skills proficiency and not just the ability to demonstrate that you can do them correctly once or twice in the controlled environment of a classroom where the distraction workload is minimized.

Make a better diver and you'll have a better dive experience.

 

[Jai Bar]

I can only agree with most of the points.

However, I have noticed that experienced- even professional- photographers sometimes can "allow" themselves to move a subject or "reorganize" the surrounding corals in order to get "the perfect frame", while an amateur P&S photographer will just take a snapshot without moving or touching anything.

And, unfortunately, touching and moving fish is not only a "photographer's thing"- in most Safari's that I've been in the Red Sea, I have always seen guides touching or harassing creatures in order to make a good time for his group. Either in my boat or looking at other guides in the crowded dive sites. What is sad, is that in the briefings they do tend to say "please don't touch" etc. etc. but in the water they may allow themselves more than they preach to their guests.

When this happens with a guide from our boat, we usually ask him after the first dive that it will amuse us much more if he doesn't touch any fish or anything in order to show the group, and if he succeeds to keep up without touching the fish- we give them a double tip at the end of the trip and explain that they got a healthier tip just because they refrained from touching anything.

I just hope that it catches everywhere in the world- guides having the clear understanding that it is the best in everyone's interest- guests, guides, marine life to conserve what we've got for the future generations.

Not that all the fault to reef deterioration is diver-related (nor that only photographers are to blame). Dive sites like "The Tower" in Sharm were destroyed beyond recognition during the hotel that was built just on top of the site. It is still a good dive site, but nothing compared to what it used to be in the early 90s :-(

Development of the area close to the shores, sewage spilling from time to time, over fishing and many other factors also claim their toll on the reef, as seasonal weather changes etc.

 

[Sinbad the Diver]

saw a great line in a recent issue of dive training: The most important skill to master to improve your underwater photography is your diving skill. No matter how good you are with the camera, if you can't hover, maintain a depth and position while adjusting the camera, etc. You will not get great pictures.

 

[Doc Harry]

Samaka,

Perhaps what you are seeing is true where you dive. The Red Sea gets a lot of European customers and European culture is quite a bit different than the culture in the USA (for better or worse!).

Here in the USA, I would say that the opposite is true -- that photographers are not responsible for most of the reef damage that I have witnessed.

I have been diving in the Mediterranean, Asia, Caribbean and the USA.

Here in the USA, most of the people whom I have seen trashing the reef were not photographers.

Most of the people whom I have seen damaging the reef did so out of simple lack of situational awareness. Very rarely do I see divers here intentionally do something that causes damage.

 

[chip104]

People are definitely stupid.

 

[maged_mmh]

i like the pink fin