WHAT WOULD YOU DO? Diving Edition #4
#1
Posted 21 November 2011 - 05:41 PM
However you do not know you are doing it and you are an otherwise good and experienced diver but for some reason your bouyancy is off. Would you want someone to tell you?
Would you expect the DM to tell you or would you penalize his/her tips?
Would you be receptive to someone saying something or do you think others need to just worry about themselves?
Or do you possibly not care believing that others have done their share of damage so the tiny bit you do is miniscule? Or that the pictures you take are worth any small ding here or there that may occur since you will be using your pictures to educate others or for some other very valuable use that should outweigh any small ding to the reef????
Before you reply with the obvious replies of how bad this is...reply from the perspective that YOU are the person that is somehow hurting the reef and how YOU would feel about others approaching you. If they did approach you...how should they do it to remain positive???
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#2 Guest_PlatypusMan_*
Posted 21 November 2011 - 07:39 PM
The only diplomatic way you can even try is to ask the question "Did you know you were laying/kicking/brushing the reef while taking your pics? What happened?" and wait to see the response.
If the diver responds with concern, job done; otherwise, denial is not just a river in Egypt.
I would also like to point out the even Cousteau's dive team dynamited reefs in order to get access to various places for their filming.
Edited by PlatypusMan, 21 November 2011 - 07:42 PM.
#3
Posted 21 November 2011 - 07:52 PM
It's helpful it it's done tactfully and in private. Many would take offense if they are corrected in public, or if they are berated about it (even in private). And don't single out one person in the group....if multiple people are having difficulty, correct all of them. Otherwise, the one or two you mention it to will feel picked on.
And I had no idea Cousteau would do something that horrific to a reef!
#4
Posted 21 November 2011 - 08:40 PM
The diver that is carrying a disposable point and shoot that has a gauge hanging and dragging along the coral is too oblivious to care and telling them most likely won't make a difference.
If I am diving and taking pictures and I am inadvertently touching something then I would appreciate my buddy or DM tapping me and pointing out where I am touching the reef but after the fact I really do not see the point.
I will say that there are a few divers that I dive with and or have been diving with that I respect completely and would not take offense at their comments but these people are few.(LLDN is one of those diver) Most divers that say something have no business opening their mouths. They need to look in a mirror first.
If you are an absolutely perfect diver. Are flawless in your buoyancy control. Take national geographic quality pictures. Have never touched the reef in your diving career. Then by all means tell me that I am doing something less than perfect.
While I am on this soap box I will also say that I don't even want to hear a comment coming from someone that supports dive ops or locations that knowingly allows the slaughter of sea turtles, the over harvesting of Conch, selling of black coral jewlery, serving grouper on the menu at the resort, I could go on. I think that these actions are way more offensive than an occasional bump of the coral.
Jim
#5
Posted 21 November 2011 - 11:49 PM
That said, despite my fairly high dive count I've done this myself, and more recently than I like to admit. On a night dive a few years ago I backed into a fan coral and broke it. I don't think I've done any damage since, but I have touched places I shouldn't have even quite recently. It happens to all of us. All we can do is train and learn as well as we can, and then try to concentrate when it matters. When (not if) the unfortunate happens we should be grateful to be told, by anybody who happens to see, and we should learn to be contrite no matter what our experience and qualifications.
On actual practicalities, if you're diving with conventional scuba and find you've stumbled somewhere you shouldn't have, you should use buoyancy (lungs) to float slightly clear (just a foot or so - I'm not advocating lung over-expansion!) before swimming carefully away, using feet or hands as is most appropriate. A good diver should be able to scull backwards with the fins, and a really good diver should know when not to move the fins at all. The technique is different for people using rebreathers, but they should know that for themselves.
#6
Posted 22 November 2011 - 01:33 AM
This is a great topic to discuss...it is important to try your best to protect the reef you came to enjoy, and to have the understanding that the buddy system is set up so that you can help one another. Your buddy can be your eyes to tell you when there is a problem. Diving is a skill we did not learn to do naturally, so everyone has room for improvement and feedback is a wonderful thing when we all have respect for one another.
#7
Posted 22 November 2011 - 08:45 AM
As a newer diver, I don't think I am ready to have a camera in my hands. I think it is very important to learn how to control your position without having something so distracting. I would always want to know if I accidentally touched the reef. I agree with Peter that the best way to back off is slightly filling your lungs. Most problems I have seen are due to fins kicking.
This is a great topic to discuss...it is important to try your best to protect the reef you came to enjoy, and to have the understanding that the buddy system is set up so that you can help one another. Your buddy can be your eyes to tell you when there is a problem. Diving is a skill we did not learn to do naturally, so everyone has room for improvement and feedback is a wonderful thing when we all have respect for one another.
I definitely agree with Amy. I cut my leg on coral during my first dive because I had no idea how much exhaling a deep breath in the water would make me sink! While there is no way I'd take on the additional task of having a camera with me just yet, I would prefer to know that I was hitting coral so that I could make adjustments. That said, as a beginner I hope that someone would approach me in a kind and helpful manner rather than being indignant.
#8
Posted 22 November 2011 - 09:01 PM
Anyway - I really want to be told - and I don't mind being thwacked...
Jacques Yves Cousteau
#9 Guest_PlatypusMan_*
Posted 23 November 2011 - 03:45 AM
And I had no idea Cousteau would do something that horrific to a reef!
It was unflinchingly detailed in some episodes of The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau, as well as his groundbreaking 1956 film Silent World.
WARNING: Not for the squeamish.
Silent World excerpt
Watching those TV programs from the 60s-onward, you wince when you see some of the things the Calypso crew did at sea--things that today would never be tolerated by the public (and environmentalists).
Edited by PlatypusMan, 23 November 2011 - 03:46 AM.
#10
Posted 25 November 2011 - 01:46 AM
As far as telling others, I watch for a pattern. Lying or standing on the reef even once is not acceptable, and I will say something, preferably underwater, and if not.. above water. An occasional touch of the reef, I usually will let go..unless I see the individual has a pattern of doing it during the dive. Then I will say something.
It is unfortunate that a lot of the divers who have a lack of respect for the reef with poor diving patterns WILL penalize the dive staff if they say something. I have pointed out many times to dive staff a poor diver who is damaging THEIR reef. And they shrug and do nothing. (Except Wakatobi, where they are very zealous about protecting their reef and shore line grasses). The irony is that the diver who does so much damage unknowingly or uncaringly probably would also not care about their dive staff and wouldn't tip anyway.
#11
Posted 27 November 2011 - 02:30 PM
#12
Posted 27 November 2011 - 06:35 PM
#13
Posted 27 November 2011 - 06:38 PM
People coming to Belize next month will be making some dives in marine parks, where it is forbidden by law to wear gloves. The logic is that people wearing gloves are far more likely to touch coral.
It has been my experience that more people are likely to touch the coral with gloves on. Sadly too many touch it without gloves...but at least it is less.
Contact me directly at Kamala@SingleDivers.com for your private or group travel needs or 864-557-6079 AND don't miss SD's 2018-2021 Trips! ....here! Most are once in a lifetime opportunities...don't miss the chance to go!!
SD LEGACY/OLD/MANUAL Forms & Documents.... here !
Click here TO PAY for Merchandise, Membership, or Travel
"Imitation is the sincerest flattery." - Gandhi
"Imitation is proof that originality is rare." - ScubaHawk
SingleDivers.com...often imitated...never duplicated!
Kamala Shadduck c/o SingleDivers.com LLC
2234 North Federal Hwy, #1010 Boca Raton, FL 33431
formerly...
710 Dive Buddy Lane; Salem, SC 29676
864-557-6079 tel/celfone/office or tollfree fax 888-480-0906
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