How to deal with the “coral breaker”?

[Grateful head]

Do you now the guys first name? I have an older friend who was down there a 3-4 weeks ago and he's a handsy diver. I don't know if he switched to a go pro down there or kept using his other camera.

I can’t remember, maybe if you said his name I would remember. He was in his 60’s and tall.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Most of my previous suggestions were toungue in cheek, but they would be effective.

In reality, there is no easy solution for the dilema the OP presented. My observations have been that it is difficult to confront someone in a way that results in a change of behavior. I think the best way to address it, as I posted in my first response, is to video/photograph the culprit and show them the evidence of their destruction when discussing it with them.

Or just accept that there are sh%ty people in this world who dive without regard for the environment and focus your attention on things other than them to avoid seeing their sad and disappointing behavior and the results thereof.

But, I don't believe the onus to do/say something in an effort shifts to another just because it otherwise might cause a conflict between you and another diver, and I don't think the onus transfers just because you are paying for the experience of diving in the marine park either.

Either be prepared to say/do something or be prepared to dive with blinders to keep yourself content.

-Z

with the exception of a diving instructor and his wife, when I dived with a group in Belize, EVERYONE was kicking the coral. It was a horrible thing to watch. The previous 2 days of diving, I had a private guide, so I didn't see any of it. The worst guy was a photographer of over 25 years. He didn't care what it took to get a pic. I wanted to unalive him as it was purely intentional and he didn't care. The rest, they just were not aware.

But in that scenario what do we do? Yell at everyone on the boat?

And people criticize me for saying that training is often very poor.....

 

[Grateful head]

Assuming a typical CZM dive, in the marine park, with a DM.... You could [quietly] explain the situation to the DM and ask them to reiterate the park rules (and good diving practices) during the briefing for everyone before the next dive. That would establish proper behavior without confronting just one individual, and make it easier for you or the DM to say something to the offending diver if this continues.

Hopefully the DM puts preservation of the park, diver education, and the possible tip they'll get from you ahead of the possible loss of a tip due to reprimanding a problematic diver.

Oh, wait.

This is Scubaboard, and I just gave a calm and helpful reply.

Let me fix that....

How to address a diver who is damaging the reef?

Collect the broken coral and put it in the guy's wetsuit during the surface interval.

So I have a theory…. the dive masters don’t actually want to confront the “coral breaker” because it may interfere with their tip.

 

[scrane]

I always figured the captain of the vessel and the dive masters are the default voices of authority on a dive. If the dive master refuses to assume his authority, then that can also affect the tip he gets from me.

 

[RobPNW]

The week before the SB invasion I spent a week in Roatan on the other side of the island and saw a few of these. Often times, they're also what I call "seahorse divers" where they're vertical most of the time and look like they're riding a unicycle underwater. One guy in particular was so bad, the DM in training literally went over to him and dragged him off the reef. He didn't even look around to see or acknowledge what happened. He just kept swimming along, oblivious.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

I always figured the captain of the vessel and the dive masters are the default voices of authority on a dive. If the dive master refuses to assume his authority, then that can also affect the tip he gets from me.

Number of divers who care about the health of the reef <<<<< number of divers who don't care about the health of the reef.

It is pure statistics. Satisfying the larger group for tips makes short term financial sense.

On a side note, who exactly wants to the be Cartman of Scuba?

 

[living4experiences]

In Cozumel, we pay a marine park fee. The dive shops are issued permits to operate in the marine park and with that comes the expectation that they will follow the rules of the marine park. It is the dive shop's and, in turn, their guides' responsibility to enforce the rules. Communicating the rules in the predive briefing is key, but this doesn't happen in Cozumel. There's not much of a dive briefing to begin with. I've been in other countries where the dive guide firmly said in the dive briefing that if he sees anyone touching the reef intentionally, you sit out the second dive. Guess what?? No one broke the rules, even the photographers.

You can silt out the guy's shot or photo bomb him and he'll immediately let go of the reef

 

[Grateful head]

In Cozumel, we pay a marine park fee. The dive shops are issued permits to operate in the marine park and with that comes the expectation that they will follow the rules of the marine park. It is the dive shop's and, in turn, their guides' responsibility to enforce the rules. Communicating the rules in the predive briefing is key, but this doesn't happen in Cozumel. There's not much of a dive briefing to begin with. I've been in other countries where the dive guide firmly said in the dive briefing that if he sees anyone touching the reef intentionally, you sit out the second dive. Guess what?? No one broke the rules, even the photographers.

You can silt out the guy's shot or photo bomb him and he'll immediately let go of the reef

The dive master DID say in his briefing to stay three feet above the bottom and not touch anything as this is a marine park. The guy just didn’t care as all he was concerned about was getting his pics. The Go-Pro was a gift from his kids so he felt the need to get every picture he could at any expense. I really like the idea of getting kicked out of the marine park, however this would result in a smaller clientele.

 

[AdivingBel]

Number of divers who care about the health of the reef <<<<< number of divers who don't care about the health of the reef.

It is pure statistics. Satisfying the larger group for tips makes short term financial sense.

For it to be pure statistics, you have to use actual numbers, not just your (N=1) subjective perceptions. Not to say your perceptions of your experiences aren't valid, they just aren't statistics.

My (N=1) experience based on 20 years of "tidy bowl" dive travel seems to be very different from yours. Compared to the number of divers I've encountered I've seen very few actual "reef destroyers" and even fewer that didn't care. Most new divers I've encountered have had "don't touch the reef" thorughly drummed into them. Nothing is perfect and ocassionally a serial abuser will manafest. A quiet aside to a DM or captain usually takes care of the problem. If you don't like the dive ops response, vote with your fins. It's a big ocean.

I've been pleasantly surpised diving post-Covid. I've expected to see more "it's all about me" attitudes while diving much like what's been going on with the behavior on airlines (I've seen plenty of this) and at historical sites. To date I haven't noticed more issues. Maybe I dive with more discerning divers and dive ops, but I think it's also a possibility that those that are drawn to diving have or develop a greater respect for nature. Maybe divers aren't as susceptible to this mania. At least I like to think so. Either way none of it is statistics. All IMHO, YMMV.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

For it to be pure statistics, you have to use actual numbers, not just your (N=1) subjective perceptions. Not to say your perceptions of your experiences aren't valid, they just aren't statistics.

I'm not claiming there were. This is an accumulation of observations of many people. Good divers are a rarity. Is this a scientific study? No, but there is a trend.

My (N=1) experience based on 20 years of "tidy bowl" dive travel seems to be very different from yours. Compared to the number of divers I've encountered I've seen very few actual "reef destroyers" and even fewer that didn't care. Most new divers I've encountered have had "don't touch the reef" thorughly drummed into them. Nothing is perfect and ocassionally a serial abuser will manafest. A quiet aside to a DM or captain usually takes care of the problem. If you don't like the dive ops response, vote with your fins. It's a big ocean.

I've been pleasantly surpised diving post-Covid. I've expected to see more "it's all about me" attitudes while diving much like what's been going on with the behavior on airlines and at historical sites. To date I haven't noticed more issues. Maybe I dive with more discerning divers and dive ops, but I think it's also a possibility that those that are drawn to diving have or develop a greater respect for nature. At least I like to think so. Either way none of it is statistics. All IMHO, YMMV.