muratkorman
Registered
Hello to all divers who share their experiences and knowledge in this forum.
I consider myself a new diver who needs more experience to claim being a "real" diver. Although I have been diving more than 2 years having PADI AOWD certification and I had 50+ dives, I believe it takes more effort and focus to reach enough experience to enjoy diving as well as being concious about marine life.
In my recent dives, I have witnessed quite frequently selfish attitude of new divers trying to get the best out of their dives without thinking what they leave behind. I totally agree that diving is for fun and every diver wants that. However, it doesn't give anyone the right to damage coral reefs, disturb marine life or avoid other divers to enjoy their dives just because you want to see everything and want to be everywhere. In most cases, I have met new divers, who haven't developed enough buoyancy skills, damaging coral reefs every time they turn around or stirring the sandy bottom with their fins causing bad visibility and disturbing marine life.
First of all, we have to respect the marine life. We are not a part of it, but we are guests having a look at it each time we dive. We may not imagine the consequences of our acts while diving if we just focus on having fun and nothing else. It takes years to replace the coral you just damaged by hitting with your fins. The packaging of energy bar you dropped into the sea will stay there for centuries unless some diver with environmental awareness collects that. When you stirred the sandy bottom with your fins, you destroyed homes of many marine life.
I see on some occasions dive masters warn these divers, but in most cases they ignore as they don't want to lose customers. We are responsible for protecting marine life if we would like next generations to enjoy diving like we do. We have to warn divers who damage marine life and we have to improve our skills such as buoyancy control to avoid any accidental damage.
I believe if we keep these in mind, our dives will be full of fun and marine life will be less affected. Enjoy your dives and protect marine life as much as you can.
Murat
I consider myself a new diver who needs more experience to claim being a "real" diver. Although I have been diving more than 2 years having PADI AOWD certification and I had 50+ dives, I believe it takes more effort and focus to reach enough experience to enjoy diving as well as being concious about marine life.
In my recent dives, I have witnessed quite frequently selfish attitude of new divers trying to get the best out of their dives without thinking what they leave behind. I totally agree that diving is for fun and every diver wants that. However, it doesn't give anyone the right to damage coral reefs, disturb marine life or avoid other divers to enjoy their dives just because you want to see everything and want to be everywhere. In most cases, I have met new divers, who haven't developed enough buoyancy skills, damaging coral reefs every time they turn around or stirring the sandy bottom with their fins causing bad visibility and disturbing marine life.
First of all, we have to respect the marine life. We are not a part of it, but we are guests having a look at it each time we dive. We may not imagine the consequences of our acts while diving if we just focus on having fun and nothing else. It takes years to replace the coral you just damaged by hitting with your fins. The packaging of energy bar you dropped into the sea will stay there for centuries unless some diver with environmental awareness collects that. When you stirred the sandy bottom with your fins, you destroyed homes of many marine life.
I see on some occasions dive masters warn these divers, but in most cases they ignore as they don't want to lose customers. We are responsible for protecting marine life if we would like next generations to enjoy diving like we do. We have to warn divers who damage marine life and we have to improve our skills such as buoyancy control to avoid any accidental damage.
I believe if we keep these in mind, our dives will be full of fun and marine life will be less affected. Enjoy your dives and protect marine life as much as you can.
Murat