I presume you don't see anything wrong with standing on a coral reef, either? Great comment! I really want my diving to be fun, as well, and I just love to goof off. In fact, what I really like to do is grab onto a big sea turtle and ride it for as long as I can, or until it gets tired, after which i grab another one, and continue my ride. That is a lot of fun - for me - and that's what my diving is all about - me.
Addendum: after posting, and thinking about it, I realize that my comments, above, could be considered the electronic equivalent of tossing a turd in the punch bowl. So, let me add some clarification.
Yes, I am being both sarcastic, and facetious - specifically, i would never 'ride' a sea turtle, although I enjoy having fun and goofing off as much as the next person. I might 'ride' a dive buddy without their knowledge until s/he realized why they were making so poor headway swimming underwater.
Why would any one assume that it is somehow OK to stand on a sandy bottom, when they would cringe at the thought of standing on a coral reef? I am continually amazed at how vibrant the supposedly 'barren' sandy bottom really is. There is a lot of marine life inhabiting that ostensibly lifeless sandy bottom, and standing on the bottom harms that environment, just as standing on a reef does. My own training agency has produced videos that we use in IDC instruction, which attempts to show how an instructor demonstrates 'environmental awareness', by having students move from an area next to a coral reef, to a sandy open area, to conduct OW skills. The implied message - disturbing the sandy bottom is OK. And, that is simply not true. The bigger question - why would you ever want to stand on the bottom, sandy or otherwise, anyway? What about the innumerable threads on SB emphasizing the importance of good buoyancy control, and decrying the idea of having dive students conduct skills while planted on the bottom (pool, or open water)? Why does 'having fun', or 'goofing off' have to come at the expense of the marine environment? Is that our way of saying, 'Sorry, garden eels, we'll just stand on your house because - well, because we are bigger than you and we can, and there's nothing you can do about it'?
But, Bob's original point is also being missed in some of the reactions. Why would a dive publication, that intends to provide role model information for divers - new and old - show a picture of divers standing on the bottom? The message is pretty explicit - this is acceptable, role model, behavior. It is not. I think the picture was staged to provide a 'cute' aquatic equivalent of a picture of two people standing on a street corner on shore and wondering which way to go. OK, 10 out of 10 for good intention, 0 out of 10 for execution. Bob rightfully asks, who on the editorial staff of Dive Training magazine is minding the store, and paying attention? That has nothing to do with being puritanical. The question is not about political correctness, it is about the responsibility of not just persons such as dive professionals, but also impersonal entities, such as publications, continuing to promote good diving behavior.
How would SB members react to a DAN-produced video, intended to emphasize the importance of good hydration, which showed divers on a boat drinking bottled water, and simply throwing the empty plastic bottles over the side?
