Dangers of reef hooking?

[detroit diver]

On a much more serious note:

This is from the dive accidents list.

There has been an unfortunate accident yesterday April 24, 2003.
Julian Aboitiz, 40 years old, an experienced diver on a chartered
trip by Alex Santos of Philippine Technical Divers aboard the
Tristar at Tubbataha National Marine Park passed away. God bless him
and we offer our sincerest condolences to his family.
Apparently, while on their safety stop at 15 feet of water, the 5
others in the group had finished their stops and ascended to the
surface. They waited for Julian but he did not surface. A search
commenced and he was found in the same area where the group was
doing their safety stop at 7 meters. Initial reports say that he
somehow got himself entangled by his reef hook and had his
rebreather unit off. A full report is being made and will be
distributed.

As someone before me said- this reef hook thing is "farm animal stupid".

 

[Zeina]

Several problems in Peleliu on the Peter Hughes boat:
- We don't know how experienced the victim was, but there were newbies in the water (people with 12 dives). HELLO This is ADVANCED diving. 5 knot currents yada yada. Peleliu is where most Palau incidents have occurred in the past.
- There was ONE divemaster for SEVENTEEN (17) divers, including the newbies :wacko:

We were on the Big Blue Explorer (great boat). There were no newbies onboard that week, and my group had 3 divemasters for 6 divers!!

I'll admit that unhooking was a bit tricky (you had to battle your way down to the hook), especially with only one hand (the video housing was in my other hand). But worst case, I could have cut the line. This is what dive knives are for!!

Regarding the part where the hook supposedly damages the reef:
We had similar dives in the Maldives (Guraidu Corner for instance), where you had to maintain position, and enjoy the show.

In the Maldives, no one used Reef Hooks, and the reefs looked a lot more damaged (not only by El Nino, but also by divers' fins) in those spots than Palau's.
Reef hooks are actually pretty environment friendly for this kind of diving.
You do not hook on live corals!!!

Palau has awesome ADVANCED diving. Check out my trip report on http://www.scubadiving.com/members/tripreports.php?s=2011

 

[detroit diver]

I don't want to restart the reef hooking thread again, but there's something that really is bothering me.

A number of people think it's okay to reef hook, hold onto the reef, or just bang into it in order to see wildlife. This is garbage.

Just because the nice fishies are there doesn't mean you can trash the area just to see them. Just because you paid your multi-thousands of dollars/ euro/ whatever doesn't mean you can kill the reef for your pleasure.

Comparing reef hooking as being better than grabbing onto the reef is like comparing a shooting to a knifing. Both result in killing their victims.

Where do buddy skills come into play with reef hooking?

 

[AquaTec]

I was on the Big Blue Explorer in Palau and we used reef hooks. this was a great way to stay stationary and watch the fish and sharks swim by.

the current is not so strong that you can't swim against it long enough to unhook yourself, and the way the current comes over the top of the wall it is easy to find an eddie down close to the bottom where there is no current at all.

to understand reef hooks it is obviouse that you need to be there.
We where instructed to not attach the hooks to reef as it pulls away damages the reef life. we attached the hooks to the rock or ground on the edge of the wall.

this is a wall that goes straight down for 6000 feet with a strong current coming up out of the Adrianas Trench. and it is the tip where the Pacific Ocean and the Philippine Sea meet.

as you swim along the wall you head over the top right at the point and as the current gently blows you acrocc the top you reach down and hook into the ROCK. once you have done that you slightly enflate your BCD and it lifts you up into the current.
the reef hook is about five feet long.

what is good about this situation is that your bubbles and noise are blown behind you and you are sitting there motionless, it is amazing how much marine life will just go about their bussines while you watch.

I will attach a couple of photos over the next couple of posts to give some ideas.

 

[AquaTec]

a bunch of us in a Pyramid

 

[AquaTec]

hooked on the wall

 

[AquaTec]

reef hooks

 

[dugandiving]

donacheson once bubbled...


The first of those threads is really about rebreathers, not reef hooks.

I do not feel that you can simply dismiss the first incident by saying it is about rebreathers, not reef hooks. If I understand the incident, and I have followed it and posted to the thread, the diver drowned because they were entangled in their reef hook, not because they were wearing a rebreather.

 

[AquaTec]

it is hard to say what actualy killed him. i can't imagine getting tangled in a reef hook.
but i guess if you really work at it.....i would also think anybody at the rebreather diver level would be proficiant at using a knife to cut themselve free.