diver etiquette

[pir8]

My list would include:

Lean over the leeward side of the boat to be sick.
Know which bucket is for cameras, and don't put your mask in that one.
Use your mask to pluck water out of the rinse bucket and dump over the side, don't drain your defog into the rinse bucket.
The group exiting the cave has the right of way.
Just like traffic, slow vehicles to the right. Mucho silters: let others pass you.
Keep gear in a small pile. Other people have stuff too.

A very good list.
As for taking sooveneers, shouldn't be done off artificial reef wrecks.They should already be clean. From natural wrecks it is a different story that depends on a lot of maritime legality. The insurance companys could have a claim on any wreck. Also much be careful of local laws on artifact recovery. Most states frown on it. Personaly I would probably take the spike if it were legal.

 

[scubafool]

We aren't talking about divers vandalizing nature. I see it more along the lines of stumbling upon a rusty, deteriorating old abandoned pickup truck in the woods. It's been there for decades. Given enough time nature will handle it (a little salt water would help the process). Is it a bad thing for you to pop the 1950's license plate off the bumper?

If the owner of the property has placed an antique truck out on the property as a point of interest to attract hikers and sightseers, than yes, it is a bad thing.

 

[RJP]

One of the main reasons I see to discourage taking of artifacts is that the wreck will gradually become less and less interesting to other divers on future dives.

Is the dive THAT much less interesting for the next guy if you take a doorknob? No. Two doorknobs? No. Three doorknobs? Uh, no. I think. A porthole? Maybe. Two portholes? Probably. The telegraph? Oh yeah.

I get there and there's nothing left, so maybe I yank off a piece of the rail. The next guy takes a pry bar to a hull plate, etc, etc, etc.

Where's it end?

My rule of thumb: "If it's interesting enough for me to want to take it home, it's interesting enough for me to leave it there for the next diver to see."

 

[kirwoodd]

To turn the question around, why is it a no brainer with the coral? Why is it less of a no brainer with the spike?

Wow, you have GOT to be trolling.

Because taking coral from a reef changes the natural way of things. You have removed a living thing from its habitat and have changed that habitat in ways that you dont understand. Maybe its no big deal, but maybe it is, so why risk it?

The spike was put there by a marinar who lost control of his vessel. It could be argued that taking the spike is like picking up litter. :14:

 

[RJP]

We aren't talking about divers vandalizing nature...

No - we're talking about divers vandalizing DIVE SITES!

:-(

 

[Oriskany Divemaster]

They key phrase to keep in mind is, "It is a felony to damage a reef in the state of Florida." Picking up a spike out in the sand is one thing. Using a prybar to remove a control panel or porthole from a wreck scuttled with the sole purpose of becoming an artificial reef is another.

 

[RJP]

Personaly I would probably take the spike if it were legal.

It's not illegal to carelessly silt up a dive site so the others in your group can't enjoy their dive...

It's not illegal to scare away that rare fish that everyone on the dive was hoping to see...

It's not illegal to crowd the guy trying to frame that once-in-a-lifetime photo op...

It's not illegal to rinse your mask in the camera bucket...

Legal status is probably not the best indicator of whether or not it's an appropriate action for a considerate diver to take.

 

[scubafool]

Wow, you have GOT to be trolling.

Pot and kettle finally get to meet.

 

[scubafool]

Because taking coral from a reef changes the natural way of things. You have removed a living thing from its habitat and have changed that habitat in ways that you dont understand. Maybe its no big deal, but maybe it is, so why risk it?

The spike was put there by a marinar who lost control of his vessel. It could be argued that taking the spike is like picking up litter. :14:

But in both cases you are taking something so that you, and you alone, can enjoy that item in the future. Once it is gone, no diver visiting that dive site will ever get to see it.

That is not picking up trash, that is being selfish.

 

[Mo2vation]

People salvaging off a public reef are like taggers. I mean, please. Its low, but its totally to be expected. I don't get the hoo-hah... I mean like I'm shocked goodballs are taking scallop bars and tire irons to the thing. Here's an idea: Strip the boat. I mean strip it... the ambulance chasers will have nothing to take. It will be butt-ugly, but that's the trade off.

<rant off>

Diver Etiquette, huh? How about this:

Listen wreck thillseeker - Leave the pry bar, screwdrivers, and airtools in the shed you friggen curio clutching clown, and dive an artifical reef with the same respect you'd dive a natural reef. Because (and I know you don't understand this)... it IS a natural reef. Within moments of hitting bottom, stuff is growing on it and it now belongs to the sea, not to you Capt. Nemo. Just dive it, OK? Clip off your junk, get your buoyancy together and don't break stuff off. Take a camera, don't take a porthole. Dive in awe, not with a saw.

If toolbelt tommy and his buddies have their way, in a year or two it will likely look like what the LA Wreck Piranhas have done to a lot of the SoCal wrecks... Ears to their scanners, they emerge enmasse in pavlovian joy at the dock when a call of a sinking goes out. They roll up with steel in hand to pull, pry and more often break stuff off a still bleeding wreck - so they can have some brassy trophy on the mantle or display this stuff at a club meeting or trade show.

To tell you I can't begin to relate is a complete understatement. Its lame and its bad form. I hate these people. Go carve your name into a 500 year old tree, you louse. More people will see it. Go break off the arm of a statue in a park and take it home and make a lamp out of it. You dah man.

Picking stuff off the sand from a freshly sunk public AR is not a crime if you don't pocket it - just leave it there, man. My real problem is with the air tool jockeys and pry bar goons with their mesh bags. Get a grip, Dabloon. This isn't buried treasure. Its a public attraction. And even if its not - like if the thing just went down... leave it alone. I mean, do you really need to go all finders-keepers on the thing?

OK - guess rant wasn't off yet.

Sorry. This stuff get me hot.

---
Ken