Holy dina , batman. Trust me , no one loves the ocean more than I. Of coarse the only thing I touched on that dive was the octopus that I took of off the other divers scuba tank. As a rule I try not to touch anything on a dive. I had a small lionfish spear tucked into my belt and came accross that little lionfish and held my GoPro in one hand and the speer in the other. I did scrape the lion fish off on the barral sponge but there was no damage. It was that or use my camera. lol. A knife really ? Did you see that angery little octopus? Besides I would not like to accidently cut the little guy. The coral at the bottom were bits of corals that had been washed into the sponge buy strong storm surge and currents. I don't believ that little octopus was conditioned to eat lionfish buy other divers, but rather was opertunistic. I had scared the lionfish deeper into the sponge and If you look at it closely he actually grabed the lionfish a split second before I did.
There is a couple things in the video I have to admit I didn't exactly feel comfortable with myself but , one guy showing the group how a burrfish and porcupine fishes defense meconisim works was not one of them. I love the turtles and I have to admit there are times when my videography can disturb them . I am getting better though.
To Dive with Martins defense they do not advocate toching the marin life and have chastised more than one diver in my presence. One incident that comes to mind was a fellow that thought he could ride a hawksbill and a man who thought he could hitch a ride on the dorsal of a whaleshark. Those are extreme cases that require a little bit harsher tone perhaps. But if I came to surface and lit into every diver that acidently touched bottom or scared that big grouper off while trying to touch it, I would be a very grumpy dude all the time. Better to slide in a comment non-shalant like, to make your point. It is less likey to offend and the lesson is learned most times. Of coarse there are others that just don't give a dam. One guy in particular comes to mind and he was asked not to return.
Diving at night is a tuff one. Can't get around the fact that lights bother the wildlife while we look for critters. Videographers are even worse our lights are very bright and aproxamate daylight. I can say that the more I dive the better and more consious of my impact is on the reef. You have to remember though it is people and videos like the ones I do that show people the wonder that lies beneath the waves. Would shark conservation be such a big thing if it were not for some of the amazing footage captured by some profesional and amature videographers alike? Well that is a whole other debate. lol.
I am a conservationist and a advocate for marine life all over the ocean. If you read my facebook it is plastered with: Bann shark fin soup, Don't swim with captive dolphins, save the turtles all that stuff. I have walked out of restaurants that serve shark fin on Cozumel Island ( Chi Restaurant). A dive master from DWM (same one in the video) sent a video clip of a silky shark that had a a hook and fishing line with large wieght attached in the marine preserve , to the marine park office in hopes that they could help stop illegal fishing in the park.
One nut bar here actually said that the dive master should be shot. Really people ?
The editing program i choose was Magic Movie maker or something all the editing was automatic by the program with a click of a button. It looks much better on a big screen when you sit further awy from the video. My bouancy is much better since that video and I no longer use that program anyway. I kind of think that music does fit the video, but hey if you don't like it hit mute
The marine park in Cozumel is thriving and a lot of the corals are coming back since the hurricane in 2005. I am heading back there April 1st - May 15th with my two new GoPro hero Blacks and hopefuly adobe premiere CS6 if I can convince the girlfriend to let me drop a grand on a computer program, lol.
I will not respond to any more negative comments in this thread. There is enough on here that you should see the negative comments and choose not to watch the video. If you disagree with anything I said or have done , that is fine. It was not my intention to rile up so much anger. I respect you opinions. Lets play nice and keep the comments to yourself if you don't have anything nice to say. Unless of coarse it is so important that your head will explode without letting it out.lol.
All that said , I definately don't Know it all and am no expert. I have over 200 logged dives and am fast approching 300. Not bad for a guy that lives in the snowy Rocky Mountains of Canada EH? I learn more each dive and I hope that through my hobby and my love of the oceans that I can help make the ocean a better place for all animals to enjoy
