When is "the line" crossed?

[del_mo]

On a recent dive a group of us were watching a green moray just hanging out in an open coral formation. Then this one boob grabbed some ocean debris (1" diameter cable about 6 feet long) and pushed it towards the eel. The eel didn't respond so he pushed it closer and closer until he made contact with the eel. The eel was touched, but not struck, and the eel backed away only as far as it needed to. This boob was ready to make another move when he son grabbed his arm and shook his head "no". While I never felt this guy would do anything to harm the eel, I felt he was touching, if not stepping over the line of interacting with sea critters. (and kudo's to the son)

On another dive I found a large stingray "hidden" in the sand. While a bunch of us were watching, another diver dove down and gave it a "firm" touch that caused it to swim away. Later it returned and my wife and I took turns lying in the sand next to the ray and gently stroked it without causing it to swim away.

Where is the line that shouldn't be crossed?

 

[Rookie_J]

On a recent dive a group of us were watching a green moray just hanging out in an open coral formation. Then this one boob grabbed some ocean debris (1" diameter cable about 6 feet long) and pushed it towards the eel. The eel didn't respond so he pushed it closer and closer until he made contact with the eel. The eel was touched, but not struck, and the eel backed away only as far as it needed to. This boob was ready to make another move when he son grabbed his arm and shook his head "no". While I never felt this guy would do anything to harm the eel, I felt he was touching, if not stepping over the line of interacting with sea critters. (and cuddo's to the son)

On another dive I found a large stingray "hidden" in the sand. While a bunch of us were watching, another diver dove down and gave it a "firm" touch that caused it to swim away. Later it returned and my wife and I took turns lying in the sand next to the ray and gently stroked it without causing it to swim away.

Where is the line that shouldn't be crossed?

i don't understand the infatuation with people wanting to touch creatures underwater... why can't people just leave well enuff alone and observe them in their natural environment without having to touch everything in sight...

would you like it if some big dopey creature, 10x bigger than you walked into your house and started carressing and harrassing you?

look with your eyes, not with your hands...

if it's so important to touch wild things, go to alaska and pet a grizzly bear...

 

[MichaelBaranows]

People always want to touch live animals no matter if it is underwater or above. Think of how many people want to feed the the deer or ducks at the park. I kind of think that by doing so they are becoming one with nature.

 

[dmpaq20]

i don't understand the infatuation with people wanting to touch creatures underwater... why can't people just leave well enuff alone and observe them in their natural environment without having to touch everything in sight...

would you like it if some big dopey creature, 10x bigger than you walked into your house and started carressing and harrassing you?

look with your eyes, not with your hands...

if it's so important to touch wild things, go to alaska and pet a grizzly bear...

I agree with you. If I would have seen that I would have lost it!
I would have torn him a new one when I got back on the boat.

When I was diving on Guam a couple of years ago a Japanese tourist actually stuck their hand all the way down an eel hole so that they could coax him out fpr a snapshot. Reaklly aggrevating!

 

[Rick Murchison]

This "never touch anything" mantra is confusing to me. From puppies to Octopi, many critters enjoy contact with humans. Manta's like the feel of bubbles and a scratch on the belly. Octopi can't stand to leave you alone (if you know how to make yourself attractive). There are many examples, and also plenty of examples where human interaction is at least "neutral" to the critter involved, so long as it's gentle and non-intrusive.
That's not to say that poking a Moray is ok - I don't think it is (it is also liable to be "self-correcting" ). But to label all touching "bad" is just bad.
Rick

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

While I wouldn't be poking an eel with a cable a "firm touch" isn't anything I'd get worked up over. Ever dive with Mantas? They're the ones doing the touching.

Darn Mantas, they just won't leave us divers alone.

 

[Rick Murchison]

Just for grins & giggles, this is about as close as I like to get to a Moray (clip taken in Bonaire in '03 - I use it as a "backfinning" example video.)
Rick

 

[cdiver2]

Ditto Rick. Most creatures are inquisitive and will inter react with humans given the right circumstances. Look at the Manatees they will move into position to be scratched in the right place, the art is knowing when and how.

 

[Doc Intrepid]

It's also important to understand that perceptions evolve over time regarding whether behavior is desirable or not.

Stationed on Okinawa and Guam during 1980-1984, my AOW through Instructor training occurred through two different shops that shared the same perspective: gloves were discouraged. Students were encouraged to learn what could be safely touched and gently touch things. The rubbery feel of various anemones and soft corals, the various critters, etc. - this was all a way of encountering, experiencing, and getting in touch with, no pun intended, the ocean.

Twenty years ago this was the prevailing paradigm. Gloves are for the fearful. Lose the gloves, lose the fear, and experience reality. It's not to say it was good or bad; it was the way it was.

It's different today. And in places where thousands of tourists travel weekly, that makes sense.

But simply realize that today's mantra of "touch nothing, ever" is directly contrary to what many older divers were taught or grew up learning twenty years ago.

 

[annie]

It's the grabbing grasping unthinking touching I hate. People who just reach out and have to poke at everything, whether it wants to be touched or not.

I guess my main yardstick is I don't agree with anything that forces the animal to move away. They should be left alone unless they're obviously not bothered i.e. they don't move away.