Something to think about.

[DivetheRock]

Recently, I engaged in a conversation with my instructor regarding sealing, and diving in an area in which there are sealers (knowingly or unknowingly). BTW, this is not a pro/anti-sealing thread.
For those who, by some rare chance, do not know, Newfoundland and Labrador is a province in which there is a lot of sealing, and this covers many areas, not just that of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. I happen to live in a region where sealing and diving are done in the same area.
My question to all is have you ever thought much, or at all, about what a diver surfacing looks like compared to a seal surfacing? Remember, sealing often requires that the shooter be quick and have excellent marksmanship. Having said this, being quick and noticing a diver's snorkel or mask (regardless of colour) may be mutually exclusive.
I've never personally heard of any stories in which a diver was mistaken for a seal and shot. However, as the expression goes, "there's a first time for everything".
Of all the fears to have regarding diving, I think I've developed a fear of being mistakenly shot while diving...or surfacing, to be more precise. :thinkingo

[Cacia]

Sounds like it's time to get an orange SMB and blow it on your safety stop. After three minutes, if they still shoot you, then they have a problem.

See? I thought about it.

[Cheekymonkey]

Scary stuff, havent heard of it but wouldnt want to find out the wrong way. Guess a diver down flag would be coming in handy.

[Dive Right In Scuba]

Just shoot first :2ar15smil :gondolalove: :bigun2:

[DivetheRock]

See, this is the problem. There are usually buoys everywhere in the water. Some for fishing nets, some for markers, etc. Another buoy or something floating in the water probably won't mean a whole lot, even if it is a "loud" colour. When someone is excited about shooting something, especially if it has to be done quickly, diver markers may never enter the minds of the sealers.
In all fairness to sealers, they are just like anyone else...there are yahoos, and there are sensible individuals. Some of these guys (albeit, perhaps, the minority) bring lots of alcohol to fuel a day's fun on the water shooting seals (and please don't anyone dare challenge me on this, I've seen it numerous times firsthand).
Unfortunately, perhaps the only way to be completely safe is to avoid diving at this time all together.
P.S. The only other foolproof method is to do what Dive Right in Scuba said above...there's an idea.

[Cheekymonkey]

Slap some of those public saftey diver reflecive stickers across your tank for when you breach :P

[DivetheRock]

Even if one were wearing a blaze (hunter) orange hood, it would still be a seal in some sealers' eyes.
I recall an actual incident when I lived in New Brunswick, Canada, a number of years ago. A hunter was charged and convicted (I believe it was manslaughter) after shooting another man in the head as he was driving his truck (I believe it was a Nissan Pathfinder) down a woods road. The hunter was on a hillside and saw a brown object moving through the trees (which was the truck obscured by trees driving down the woods road). Because it was brown and moving, he thought it resembled a walking deer (which is what he was hunting at the time), and decided it deserved a bullet. It actually got the poor man in the head, I remember seeing pictures of the truck, window out, with blood on the head rest and seat. It was a case of "shoot first, ask questions later".
What a moron, to say the least. And the truth of it is, there are many morons with trigger-happy fingers, both on land and on water. A brown moving truck becomes a walking deer...a bobbing diver with a black hood becomes a seal.

[Cheekymonkey]

ew, well I guess hte moral is your just taking the risk and there isnt a whole lot you can do to protect yourself from crazy hunting *******s like Dick Cheney

[Charlie99]

See, this is the problem. There are usually buoys everywhere in the water. Some for fishing nets, some for markers, etc. Another buoy or something floating in the water probably won't mean a whole lot, even if it is a "loud" colour. When someone is excited about shooting something, especially if it has to be done quickly, diver markers may never enter the minds of the sealers.
I'll bet that none of them are long and skinny like a sausage, and then you increase your odds even better if you launch it while you are at 15' and then yank on the line multiple times just before surfacing. A long skinny buoy making weird up and down motions is pretty distinctive.

[DivetheRock]

I'll bet that none of them are long and skinny like a sausage, and then you increase your odds even better if you launch it while you are at 15' and then yank on the line multiple times just before surfacing. A long skinny buoy making weird up and down motions is pretty distinctive.

Maybe. For now, the only two possibilities I can see that may keep you safe are 1) Support topside, very close, to make it obvious that there are divers in the water (which is not feasible for me, as I'm a shore diver). 2) Stay out of the water all together.
You're right, though, Charlie99. A sausage would perhaps be the best choice of all. Once again, though, do I feel safe just because a coloured sausage is bobbing around?...Not really. Seals are often shot from a distance, using binoculars to spot them. Seals have been known to hang around and even play with fishing markers. I've seen this with my own two eyes. A moronic shooter might think the sausage is merely a tool used by the seal to help the shooter sight him in. :rofl3:

[jiveturkey]

I don't think the chances of you getting shot are very high. The example you gave was a freak accident. They happen but not that often. If you use a sausage, you decrease that chance by another great margin. Sure, you could still get shot but I wouldn't let it keep me out of the water. If you're really worried about it, buy a yellow hood or something especially recognizable for when your head surfaces. Or, you could always get Bridget Bardot to stand guard. Actually, scrap that last one. The sealers would probably bazooka you for that one.

[Cheekymonkey]

Yelow tank might work too :P, easier to find than a yellow hood.

[DivetheRock]

I don't think the chances of you getting shot are very high. The example you gave was a freak accident. They happen but not that often. If you use a sausage, you decrease that chance by another great margin. Sure, you could still get shot but I wouldn't let it keep me out of the water. If you're really worried about it, buy a yellow hood or something especially recognizable for when your head surfaces. Or, you could always get Bridget Bardot to stand guard. Actually, scrap that last one. The sealers would probably bazooka you for that one.

Yes, the example I gave was a freak accident, but freak accidents happen all the time...it's only the rare frequency at which they happen in one particular area that makes them freak, don't forget. People are getting shot and killed in various ways everyday, in freak acccidents, no less.
There are a lot of sealers in one area where I dive. I remember living in one community, and on Saturday morning I could almost swear I was living in a war zone. It only takes the one moron. But, you're right. Colour is the best defense. And I think you're on to something re: Bridget Bardot...although Paul and Heather would be even better. :D

[jiveturkey]

Paul and Heather would be even better. :D

I would have suggested Paul but the man did create The White Album so he gets a pass.