Fingertipping

SoccerJeni · Jul 12, 2011

I've noticed it's pretty common in Lakes for people to use their fingertips to push off of rocks or the bottom. However, I have seen the same thing done on a coral reef in the ocean before. I personally don't even want my fins to push too much water towards the reef in case it damages it, let alone touch it even if it is a fingertip. I thought I was taught that if you touch the reef it will die. Is that right? What if you have gloves on?

Frosty · Jul 12, 2011

It depends on where on the reef you are I guess. If the coral is already dead -well ya can't kill something twice.
personally I don't like touching coral because A) it might damage it and B) IT might damage ME.Those lil coral scratches sting like the beejeebers

k ellis · Jul 12, 2011

I try my darndest to not touch coral in any shape or fashion. However if it becomes inevitable your going to bump the coral I would much rather touch a finger tip on the reef and kill a tiny bit then to brush against it and kill an entire hand sized portion or even a whole body sized portion of the reef.

I have had to push off gently to get away from entire sections of coral but have since learned to try to compensate for the current and raise enough up before it pushes me in to the coral and also I try to keep a good 2 feet of distance between me and the coral at minimum.

DaleC · Jul 12, 2011

I do aquarium maintenance as a full time gig and it would come as a great shock to me if I killed a coral everytime I touched it (as I routinely handle it). It is a good societal/preventative practice not to touch coral if you can help it but physiologically, just touching will cause no permanent damage. Fish do it all the time.

Now, crashing down onto it is another story - leave that to the experts!

TMHeimer · Jul 12, 2011

I agree with all of the posts. But my usual reply is don't worry too much about the reef. Far bigger stuff than us are destroying it.

vinegarbiscuit · Jul 12, 2011

I treat coral as if even the slight touch will kill it. The fact that one might be wearing gloves offers little protection to the coral. The way I see it, the potential for damage is still there, whether it's skin pressing down on the coral or a gloved finger (yes, I am a crunchy hippy). In any event, some places actually forbid the wearing of gloves, so it's not as they're an option all the time anyhow.

If you have a friendly mentor on hand, ask him/her to show you a back-kick. You'll never need to push off of anything again. It takes some practice to make it consistent, but once you nail it, the only time you'll ever need gloves is for thermal protection (cold-water diving) or wreck-diving (line ascents/descents etc).

modzs · Jul 13, 2011

There's nothing wrong with just the tip.

Cave Diver · Jul 13, 2011

SoccerJeni:
I've noticed it's pretty common in Lakes for people to use their fingertips to push off of rocks or the bottom. However, I have seen the same thing done on a coral reef in the ocean before. I personally don't even want my fins to push too much water towards the reef in case it damages it, let alone touch it even if it is a fingertip. I thought I was taught that if you touch the reef it will die. Is that right? What if you have gloves on?

Sounds like the root problem here is a lack of buoyancy control, being overweighted or both. Instead of using gloves to protect the coral, if they get those things tuned in there won't be a need to push off with the fingertips on rocks, coral or anything else. Better to fix the problem than put a band aid on it.

TSandM · Jul 13, 2011

We teach our students to put a fingertip down, if they stop to look at something. OW students can rarely stop altogether; they usually aren't balanced properly, and don't have the body posture to remain still. It is our feeling that a fingertip is better than failing wildly with hands and fins in a circle, to try to get a look at something. Of course, most of our sites are not covered in delicate structures (at least, the ones OW students get to dive aren't) so it's possible to find a pretty benign spot to put a finger down. Amazingly, students with one finger touching something, have the confidence to relax and stop moving, and they learn it is possible.

Centrals · Jul 13, 2011

If you had seen how the bumphead parrot fish, Titan Trigger fish etc etc. feed or even white tip shark hunting at night.
A gentle touch on the coral would'nt cause too much of a damage. Then of course you shouldn't do it in the first place.
As someone had already suggested, good buoyancy control and also look where you are going first. It is just like driving on the road.

Fingertipping

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SoccerJeni

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