I am looking for....

[Scubabumtravels]

A dive op on ambergris caye that does not handle the marine life for their divers while on a dive. I am researching a trip to AC and I am shocked at the pix I see on the dive op's www sites. I emailed A few ops with questions about touching underwater life and was told it is an everyday occurrence.

So....does anyone know of a dive op on the island that caters to u/w photography and not touch every critter on the dive?

Looking at two weeks in may.

Ps. I am a reef advocate and have done much work on/for the mesoamerican barrier reef, from Mexico locations for over 20 years. I thought I would check out the part of the reef that runs along Belize.


Any help or suggestions would be most welcomed.

Thanks in advance.

[peterbj7]

I don't think there is one. It's part of the culture to do this here, and DMs etc move from shop to shop and take their practices with them. However, it's not as bad as you say - I have a few times seen groupers being touched, but only those that swim up and effectively ask to be caressed. They can be very tame. Touching nurse sharks is a more common occurrence, but generally only at two sites (Shark Ray Alley and Esmeralda) and only with sharks that come up to humans. I don't touch them myself but the ones I see touched don't appear to find it in the least stressful - after being released they'll often come back for another go. I've twice (in ten years) seen people touching moray eels.

[Scubabumtravels]

Thanks, Peter. Might just change my plans. It really saddens me so to hear of this practice.

I have dived most places 'worthy', on this planet, and have never seen a dive op promote this type of behavior towards marine life. "look with your eyes, and ONLY take pictures". By not touching anything underwater, promotes reef health and slows the decline. One touch, on a healthy reef can kill. Touching fish disrupts their natural behaviors, plus does stress them out some.

The mesoamerican barrier reef is dying before our eyes, due to human interaction and over development. This can be reversed if ALL can keep in check.

Thanks again, Peter, for your input. I wish it wasn't true...

PS. Except for the lion fish. You guys can kill all of those nasty predators that do not belong in the Caribbean.

[Downing]

You might consider heading a little further south to Placencia. I don't know about the other dive shops there, but there's no handling of the marine life at Splash Dive Center. And none at Turneffe Island Resort, either.

[peterbj7]

Touching fish disrupts their natural behaviors, plus does stress them out some

Do you know that to be true? I know it can, but it doesn't seem to affect the fish here. They aren't fed by humans, and when humans aren't there touching them (which is most of the time) they seem to behave the same as other fish of the same species.

[ScubaBumlet]

Peter -


It is a proven fact the handling of fish disrupts their natural slime/mucus coating that is their protection from surface cooties like fungi, bacteria and ectoparasites. The mucus also contains medicinal qualities to help heal open wounds. SOme fish use their mucus/slime in other ways, i.e. Parrotfish. They create a mucus cocoon to sleep in for protection. Some fish use the mucus for nest making…and so on...


Most of us have felt that slime on the fish we have caught w/ a fishing pole. WHich brings up the old 'catch & release' debate re. the very thing we are discussing. The disruption of the slime/mucus coating while handling a large bill fish for photos etc, before releasing.


I have also read many studies on the stress issue as well. Do some googling.


But most of all, I guess, what really bugs me is the amount of new divers that experience their first SCUBA with a DM that touches fish, etc. That would put in their mind that it is ok to do so. If they dive anywhere else, they will learn very quickly, that touching anything underwater is prohibited.


I am not here say what is right or wrong. Just stating how I feel about diving etiquette. I like to think that SCUBA diving is about enjoying the natural beauty that lays under our oceans, while it is still there. I have hopes that my 10 year old niece will have the honor of visiting a HEALTHY coral reef in her lifetime.


Reef and marine life health is up to us. All of us. We should all do what we can so reef and reef fish can prosper so we can enjoy them. Not hassle them…even if it looks like they like it.

I just had to say on this edit job. I found my original registration when I logged this time. lol

[avatar]

We went to AC for our OW referal dives. Not knowing any better, we got to rub the bellies of the nurse sharks.They were very tame and cute as can be.Later in the trip, another diver told us about disrupting the coating, etc. No more. Don't touch it, don't mess with it. I'll never go on a shark dive either.

[Hank49]

I didn't realize it was so easy to touch fish.

But I've grown tilapia, chinese walking catfish and milkfish commerically. We hand'e the brood stock regularly, picking them up to examine for parasites etc. We didn't see damage from that. I think this touching issue is a bit overblown when it comes to fish. AND, it's HARD to touch fish other than the big, tame grouper or nurse shark.

[robint]

I have to agree that I find it wrong to touch the nurse sharks as well as other fish.

For example: In Hawaii it is illegal to touch the mantas NOW as years ago it was common practice. They started noticing red whelts on the mantas bellies and finally realized it was finger drag marks rubbing off the mucus, therefore leaving the mantas subject to parasites and infections.
It also used to be common for people to ride the turtles. Then they realized that it was stressing the turtles and they were leaving the area, afraid of divers. NOW if you get caught touching a turtle it is $$$ fine.

As far as the nurse shark thing - I can't tell you how many divers I have met who think it is okay to touch any fish because they did it in Belize! Maybe those sharks are used to it in Belize, but no where else in the world can you swim up to a nurse shark, grab it, flip it over and rub its belly... you will get bitten! And yes, nurse sharks do bite.

It goes also to the fact you shouldn't feed the fish. People used to take down cans of cheese whiz and frozen peas to attract fish and feed them for photos. We now know that this does nothing but make fish bite people and also it just isn't good food for the fish as it isn't in their food chain diet.

The best rule for all divers is to stay off the coral and don't touch the fish, even if the DM says it is okay.

robin

[beaverdivers]

Give Turneffe Flats a go. We had an excellent trip with one of our groups a few years back. No feeding or handling. You might check to make sure that is still true.