Article: The Number One Rule In Scuba Diving: No Touching!

[TMHeimer]

I am aware of the affects of stress which is why I try to be careful with what I do and do not do. Earlier in my life I spent a lot of time surface fishing from shore and boats. I did not kill unless food (or bait). I caught and released a lot of (stressed) fish. But I will be honest. it was for my amusement and personal satisfaction. I had no need for additional protein or calories in my diet. I was not a subsistance fisherman. In fact, I would be better off with less food.

Steve, An interesting side issue you brought up. Killing for a purpose (food) vs. harassing or even killing for fun (tease the octopus). Some have told me over the years (in person and on SB) that killing for food is fine. Taking a shell and boiling it for your collection is not. My slanted take on it is that if, instead of all the reckless forms of commercial fishing we've done--for food (except for the wasteful bycatch), we simply took half that many fish from the oceans and dumped them in a field in Kansas, the big fish populations would be a heck of a lot better.
As well with fishing, though I have always followed the rules and daily limits in fresh/salt water, I catch fish strictly to eat them. It is curious to me why someone would ever catch and release a fish on purpose, with the definite possibility of injuring the fish physically (if not mentally, since we all worry so much about animals being so shocked they must seek therapy). Yes, the battle to land the fish can be a challenge, as can hunting Moose, I presume. Lot of ways to look at these things I guess.

 

[CuzzA]

There are a lot of things you will learn as you dive ... among them will be that diving is a very situational activity, and there are few hard and fast rules that apply under all circumstances. Your "no touching" article has, I believe, good intentions if you limit it to the examples you mentioned or pointed out. But it does not apply in a large variety of circumstances.

And how would you respond to an animal touching you? It does happen, you know. As my friend Derek here found out, sea lions can be a lot like dogs ...

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Last year I was literally pushed by a whale shark in the Philippines. I was on the surface, taking a picture of another whale shark and had inadvertently gotten between this one and the food the people in the boat were dropping in the water. One of the boat guys started yelling at me to keep my distance ... but I wasn't the one who was moving, or touching. I pointed to the 25-foot critter with his snout against my hip and said "tell HIM!"

And then there was the oceanic white-tip I almost landed on when doing a giant stride off a boat in the Red Sea ... I literally had to use my camera to fend the thing off. Would you stick to your "no touching" rule if you had a shark pushing into your torso with its nose? Me neither.

I applaud your efforts to educate your readers ... and encourage you to continue doing so as your diving experience improves. But do try to keep in mind that rules of thumb are little more than easy ways to remember how to keep from getting in trouble ... and always have some caveats applied to them that you learn about as your diving experience expands to garner a broader understanding of why they exist.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Yeah, um, rules are out the window when a sea lion grabs you by the balls.

And what about dolphins that try to sexually assault you like a Hollywood casting?

 

[ScubaWithTurk]

@PunkabillyTurk - Happy to see you back on Scubaboard and posting. If I remember correctly, you got certified not too long ago and were living in Huntington Beach, CA. Didn't realize you made your way to the Middle East. Good for you and keep on diving and keep up that infectious and teachable attitude and cheers to you and your dreams.

You remember correctly!! I am now out here taking the Advanced 35 class with RAID and will be working my way to instructor with a focus on tech diving.

Thank you and have no fear, I am well aware I don’t know what I don’t know and am trying my best to be a sponge here and soak it all up. I love the path I am on now and couldn’t be more happy.

 

[Steve_C]

Yeah, um, rules are out the window when a sea lion grabs you by the balls.

And what about dolphins that try to sexually assault you like a Hollywood casting?

Maybe they heard of this

https://nypost.com/2014/06/10/the-dolphin-that-fell-in-love-with-a-human/

 

[JohnnyC]

The implication that the majority of technical divers get into tech diving just to look cool is pretty disingenuous. The idea that tech divers spend many many thousands of dollars (seriously, in it for 30 grand US is the low end) and hundreds of hours getting certified and doing post-cert training to be able to do dives just to impress other people is pretty ludicrous. Do I look cooler than you diving my rebreather in a cave with twin sidemounted bailouts and a leash full of deco bailout? Yep. Is that idea even remotely close to my motivation for becoming a technical diver? Not in the least. I did it so I can do 4 hour cave dives 3km round trip (it was a short day) to see some of the most amazing caves on the planet.

Did my friend do it so that he could look fancy doing mid-water deco hanging from an SMB in the middle of the ocean? Nope, in fact the only reason he did it is so that he has another set of tools in his diving toolbox to make his recreational diving safer by understanding decompression and being able to perform all the skills involved. In fact, he looks ridiculous in a set of twins, and chicks think he's weird.

We're hardly the minority of technical divers, despite what you imply.

Do I touch things underwater? Nope, mainly because I'm not smart enough to know what's going to kill me or remove a finger. Does that mean a curious octopus hasn't done the touching of its own volition? Nope, in fact he was a pain to get off when we needed to leave. And I've sure as hell popped my share of lionfish in the Caribbean. Diving is like decompression, it's so situational and such a huge gray area in practically every aspect that you can't start spouting rules when there are a hundred exceptions.

Turk, you're new to this, we all understand it, we've all been there, and we all understand your enthusiasm and your desire to make this activity a huge part of your life, but pump the brakes dude. You're opening the door and heading into a lot of things you don't understand yet. Get some more experience before you start throwing "truths" out there as you see fit, before you step in it even more. Seriously, gear down big shifter and enjoy the ride. Post about your experiences. People like hearing about experiences, and you won't piss people off by lecturing about stuff you don't have any experience with.

 

[BRT]

Thank you for the reply. While I am admittedly a new diver, I don't feel one needs 2500 dives to see the damage done by poking at creatures.

Can someone who has zeros dives watch a YouTube video and see the damage done to reefs by divers who have terrible buoyancy vs a diver seen in the same video with good buoyancy and trim?

I don't feel I was lecturing anyone but clearly you did so thank you for the feedback. I will make sure to get my dive numbers up!

Some of the best divers I know carefully touch ocean creatures. I have never seen any damage done by that careful touching. Have you?

 

[BRT]

Because the killing of the fish serves a purpose: food. The playing around with the octo is simply for personal gratification and the stress placed on the animal may result in its failure to survive.

I’ll give you an example. There’s this guy in Vancouver BC that was/is part of this program to introduce children to sea life. Divers go pick stuff up, show it to the kids who handle them, then the divers dump them back. I’ve hear complaints from someone that dives there regularly how a significant number of creatures wind up dying.

Keep in mind that the whole recreational dive thing is for personal gratification.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Keep in mind that the whole recreational dive thing is for personal gratification.

Just recreational diving? People doing things for enjoyment doesn't mean they get a pass for harassing sea life.

I can't believe I have to say this.

 

[BRT]

Just recreational diving? People doing things for enjoyment doesn't mean they get a pass for harassing sea life.

I can't believe I have to say this.

I'm just making the point that if we really, really want to save the ocean we should stay away from it. Those fish do not benefit from seeing us.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

I'm just making the point that if we really, really want to save the ocean we should stay away from it. Those fish do not benefit from seeing us.

Being present with fish is not the same thing has handling/harassing them.

Same last sentence as my previous post.