I had to stop watching

[Mike1967]

The viz is outstanding tho.

Bloody oath! I'm off to Vanuatu next week so I'm hoping for the same.....

 

[Storker]

Yea, why Dive in warm 100 feet viz when you can dive in frigid zero zero viz

Frigid? Only if you don't dress properly.

Zero viz?

 

[The Chairman]

If this is common practice I have no interest in diving in the Caribbean again.

Why let others spoil your fun? Dive and let dive. If I didn't dive wherever I saw poor diving skills, I would only dive solo. I just make sure that I'm not the guy everyone else on the internet wants to make fun of. I don't see a problem with discussing how to stay neutral and the need to never, ever kneel on the bottom, but I don't let the other divers on the boat affect my fun.

 

[Mike1967]

never, ever kneel on the bottom

True it's not the done thing but it was a sandy bottom, no big deal really. Just like anything else they did, no biggy.

 

[The Chairman]

no big deal really.

There are lots of living critters just under the sand, so it is a big deal. Sand dollars, sea biscuits, worms, homes for fish like the yellow headed jaw fish and so on. Many of those organisms are fragile and just a little bit of weight will injure and/or crush them. I've seen a colony of Jawfish displaced after one class kneeled on their holes. Just stay off the bottom. There's no reason to leave knee or fin prints down there.

However, I'm not going to let someone else's lack of respect or buoyancy control affect my enjoyment of the dive.

 

[Mike1967]

critters

I'm definitely no critter expert but I'm guessing they're the same critters we all walk on every time we do a shore dive?

I'm not going to let someone else's lack of respect or buoyancy control affect my enjoyment of the dive.

Exactly

 

[Storker]

the need to never, ever kneel on the bottom

If I'm ever in FL, I'm going to ask you for a class on how to kill off a 5-10kg anglerfish or monkfish thrashing on my sling, getting it off the spear and stuffing it in my catch bag just as easily while hovering perfectly neutral as if I vent my wing getting my feet on the ground while doing it. Or, for that sake, clipping a lift bag to a catch bag with 10-20kg of scallops and sending the bag topside without having a hard time avoiding to cork as I blow the lift bag and release it.

In some parts of the world and at some sites, the number of visiting divers makes "never touch the bottom" very good advice. Other places, where a site might possibly see a diver pair once every two years, one diver touching the bottom really doesn't matter.

Have I mentioned that I kind of dislike blanket generalization?

 

[Sam Miller III]

This video is a 16 minute visual documentation and damnation of the state of the current dive instruction and videos production

sdm

 

[The Chairman]

If I'm ever in FL, I'm going to ask you for a class on how to kill off a 5-10kg anglerfish or monkfish thrashing on my sling, getting it off the spear an stuffing it in my catch bag just as easily while hovering perfectly neutral as if I vent my wing getting my feet on the ground while doing it.

Have you thought of learning how to aim??? I haven't hit those particular fish, but best practice is to get close enough so you can stone the fish with the first shot. No, I don't shoot at everything I encounter. I am particular, very patient and rarely make a wild shot. There's a certain thrill in making a perfect shot. I've messed up, and have had to battle a largish mutton snapper mid water and a few others, but mostly, my fish are dead after I shoot or I dispatch them mid-water with my stiletto. I've had a fish tail hit the ground, but not me. Mind you, it's been a few years since I've actively gone spearing. I'm about to start into it again.

Have I mentioned that I kind of dislike blanket generalization?

There's never ever a good reason to kneel, sit or lie on the bottom. No, not even when spear fishing. At least, not for me. I've got a rep to protect!

I'm definitely no critter expert but I'm guessing they're the same critters we all walk on every time we do a shore dive?

This is my least favorite part of a shore dive because of this. I usually become buoyant ASAP to reduce my impact. However, when I'm on scuba, I take care to avoid sitting, lying, standing or otherwise touching the bottom. I'm not sure why this is such a hard concept to accept or to practice. There is absolutely nothing that can't be done while being neutral and mid water.

 

[Storker]

Have you thought of learning how to aim???

Yeah, some 40 years ago. And then then I learned it. But I'm still not able to hit the head of a sparrow, and given the size of the brain on those critters, that's a relevant comparison. Besides, they're so stupid that they don't understand that they're dead before they've been dead for about five minutes. Also, we don't carry spearguns on scuba over here, and a stun tip doesn't work very well on a sling.

We have almost no coral and even fewer coral reefs, so it's either sand, gravel, rock or kelp. So when I'm out diving, my anchor affects the bottom more than me touching it. And since I don't care so much about appearances as about Doing What Works..

I'll still hold you to that class I suggested, though