The Chairman
Chairman of the Board
It won't be coral long without zooxanthellae, now would it? I see it as being both.Sorry for nitpicking, but the point was just on fauna: coral is fauna, not flora.
Back to the topic, so why all the angst about how others dive or what they wear? I've been criticized for being "too trim" by a few. As much as I enjoy looking at fish, coral, fossils or whatever, I get a lot of satisfaction out of my trim and depth control. I can swim an inch off the bottom, look under ledges and still not disturb a thing. It's not a smug thing, though I've been accused of simply showing off. My guess is that they can't do it, so it's a bit of jealousy. Meh. I can assure you that I'm not diving for anyone but me.
I've also been criticized for my tie-dyed shirts. It's not to stand out in a sea of black, but rather an attempt to blend in with the happy fish. Jewfish turn jet black just before they feed, so small fish often run away from divers dressed in all black. Can you blame them? None of them seem to be afraid of colorful parrotfish, so I dress appropriately. I go slow, steady and get to find all sorts of critters that the fast divers in black seem to miss. Most importantly, I have fun.
As for Cold Water Barbarians making better divers, well I don't buy that. We had a lady die in the Keys because she didn't make the proper adjustments. She was out of the Great Lakes where she wore a drysuit and an AL tank. She changed her drysuit for a bikini, the shop used steel tanks but she kept the same weight. The shop tried to get her to shed some weight but she was a Cold Water Barbarian and thus was a better diver than they were, so she knew best. I don't know why she didn't strip her weights but I guess she panicked... and died. So sad. Oh? It can't happen to you? I bet she thought the very same thing. Different environments have different requirements. The locals just might know something you don't.