Eco-unfriendly Divers

[divinh]

I recently completed my first liveaboard, in Komodo. There were essentially three groups on the trip, a large group of eleven, a group of four and me. The large group of eleven could dive "fine", but were just a terror to dive with and terrible to the environment.

- Whenever a guide would point something out, they would swoop in to photograph and video said subject. Most were using GoPro's, so felt they had to get extremely close, especially for macro creatures. They did not have a macro lens.
- After photographing/videoing, they would hover at the subject to check what they shot without letting someone else have a momentary turn.
- Sometimes after they were done, they would fin right over the subject, either going through the coral or kicking up tons of sand, instead of gently backing away.
- Turtles would be grazing on coral and not mind us approaching very close for photos, but it wasn't enough for them. There was chasing of the turtles to get an action selfie.
- One pair, took out a reef hook and used it to tap on a turtle's shell as the swam away.
- Plenty of touching of critters.
- There were dangling octos and reef hooks, with reef hooks sometimes dragging chunks of coral.
- Time for safety stops generally ignored. They would continue swimming around, then ask us to wait for their safety stop to clear on their dive computers.
- One time, I signaled I was low on air and when we surfaced, one of the other divers wondered why and looked at my SPG. I had 30 bar, after waiting on them, past my safety stop clearing. He indicated that he had 20 bar and unconcerned. I think his idea of diving is to use up all the air in the tank!

I didn't speak their language, so there was no way to politely say anything. I did tell the guides as I observed things, but they kind of shrugged it off. In my comments at the end of the trip, I spoke directly to the lead guide and said that guides should be the ones to enforce some rules.

 

[NAM001]

I recently completed my first liveaboard, in Komodo. There were essentially three groups on the trip, a large group of eleven, a group of four and me. The large group of eleven could dive "fine", but were just a terror to dive with and terrible to the environment.

- Whenever a guide would point something out, they would swoop in to photograph and video said subject. Most were using GoPro's, so felt they had to get extremely close, especially for macro creatures. They did not have a macro lens.
- After photographing/videoing, they would hover at the subject to check what they shot without letting someone else have a momentary turn.
- Sometimes after they were done, they would fin right over the subject, either going through the coral or kicking up tons of sand, instead of gently backing away.
- Turtles would be grazing on coral and not mind us approaching very close for photos, but it wasn't enough for them. There was chasing of the turtles to get an action selfie.
- One pair, took out a reef hook and used it to tap on a turtle's shell as the swam away.
- Plenty of touching of critters.
- There were dangling octos and reef hooks, with reef hooks sometimes dragging chunks of coral.
- Time for safety stops generally ignored. They would continue swimming around, then ask us to wait for their safety stop to clear on their dive computers.
- One time, I signaled I was low on air and when we surfaced, one of the other divers wondered why and looked at my SPG. I had 30 bar, after waiting on them, past my safety stop clearing. He indicated that he had 20 bar and unconcerned. I think his idea of diving is to use up all the air in the tank!

I didn't speak their language, so there was no way to politely say anything. I did tell the guides as I observed things, but they kind of shrugged it off. In my comments at the end of the trip, I spoke directly to the lead guide and said that guides should be the ones to enforce some rules.

Please do not take this personal. Not to justify the behaviors and concerns of either side... I see you are from san fran area. I submit that you may be a bit more sensitive to enviromental issues than others are. Yes the dive habits of others are less than optimal, no question about it, but in reality, not that dangerous to the surroundings. touching for me is a no no. much of what you describe is IMO divers etiquete. You will find that many that dive, do not do so regularly and their skills are not up to par, however YOU want to define par. You do mention that many sit and hover, which are more skills being used than i am accustomed to being around. Some of your comments regarding dangles are well made and are simple to remedy, however to do so means 2 people have to be able to take criticism and accept suggestions. In many aspects diving is much like politics. What one thinks is acceptable is the basis or the end of the world for others. I always try to dive with the understanding that one person is going to go home a better diver. either it is me or my buddy. You may have to accept that you are no more able to fix these divers than san frans powers to be can be when it comes to cleaning up their streets. You may have to be satisfied that although others may not be optimal , you at least can evaluate your own performance and set the better example.

 

[rongoodman]

You sound like someone I'd like to dive with on my next trip. Unfortunately, what you saw happens from time to time. About all you can do is to let the dive masters or captain know and try to stay out of the way while in the water. I've had good luck on various Aggressor boats with the crew trying to correct this type of behavior but ultimately there isn't much they can do beyond not letting the offenders back into the water and that's a pretty drastic step for them to take.

 

[Patoux01]

Sidenote: going on a liveaboard (or any trip abroad actually) is also environmental non-sense. And I'm not buying into the "but there's nothing to see here"

Coming back to your post, I have to say, you just discovered what many "divers" tend to be. Some will realize that they're doing things wrong, others won't.

 

[Kharon]

Why I dive solo. I used to referee soccer (youth USSF and scholastic) and had to quit before I turned to the spectators and said something like "Why don't you just shut the eff up? You don't have a clue". Same with boat diving. Just can't stomach watching that shite anymore. Makes me want to go evil Sea Hunt guy on their regulator hose with a sharp knife.

 

[DogDiver]

You can dive with me any day. Great insight and attitude. Your going to find there are “Strokes” on any and most dive boats. Do your best to polightly educate them then move on.

 

[Dogbowl]

If I had to dive with that group all week, it might turn me off LOBs and maybe even scuba diving forever. It’s unfortunate that I tend to avoid rather than to confront.

I think as North Americans, we tend to have a higher degree of underwater “manners” as compared to many other parts of the world. I think it is the way we were taught how to scuba dive, as well as cultural expectations and norms. Am I generalizing? Yes, but that seems to be the trend from personal experience.

I’m going to Indo soon and am worried this might happen on my LOB as well.

 

[Lorenzoid]

I did tell the guides as I observed things, but they kind of shrugged it off. In my comments at the end of the trip, I spoke directly to the lead guide and said that guides should be the ones to enforce some rules.

That's really all you can do. I like to think I would have done the same.

Anyone who has been diving from liveaboards and resorts for a few years will have stories like yours. THOSE people are inevitable. Fortunately, you will have other trips where those people are absent. Occasionally, there will be trips where everyone seems more or less a safety conscious, ecologically responsible diver.

Recently I was aboard the Nai'a in Fiji, and the cruise directors really emphasized eco-manners in the briefings. They would not have tolerated anyone touching the marine life. I recall thinking that all liveaboards should be like that. At times it got a little extreme for anyone but Californians (just kidding), with the cruise director going to so far as to encourage boycotting of FedEx for shipping shark fins.

 

[Trace Malinowski]

Photographers and videographers have been the bane of dive travel since I was a kid in the 1980's. People who otherwise might be an enjoyable part of a dive trip while having dinner, hanging out, and telling stories seem to turn into scuba paparazzi to get the shot. Before the age of social media and forums like SB, many of us subscribed to a magazine called Undercurrent to get our travel reviews. While the magazine itself might have only focused on a couple destinations each month, the Travelin' Diver's Chapbook you received annually would have destination reviews by non-staff writers -- ordinary divers like yourself. It really helped me choose destinations during my young dive travel days before flying became more like a military entry and processing station than an airport. Anyway, the chief complaint, even back then, seemed to be rude photographers and uncaring dive pros. Now, most of us carry action cams. It's easier to be aware of others mistakes instead of our own. Even if you become aware that you may have kicked something, what do we do? Underwater, it's difficult to announce it to everyone. "Sorry, guys, my bad!" is easy to say above water. Underwater, a diver might think, Oh, crap! I hit the reef. I'd better get higher.

As for air in the tanks, the old-fashioned J-valves used to trigger reserve gas around 300 - 500 psi. That's when a diver would swim back to the surface or the boat prior to the days of the submersible pressure gauge. Due to concerns about gauge pressure discrepancy and locked gas, the dive industry decided that 500 psi is an "empty tank." Some operators enforce this nonsense with Gestapo-like efficiency and charge customers for a mandatory VIP. Others are more relaxed about it and are okay with someone returning to the boat with at least some positive pressure in the cylinders. I once had a diver panic because his tank was empty when his gauge showed a nice healthy 500 psi at the anchor line during a 70 ft. deep recreational dive in California. Mike Nelson would have just headed to the surface sans safety stop if necessary. In this case, the diver lost control of buoyancy in a drysuit and rocketed up from the safety stop dragging me with him on my long hose from 15 feet. I decided to go with it and let him breathe rather than risk the reg coming out of his mouth and the diver maybe holding his breath. Psychologically, he was out of gas. In truth, you are only out of gas when you are out of gas. As you ascend from depth, you might find more gas as decreasing pressure unlocks it. Divers should obey the rules of the operator. If the operator is lax about how much gas to return with you can bet some people are going to push the limits. The more you dive, the easier it is to return with more gas. You're probably bored or just being a safe diver. For those who rarely dive, it's tempting to not leave the beauty of the underwater world. Discipline is a hallmark of a good diver as well as the ability to assess risk. I laugh when 300 psi in a tank is treated like a federal offense. As someone who has worked as a resort dive guide myself, I would rather have divers come back with less than 500 psi having spent it hanging on the line for extra safety stop time. Out of gas. Not good. Low on gas because of too much play time on bottom. Needs improvement. Low on gas because they hung extra minutes beyond a 3 - 5 safety stop. Go ahead suck it down.

Dive pros in resorts survive on tips. They soon become tired of having to fix what the instructors who were paid to teach diving should have fixed. They normally have a more chilled out approach. I encountered one dive shop manager who raced down to the dock to scream at me for having a knife in St. Lucia. They had a no knife policy. On the boat, the divemaster told me to wear it so it wouldn't get lost. He was afraid one of the other divers would knock it overboard on our very small boat. The boat was so small we dressed in the water. I tipped him more for having a clue that I wasn't going to stab the reef creatures. Most operators do a decent job during initial dive briefings of reminding divers to watch their air consumption, watch their fins and stay off the bottom, and to protect the marine life. Others not so much. As was said, it's often cultural by destination.

The most ecologically egregious thing I ever saw was on Hammerhead Reef in the Florida Keys. A well-known former PDIC and NAUI instructor who now runs a pseudo training agency had a group of people on our boat at Lady Cyana Divers. I was underwater with a PADI instructor from Utah. I was PDIC at the time. We just arrived on the bottom and were hovering over it, checking our equipment, when steel 72 scuba tanks began to rain all over the reef like dud WW II era bombs. The divers swam down 40 feet in a show of prowess while wearing horsecollar BC's and donned their cylinders while kneeling on the reef. The PADI instructor buddy of mine was holding his head in shock and disbelief.

 

[scrane]

I will keep an eye out on the dive master in case something unusual comes up, but mostly I will poke around on my own. I have never enjoyed being a part of an underwater cluster.

Although individual acts of carelessness are annoying, the real danger to the underwater environment resides in the national policies promoted by special interest groups.