Diver assaults another diver underwater

[EdwardHall]

Totally off topic as it's not in Hawaii, but in my state of FL Here they are.

Recreational Harvest of Marine Life (Aquarium) Species


I also have a permit to collect Lion Fish in the SPA's in the Keys.

 

[shoredivr]

Save the whale types who routinely cause (near) accidents with whaling ships in open seas.

It plays well in the controversy-hungry media but does nothing to save whales. It's kind of akin to bringing attention to your cause by self-immolation.

R..

Then there's this:
Japan agrees to call off Antarctic whale hunt after UN court judgement | South China Morning Post

2003 study of aquarium species in Hawaii:
http://www.hoikecurriculum.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/marine_unit5_activity2_appendix.pdf

Aquarium trade:
http://carnuk.org/library/Grey Literature/Wood 2001.pdf

 

[scubadada]

I don't think anyone has first hand knowledge about what happened here but that has not prevented them from fabricating explanations supporting polar opposite views concerning what transpired. This is not a high point in SB discussion. People appear to have alligned according to their own beliefs, duh.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I don't think anyone has first hand knowledge about what happened here but that has not prevented them from fabricating explantions supporting polar opposite views concerning what transpired. This is not a high point in SB discussion. People appear to have alligned according to their own beliefs, duh.

Having been a participant in a controversial incident about a year and a half ago I can assure you that people will not only align according to their beliefs ... but they''ll fabricate what they believe must have happened, and put it out there forcefully and repeatedly as though it were fact ... despite that they were thousands of miles distant at the time. Most of what gets posted ... as I'm certain is the case this time ... bears little to no resemblance to what actually happened.

Welcome to the internet ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Dr. Lecter]

On another topic.... What is the legality of the fish collecting? Is "illegal" fish collecting a big problem in Hawaii?

R..

Within certain rules/regs/protected areas, collecting is legal here. I imagine damaging coral during collecting is no more or less legal than damaging coral as part of conducting any other business (which is to say I have no idea whether it's legal to smash reef where this happened, but I suspect it's not).

Whether it's a problem depends on who you ask. As far as I'm concerned, assuming collectors are following the rules re: what methods are/are not allowed...they can only snag so many of the things in a lifetime before they get lost at sea, dead/seriously bent being sloppy/dumb/cheap as Hell on CC, and/or dead/seriously bent being sloppy/dumb/cheap on OC. And while most of them have the kind of deep local knowledge you'd expect from someone who's spent decades and decades on the same spot of ocean, they tend not to be particuarly smart/good boaters or divers. Natural selection's a bitch.

There's not much room for debate that the state's decision to introduce Roi here to give the natives something else to fish for is exponetially more harmful to reef fish stocks. But that may just make the case for tighter restrictions on fish collecting seeing as how there's no killing all the Roi now (as much as we try).

 

[Trace Malinowski]

Speculation, devil's advocacy, opinions, tangents ... sounds like social media. The problem is we can't actually get facts to be better informed at speculating, playing devil's advocate, or giving better informed opinions because journalists speculate, play devil's advocate, render ill-informed opinions and go off on tangents while airing the speculation and opinions of their viewers.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Within certain rules/regs/protected areas, collecting is legal here. I imagine damaging coral during collecting is no more or less legal than damaging coral as part of conducting any other business (which is to say I have no idea whether it's legal to smash reef where this happened, but I suspect it's not).

Several years back I was on a dive trip in Maui, and the dive guides thought nothing of damaging corals. I watched, mortified, as one dive guide pushed over a coral head in order to capture a small octopus for one of his young charges to hold. In relating that story over the years, I've gotten the impression that's just how they do things there ... I wouldn't know personally, I haven't been back to Hawaii since.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Dr. Lecter]

Several years back I was on a dive trip in Maui, and the dive guides thought nothing of damaging corals. I watched, mortified, as one dive guide pushed over a coral head in order to capture a small octopus for one of his young charges to hold. In relating that story over the years, I've gotten the impression that's just how they do things there ... I wouldn't know personally, I haven't been back to Hawaii since.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Octopus show and handle is part and parcel of most DM's "acts" here, I think (see, e.g., my avatar pic, where I took a tako someone pulled out of its hole for a nice 5 minute tour). However, I've never seen anyone go into coral after one, as opposed to holes in the bottom, wrecks, etc. The operators on Oahu I know wouldn't put up with their DMs touching coral.

 

[Diver0001]

I don't think anyone has first hand knowledge about what happened here but that has not prevented them from fabricating explanations supporting polar opposite views concerning what transpired. This is not a high point in SB discussion. People appear to have alligned according to their own beliefs, duh.

It happens. It's not clear from just the video what was really going on so people start to spin theories, some more entertaining than others. The truth still remains the truth but we have to collectively admit that we have no idea whatsoever what the truth is.

Personally, I'm still following this thread because I hope to hear an update of the facts... and a little bit because of Trace's storytelling.

R..

 

[scagrotto]

It does seem strange that a diver with 10,000 dives would take so long to get a regulator back in her mouth though.

People who have just been assaulted don't always react in a calm and rational manner. Assuming it happened as she described it (and nobody has presented evidence to the contrary), it's entirely likely that she'd be a bit on edge and not react the same way she would have if a diver accidentally kicked her mask or reg. It's also possible that it felt longer than it really was.

I know Mitch personally. I truly hope he was misquoted

Maybe you could call, ask, and report back. He should have good reliable info, but based on Google it sounds to me like he was quoted correctly on what I think are somewhat flaky laws:

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Hawaii Revised Statutes
section 707-712
(1) A person commits the offense of assault in the third degree if the person:
(a) Intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly causes bodily injury to another person; or
(b) Negligently causes bodily injury to another person with a dangerous instrument.

section 707-714
1) A person commits the offense of reckless endangering in the second degree if the person:
(a) Engages in conduct that recklessly places another person in danger of death or serious bodily injury; or
(b) Intentionally discharges a firearm in a populated area <snip>
(2) Reckless endangering in the second degree is a misdemeanor.

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