How to deal with the “coral breaker”?

[Grateful head]

I have seen this several times but the most recent was four weeks ago while diving in Cozumel.

Older gentleman, nice and friendly guy on the boat. He had a new Go-Pro camera and had to get every single shot that he could no matter the cost to the coral. I noticed this on his second dive on day one, I never said anything. On our first dive on day two, (I was watching him a bit more now) he was constantly grabbing huge chunks of coral to “get the shot”. Strong current in Cozumel so he needs to stop and grab something to get his picture. Upon grabbing the coral with his hand, he is also finning and breaking coral with his legs and fins. I swim over to him and motion to him to come up off the bottom, he does not. On the surface interval, I am contemplating saying something to him, politely. My wife talks me out of this and says it’s the dive masters job to watch out for this kinda thing.

Second dive, same day, it’s more of the same except this time he breaks a massive barrel sponge. At this point I’m pretty pissed and I swim over to the guy again and more directly tell him to get off the coral. I then swim over to the dive master and communicate to him what the guy is doing. The dive master keeps his eye on him for five minutes, but of course, now the guy doesn’t touch the coral.
So how would others deal with this situation? I am not the police of the ocean and I know everyone at some point in their diving experience has maybe touched or broke a piece of coral. Pretty sure I did on accident but I have always strongly been aware of the coral and how fragile it is. I will also add that the dive master did repeatedly say during his pre-dive briefing, not to touch the coral, stay three feet off the bottom. This guy in my opinion has blatant disregard for wildlife and I am quite sure just in the four dives I did with him, he broke a dozen or more pieces of coral. Thoughts?

 

[lexvil]

BFK, one hand width down from the arm pit. Or just accept there are plenty like him out there, if the dive guides won’t deal with it don’t use them anymore, the guy will still be breaking stuff but you won’t have to see it.

 

[Zef]

I have seen this several times but the most recent was four weeks ago while diving in Cozumel.

Older gentleman, nice and friendly guy on the boat. He had a new Go-Pro camera and had to get every single shot that he could no matter the cost to the coral. I noticed this on his second dive on day one, I never said anything. On our first dive on day two, (I was watching him a bit more now) he was constantly grabbing huge chunks of coral to “get the shot”. Strong current in Cozumel so he needs to stop and grab something to get his picture. Upon grabbing the coral with his hand, he is also finning and breaking coral with his legs and fins. I swim over to him and motion to him to come up off the bottom, he does not. On the surface interval, I am contemplating saying something to him, politely. My wife talks me out of this and says it’s the dive masters job to watch out for this kinda thing.

Second dive, same day, it’s more of the same except this time he breaks a massive barrel sponge. At this point I’m pretty pissed and I swim over to the guy again and more directly tell him to get off the coral. I then swim over to the dive master and communicate to him what the guy is doing. The dive master keeps his eye on him for five minutes, but of course, now the guy doesn’t touch the coral.
So how would others deal with this situation? I am not the police of the ocean and I know everyone at some point in their diving experience has maybe touched or broke a piece of coral. Pretty sure I did on accident but I have always strongly been aware of the coral and how fragile it is. I will also add that the dive master did repeatedly say during his pre-dive briefing, not to touch the coral, stay three feet off the bottom. This guy in my opinion has blatant disregard for wildlife and I am quite sure just in the four dives I did with him, he broke a dozen or more pieces of coral. Thoughts?

Here are possible solutions:

1. Video/photograph the guy in action and have a private discussion with him about the issue/concern and show him your video/pictures.

2. Have a private discussion with the dive master, boat captain, organizer, shop owner, etc. to let them know of the issue and your concern, and let them handle it.

3. Sureptitiously obtain the guy's camera and throw it overboard never to be seen again. This should reduce the amount of taskloading he is experiencing and will hopefully improve his diving.

4. Ask to see his camera and then feign a stumble to cover tossing it overboard never to be seen again. This shouldl reduce the amount of taskloading he is experiencing and will hopefully improve his diving.

5. Dive with blinders or in a different area/direction than the guy. I don't condone touching/breaking coral but unfortunately there are a lot of boobs out there that despite their training and knowing better will still dive in a reckless manner either inadvertently or for personal gains such as getting the photograph....this is not specifically a new or taskloaded diver issue as I have many times seen folks who have lots of experience with big fancy camera rigs grab onto whatever they decide to so that they can get the shots they want. Unfortunately, unless you plan to play the role of "Ocean Police", you are better off creating situations for yourself where you are unaware of the damage/destruction that those boobs out there are doing.

AND yes I know that recommendation #5 does not fix the "problem", and it still leaves behind a path of destruction that affects the greater diving community, but one has to decide for themself what windmills one is going to tilt at and there are lots of things before and after one splashes that affect the health of the reefs and the oceans....one could argue that our very presence diving around a reef is somewhat invasive and destructive....some of that destruction is not visible otherwise apparent during an actual dive. Is some destruction more acceptable than others? Is some less acceptable because it is more immediately apparent? One has to evaluate this, do some personal rational calculus and decide for themself what is acceptable.

-Z

 

[Grateful head]

BFK, one hand width down from the arm pit. Or just accept there are plenty like him out there, if the dive guides won’t deal with it don’t use them anymore, the guy will still be breaking stuff but you won’t have to see it.

BFK?

 

[lexvil]

BFK?

Big F’ Knife

 

[Grateful head]

Here are possible solutions:

1. Video/photograph the guy in action and have a private discussion with him about the issue/concern and show him your video/pictures.

2. Have a private discussion with the dive master, boat captain, organizer, shop owner, etc. to let them know of the issue and your concern, and let them handle it.

3. Sureptitiously obtain the guy's camera and throw it overboard never to be seen again. This should reduce the amount of taskloading he is experiencing and will hopefully improve his diving.

4. Ask to see his camera and then feign a stumble to cover tossing it overboard never to be seen again. This shouldl reduce the amount of taskloading he is experiencing and will hopefully improve his diving.

5. Dive with blinders or in a different area/direction than the guy. I don't condone touching/breaking coral but unfortunately there are a lot of boobs out there that despite their training and knowing better will still dive in a reckless manner either inadvertently or for personal gains such as getting the photograph....this is not specifically a new or taskloaded diver issue as I have many times seen folks who have lots of experience with big fancy camera rigs grab onto whatever they decide to so that they can get the shots they want. In fact in one of the clubs I was in, one of the shutter-bugs published a book of his photos from a trip we were on and offered it for sale to club members....despite the pictures being excellent, we declined to purchase the book because we knew first hand of the destruction the guy caused to get those beautiful shots. Unfortunately, unless you plan to play the role of "Ocean Police" then you are better off creating situations for yourself where you are unaware of the damage/destruction that those boobs out there are doing.

AND yes I know that recommendation #5 does not fix the "problem", and it still leaves behind a path of destruction that affects the greater diving community, but one has to decide for themself what windmills one is going to tilt at and there are lots of things before and after one splashes that affect the health of the reefs and the oceans....one could argue that our very presence diving around a reef is somewhat invasive and destructive....some of that destruction is not visible otherwise apparent during an actual dive. Is some destruction more acceptable than others? Is some less acceptable because it is more immediately apparent? One has to evaluate this, do some personal rational calculus and decide for themself what is acceptable.

-Z

Good thoughts, I like number four.
Wouldn’t negative peer pressure correlate to saved coral? If I could just save one piece of coral……

 

[Grateful head]

Big F’ Knife

That’s a good one.

 

[overthinking_diver]

Please, don't throw poor guy's camera overboard. Then, 1) you are littering and 2) he'll just get a new one 3) you'll be the bad guy in the story.

Oh, I don't think I need to say this, but please don't start an underwater knife fight with him either

If you want to actually change his behavior you'll have to have a pretty uncomfortable conversation. The hard but crucial part is avoiding triggering the fight or flight response in him. So if you start with "WTF, dude you're breaking all the coral" or "your buoyancy sucks, you need to improve it" you've lost already.

You need to determine the root case. Does he a) not know he's doing it because he's a new diver and lacks awareness or b) knows but doesn't care.

If a) you need to make him aware without making him feel ashamed. Mention that you've done it too (like you did in the OP). Maybe give him buoyancy tips.

If b) You can tell him how long it takes for corals to grow, how if he keeps breaking them, there won't be any cool dive sites soon. Suggest ways for him to take pictures in a safer way. I'm not a photographer so I don't know how people do it in current. One total guess is using a reef hook. Would that be a good idea?

Don't make him feel like the bad guy, empathize with him, figure out why he's doing it and find a way to get him to get what he wants without breaking all the coral for the rest of us.

Good luck! If you can make him actually change his behavior the impact is a lot bigger than just him. Think of all other people in the future who'll see him and think what he's doing is ok.

 

[Billg68bg]

Some people just have a reckless disregard for things. I’m an outdoorsman ( dive, , snorkel, hike, hunt,fish, dive, kayak/canoe) and it pisses me off, in many environments, how people just don’t give a damn.
New, seasoned or whatever, this guy certainly doesn’t sound like he was acting out of lack of knowledge. No bad interaction diving yet, though I am early in my newer hobby.

I’ve tried the subtle approach. Usually, either because they aren’t thinking or they are now embarrassed, they correct the behavior. But a few times it will end up with the “triggering hostility” approach.

 

[NDonahue]

I am not the police of the ocean … Thoughts?

You may not like it, but you have your answer.

Lead by example in how you dive. Vote with your dollars and tell the operator you won’t support outfits who don’t invest in protecting the environment (e.g., smaller groups, lower ratio of divers to guides, stronger punishments, etc).

If you can afford it, pay more money to support higher quality operators