Leaving our aquatic friends alone.

[Dogbowl]

Funny you should say that...I refuse to go to China for similar reasons and now, I can't go to the Philippines too! Dang! Life sucks!

 

[KDAD]

I don't like to touch stuff and try to maintain a distance unless I need to get in close to see something but then I am careful not to touch anything.

When I dive I am particular about my skills so I use moments when I am close to the reef as a little challenge to myself to not touch anything and being aware of what my body is doing while still getting in close. Adds a little fun and satisfaction to that part of the dive.

 

[Saboteur]

I see your point, but you never know what Pandora's box you might be opening when you risk antagonizing a stranger. It probably won't be a big deal. But if you draw the (bad) winning lottery ticket out of the box of personality disorders, criminals, etc...

My point is, if you're going to confront people, you'd better have the diplomatic skills to handle making the intervention, and deal with the situational awkwardness if they don't change their minds and ways to conform to your views.

Richard.

Agree. If I had some qualifications as a biologist etc. I may something. But as a regular customer just like them I'd express my concern with the owner or manager then on social media as was done and let them know you will not do business with them again. I don't have a lot of dive travel experience but in my two times on Provo it was stated in the briefing it was strictly hands off. Dive ops that have this view get my repeat business.

 

[Kharon]

Just a sidenote. I keep a good distance from everything and make sure on my checkout dive that weighting and trim are perfect so that I can hover upside down and on my back - but sometimes I want to stay in one place to get a pic or some video of something special. Often I've swum just a bit too far and have to circle back.

My current skill practice when diving local is an intensive attempt to get finning backward perfected (I've a long way to go). It will be usefull when I want to get that pic - but also if the need ever arises and I get closer than I would like. I think it's a usefull skill that possibly everyone should develop .

 

[Saltyhawg]

My policy is to not touch anything if possible. On a drift dive I will take one finger to hold my position and will make sure it's a bare piece of rock but only if needed and not for my convenience. On a fairly deep sand flat the larger life forms are pretty spread out and just touching the sand is not that big a deal IMO. Digging in it is another story but even then the invertebrates displaced would only be impacted if a predator was waiting to eat them.

Maybe I missed something on the turtle. I'm sure context would have made it more apparent but that turtle did not look in the least disturbed. They can motor a lot faster than a diver if they want to. That one was fining pretty nonchalantly.

My pet peeve is people touching corals, especially stony corals! The skin of SPS corals especially is very delicate and takes a long time to recover if injured.

 

[Kharon]

Maybe I missed something on the turtle. I'm sure context would have made it more apparent but that turtle did not look in the least disturbed. They can motor a lot faster than a diver if they want to. That one was fining pretty nonchalantly.

I guess you missed the text that said the DM hassled the sleeping turtle till it fled and then herded it back toward the divers. It wanted to get away and was not allowed to follow the path it wanted. Just because it wasn't panicked doesn't mean it wasn't harassed. Just because it wasn't finning as fast as it could doesn't mean it wasn't afraid.

You also missed in my post about the divers joking on the boat after dive that dug up the blenny/gobie (I often can't tell the difference) laughing that it got eaten before it could re-dig it's burrow. If that's not effing harassment I don't know what is.

My policy is to observe with as little interaction as possible - to fit in as well as I can - to be as non-threatening as I can be. That has brought rewards in seeing natural interactions and even occasionally having a remora attach itself to me.

 

[TMHeimer]

Kharon, I agree with your post for sure. But I don't want anything attaching itself to ME--Reverse harassment! Long time ago a lobster shot up and hit me in the leg. I didn't even know he was there, as I was 5-10' off the bottom. Scared the sh!t outta me. Wanted to kick his a$$.

 

[M.M.M.]

I don't post here often but can't resist this time. The video was bad. The vis was bad. The divers were bad. But for every day of diving at CCV when the visibility is really bad, there are days when the visibility is excellent. Many days. The portion that showed the "Famous Front Yard" was horrible - it is probably where the largest concentration of divers are. But ironically it is not always the divers or the weather that causes the visibility to be bad at the Prince Albert. I've seen it go from clear to 20' vis in minutes when rays were feeding there - although the video doesn't look like that was the case. It does tend to get murky there.

However, the Chasing of the Turtle: the video implies it was the DM who chased the turtle. The person shown on the video who does seem to be "herding" a turtle is not a CCV DM, unless they have all started wearing skins in the month since I was there. And I have been there every month in the year (different years obviously) and regardless of conditions, have never seen a CCV DM in anything but a rash guard and dive shorts. I've been there a lot, I know every DM. And I don't believe that was one.

Don't know the person who posted the video, but it looked like someone was trying to highlight the very worst of CCV - and succeeded. I don't believe it is a fair representation of what diving is really like there.

 

[Rob Bibber]

The behaviors described by the OP did not seem to be harmful at all. It was a wreck site, not a sensitive coral reef or marine sanctuary. Marine life is generally very resilient. I guarantee you the starfish suffered no ill effects.

Maybe I have a different perspective because of my years as a commercial lobsterman in Maine but I think the OP is being very over-sensitive.

 

[TMHeimer]

The behaviors described by the OP did not seem to be harmful at all. It was a wreck site, not a sensitive coral reef or marine sanctuary. Marine life is generally very resilient. I guarantee you the starfish suffered no ill effects.

Maybe I have a different perspective because of my years as a commercial lobsterman in Maine but I think the OP is being very over-sensitive.

Apparently some divers needlessly abuse marine life. Some go to the other extreme and would tar & feather you for touching anything. In all my experiences diving and assisting classes in Nova Scotia I almost never witnessed a diver/instructor talk about "take only pictures...." But I'm sure it is a much bigger issue in the tropics where there are so many more divers visiting the same attractive sites.
Here in NS there was one woman who was shocked that I collected a live Moon Snail, and a guy who admonished me for carrying my poke spear for flounders because "They are my friends". But that's all I recall in 12 years here. A large % of times I am the only diver at a site.