I doubt it hank. but now what does teh conch have to do with the extra hour on its hands. Just kidding. Most peole dont think about what they transfer to the creatures when they touch them. In your example you may not have transfered anything harmful to the creature as you touched the shell. However many people dont think of the sun screens and chemicals they put on themselves and then transfer to the creatures. Our gear and our selves are loaded with silicones, detergents and synthetics that to us are harmless but may not be to the underwater residents. I dont know what is a problem to creatures and therefore generally take the no touch position. I tend to enjoy the environment as it is. If some dolphin wants to approach and play touchy then that may be the way it is. I see my self as the foreigner in the water and wait to be asked to play.
Observing versus touching
- Thread starter ange2014
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IceCreamPirate
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I feel the same way...I did my first 80 dives in an MPA and we weren't even allowed to wear gloves (an extra measure to discourage touching). One of my classmates disregarded this rule and liked to brag about how the ocean was like a "petting zoo." It is a huge pet peeve of mine and it makes me uncomfortable but I'm not really assertive enough to speak up to dive buddies so I just personally refrain from harassing the wildlife.
This lady promotes responsible touching: TOUCH THE SEA®, Dee Scarr's Site
Goodtime Adventures
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I feel very strongly that marine life should never be touched or manipulated. Its their natural environment after all, not ours. Personally whenever I see or hear of divers touching/prodding/poking/riding sea creatures, it makes me want to track them down and punch them in the face.
How to deal with it with your buddy may not be easy though its definitely worth a conversation, especially if its something you feel strongly about.
How to deal with it with your buddy may not be easy though its definitely worth a conversation, especially if its something you feel strongly about.
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Never is a word I try to avoid, particularly when it comes to something as situational as scuba diving. In a typical tourist setting such as where you live, I'd tend to agree that it shouldn't happen. But the world's a big place, and the circumstances we dive in tend to create different rules of acceptable behavior, depending on where and why we dive.
I take it that you don't eat seafood? After all, you'd have to remove it from its natural environment in order to do so.
I've found in my lifetime that punching someone in the face rarely resolves anything ... or convinces them to change their behavior. Usually it just results in a fight, which doesn't seem to be an appropriate way to handle this particular situation.
It's actually pretty straightforward. If you and your buddy can't arrive at a compatible resolution that is within both yours and his comfort zones, you find a different buddy. Doing otherwise results in a stress situation ... and underwater, stress is not your friend.
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
Hickdive
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The Law of the Buffet applies to everything underwater.
Do not touch anything you're not going to eat.
Do not touch anything you're not going to eat.
Hank49
Contributor
Thanks for the kind reply. Now I feel guilty. I was making an attempt at humour because I am NOT a "don't touch anything" type of diver. I free dive spearfish a lot and lay on the bottom hiding in holes and behind corals. I do touch things. And I do love conch ceviche.
Honestly, thanks for the very nice post.
---------- Post added June 24th, 2014 at 08:36 AM ----------
This rational for not touching is where I strongly disagree. We are animals who figured out how to gather food under water with projectiles. Who knows? Maybe we were marine mammals at one point. I believe we have as much right to be there as any other animal.
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... as Emo Phillips once put it "I used to be a good swimmer, but then ... you know ... evolution" ...
I don't see it as a matter of "right" so much as a matter of "harm" ... or to put it more accurately, do no harm. I think like a lot of things involving scuba diving activities, rules of thumb somehow morphed in a lot of people's minds into absolute laws without any real thought given to why they existed in the first place.
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
DaleC
Contributor
It may not be your natural environment but I consider it mine. Animals in a natural setting touch each other all the time. Ling Cod lay on top of cucumbers, starfish huddle together, shrimp crawl on top of crabs... The only problem is when divers become tourists and congregate on the same place, day after day, putting unnatural pressure on one area or members of a species.
Oh, I see you are part of the problem of congregating divers on one area day after day. Silly bunt.
BTW, funny way to look at life. Don't touch anything underwater ever - punch someone in the face. Too bad your "sense of respect" is conditional on behavior.
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