I do a good bit of hiking in forests, and I often think about the parallels with diving. Maybe a rule of thumb is that if you wouldn't do it in a national or state park/forest, don't do it in the ocean. There are such things as marine protected areas (MPAs)/parks. Not all of the ocean is a marine protected park, but it wouldn't hurt if divers were to treat areas frequented by divers with similar care expected in marine parks. Protected forests usually have marked trails, with instructions to stay on the marked trails so as localize the damage, however minor it may be, caused by each visitor's footsteps. That isn't feasible in the ocean. However, digging stuff up is discouraged, if not illegal. In backcountry campsites, you're asked to be careful to limit what you disturb. I keep these thoughts with me when I dive.