Puffer Fish Squeezing

[kelly7552]

Hi!

About a year ago, while on a night dive in Molokini on Maui, my son (13) and I were put in a small group with an older man, his daughter (late 20's) and a dive master. I attempted to talk to these people but they were generally unfriendly. It was my first night dive and I was focused on lots of things.

When we decended we hung together as a group pretty well, the DM was leading us. I was next to this guy, who tapped on his tank for his daughters attention, then he attacked a Puffer fish with both hands. He caused the puffer to expand to the size of a basketball.

The divemaster then saw the fish, but not the incident that caused the puffer to expand, and we all looked at fish. I was pretty horrified. This is Molokini, a preserve and people are supposed to respect the environment.

When we returned to the boat, I was pissed, but I didn't know what to say, so I didn't say anything. The people who ran the operation were one of the best in Hawaii, I wrote to the company about the incident and got an email back from the owner saying he'd discuss it with the people on the boat.

Am I overreacting? Any suggestions for what I should do if it happens again?

Bill Kelly

 

[undefined]

I recently watched a video a friend of mine had from a dive op in Thailand. In the video they were "riding" a whale shark at one point, and tormenting a massive ray at another. I was appaulled, having been taught to look but not touch.

Perhaps I am overreacting as well, but it seems to me that when we are visiting another ecosystem we should be respectful of the natural inhabitants of said ecosystem.

 

[tstormdiver]

I most usually leave the animals alone. The only exception to this was the time I lightly touched a sea turtle's shell as it swam underneath me. I did not scare it or hinder it an any way and it went on it's way & I don't even think it really noticed I was there. Like you, I enjoy watching the animals doing their thing without any interference. They should be left alone & enjoyed in a natural state. To be honest, one of the reasons I don't touch anything is I'm afraid of being bitten, stuck, stung or oterwise injured by the critter(s). Other than a few nibbles on the ears, the fresh water critters I normally see when diving are quite harmless. For a lot of sea animals, I don't know, so I assume they are dangerous. I feel you get to see a lot more when you are an observer, not a participant.

 

[Guba]

It's amazing how some people behave in the ocean. That point got pressed home last summer on a trip to Cozumel. One diver, upon learning I had a video camera with me, "attached" himself to me and my partner (like a ramora to a shark, I think). The bad thing was he evidently intended to "star" in my movie. The guy harassed a flounder I was trying to tape, yanked on a "sleeping" nurse shark's tail, and even pushed a feeding turtle off its location to get it to move. In each case, I stopped filming and let the current carry me away. I was making the video to show to students back home, and the LAST thing I wanted to do was show someone all over the local sealife.
Back on the boat, the guy asked, "Where'd you go? I was going to ride that turtle and give you a REAL show!"
Some folks just don't get it. Incidental touching isn't a sin, but harassing the wildlife goes against common sense. By the way, it also rankles the ones your'e diving with. Others would like to have at least seen that turtle, but it left after the guy's shoving. Same with the other critters. It's just insensitive all the way around.

 

[Diving Doc]

Sadly, this is an all too comment event. Ive seen people riding turtles, trying to pry morays out of holes and even trying to catch an oceanic white tip by its tail (good move eh!).

All you can do is mention it too the dive centre and hope they do something about it.

The shark one I caught on camera and showd the LDS, who said they would take action. Dont know if they did though

 

[RedWingDiver]

I don't think there's any overreaction here. It's amazing to think people have so little respect and ignorance to harass marine life like that. If anything, you would think they would realize that whatever they do could come back right on them in the form of a defensive attack.

 

[drbill]

In the case you mention, it should be obvious that the fish was quite stressed by the inapproriate interaction. The DM should have guessed there had been some interaction that triggered the inflation. I don't know the species in Hawaii (never dived there... yet) but I assume you are referring to a balloonfish or porcupine fish rather than a true puffer (whose skin can be toxic... come to think of it, so can that of the other two species).

While diving in the Sea of Cortez a few years ago, I encountered a porcupine fish that was fully inflated as I rounded the corner of a rocky reef. There were no other divers in the area so it is most likely that it was threatened by a predatory fish before I arrived. I was able to film it as it deflated.

As for touching turtles, this is something we never allow. I've had a number of video sequences spoiled by divers who felt they didn't need to abide by our rules on the eco cruise ships and actively sought out and touched hawksbill turtles. We were very firm on that and told the divers that if it happened again, they wouldn't be diving with us any more.

Generally it is wise advice to not touch the critters underwater. Here in temperate SoCal, there are species that can take handling without being stressed out by it (I say this in my professional capacity as an invertebrate psychologist). Fish generally do not fall into this category... their brains can sense potential danger much better than a sea urchin's.

Although I will move critters to get better camera angles, I always try to do so with minimal impact and only with species that are not threatened by this. Far better to adjust my position whenever possible.

However, there are critters which seem to solicit contact. For example, I spent 2-3 weeks revisiting a giant kelpfish's nest and filmed it as it mated with a series of ladies (why can't I be so lucky... at least with one?) and then spent the rest of the time defending the eggs. He got very accustomed to my presence and would frequently swim over to me if I remained close to the nest. In fact, he would settle into my partially cupped hand and rub his body against my glove and wetsuit. This happened over a period of many dives during which I took great care to be as cautious as I could about moving too quickly or otherwise behaving in a manner that might frighten the fish.

I've also had giant sea bass swim in alongside me and hover right next to me. Usually I just film them, but have on occasion touched them. Almost all the fish which have done that appear to be female (based on their behavior). I've mentioned elsewhere that male giant sea bass seem to avoid or threaten me and swim over to my female dive buddy if I'm diving with one. I swear they can sense our gender-specific pheromones.

Another case that I really didn't expect was a 40-ton gray whale cow. I serve as a naturalist on boats that do some whale watching in Magdalena Bay (Baja California's outer coast) using Zodiacs. I was determined never to touch a whale while on these trips.

Then I met this one who actively solicited human contact. The first day we encountered her, we remained close until our mandatory time limit. When we backed off the whale, she came "after us" and partially lifted the Zodiac out of the water and "towed" it back to where she had been. She did this repeatedly. The next day she found us and approached for several more close encounters of the best kind. I rubbed her belly several times when she came to the boat upside down at the surface. Her skin felt like that of one of my former girlfriends... or a hard boiled egg.

So my advice is to let the critter determine the nature of the interaction. If they actively solicit contact, then it might be appropriate. Otherwise, leave them alone.

 

[Lehmann108]

It's absolute b*ll*****. There are people out there that think wild animals are here for our amusement. It's a difficult situation, but calling the guy on it right there would probably start a fight. If the guy was stupid enough to harass a fish for his entertainment, he's not going to listen to you criticize him. Some people just don't get it regarding wildlife. I think you did the right thing by contacting the charter company:shakehead

 

[Gary D.]

It would have been nice if you could have grabbed and squeezed his pair of Puffer Fish and see how big they puffed up. People just don’t realize how much stress that puts on the little guys.

Gary D.

 

[fisherdvm]

A divemaster in Cancun showed us how to "puff up" the porcupine fish. So I caught one and did it later. Yes, I do feel a little guilty. The little fellow was not squeeze very tight, but was juggled gently a bit... Kinda like when you hold a baby. It swam away just fine...

But it did disturb me that a couple of young divers were hugging and annoying a large tame grouper off grand turk...

I guess I was guilty, and am now admitting it. But curiousity got the best of me.