erparamedic
Vampire Girl......er Dork
Divin'Hoosier:
Yup.... them folks be re' necks! LOL
Puffer Fish Squeezing
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Yup.... them folks be re' necks! LOL
erparamedic
Vampire Girl......er Dork
This is "sorta" on topic, and "sorta" off topic...
I was at work, and I was showing my recent dive trip pics to a friend at work. She mentioned how she would love to learn to dive... so I began to tell her how she could get into it... what dive shop to use, etc...
Then she saw the turtle pics and said... "Did you touch it?"
I replied, "No, you should NEVER (intentionally) touch anything underwater... it's not respectful of them or their environment. It could also have deadly ramifications for the fish, coral, (etc.) or even for you in some instances."
She replies... "Oh, well, I would just have to pet the turtle, it's so cute! And I'd have to touch those sponges... I'm so touchy feely! I got in trouble at Sea World cause I leaned over the whale tank to give the whale a hug!"
I said... "Maybe diving isn't for you." Then I told her how expensive of a sport it is, which somewhat turned her off to it! I mean... good grief... sounds like she would wind up being a Darwin candidate! LOL We don't need anymore people to go and molest the marine life and destroy habitats.
I was at work, and I was showing my recent dive trip pics to a friend at work. She mentioned how she would love to learn to dive... so I began to tell her how she could get into it... what dive shop to use, etc...
Then she saw the turtle pics and said... "Did you touch it?"
I replied, "No, you should NEVER (intentionally) touch anything underwater... it's not respectful of them or their environment. It could also have deadly ramifications for the fish, coral, (etc.) or even for you in some instances."
She replies... "Oh, well, I would just have to pet the turtle, it's so cute! And I'd have to touch those sponges... I'm so touchy feely! I got in trouble at Sea World cause I leaned over the whale tank to give the whale a hug!"
I said... "Maybe diving isn't for you." Then I told her how expensive of a sport it is, which somewhat turned her off to it! I mean... good grief... sounds like she would wind up being a Darwin candidate! LOL We don't need anymore people to go and molest the marine life and destroy habitats.
Gee, erparamedic... she can dive with me 'cause I'm tired of having to "touch myself" (oops, where is my copy of the TOS?)
Lonefox
Contributor
Those Jellyfish just look so squishy, how about giving one of them a hug.
Seriously I think I may find myself unable to keep my mouth shut if I saw someone ill treating marine animals. Most scaled fish have a mucous membrane, which protects them from infection, touching and handling them can damage this leaving them vulnerable. Puffers are not scaled fish, however they also have mucous membrane, and are actually more prone to infection if it's damaged than scaled fish.
I have in the past kept (Captive bred) puffers in an aquarium, and found them to be inquisitive and intellegent creatures, and a tad psychotic. I've never seen them inflate and nor would I want to, puffers deliberately inflated underwater not only suffer damage to mucous membrane from handling, but can die later from the stress of this "Defensive Action". In cases where Puffers are hauled out of the water by snorkellers or divers and inflate themselves with air rather than water, the implications for the puffer can be catastrophic. "Burping" a puffer that has ingested air has varying degrees of success dependent upon the species. In the domestic environment, aquarium puffers should be treated with utmost care, they are sensitive to changes in their environment, transferring them from one tank to another has to be done very gently, and with containers rather than nets. The shock of being manhandled can result in them becoming ill and dying weeks after the handling.
I saw a video on u-tube of a moray eel being harrassed and driven from it's hole by what I assume to be a guide, the eel seemed to be intent on returning to it's hole, only to be prodded again and again until it had swum around the heads of the tour group. If you see this kind of behavior speaking out is the only way to get people to stop doing it. Telling a dive guide how disgusted you are is going to result in embarrassment on the part of the guide, and reflection of conscience by those observing.
These cowboys are showing off macho stunts for their own egos at the expense of the creatures in who's environment they are merely guests, and in so doing they are encouraging the tourists who pay them that it's alright for them to do it too.
Unless the animal demonstrates a curiosity and wants to play, be satisfied with observing it in it's natural environment.
Seriously I think I may find myself unable to keep my mouth shut if I saw someone ill treating marine animals. Most scaled fish have a mucous membrane, which protects them from infection, touching and handling them can damage this leaving them vulnerable. Puffers are not scaled fish, however they also have mucous membrane, and are actually more prone to infection if it's damaged than scaled fish.
I have in the past kept (Captive bred) puffers in an aquarium, and found them to be inquisitive and intellegent creatures, and a tad psychotic. I've never seen them inflate and nor would I want to, puffers deliberately inflated underwater not only suffer damage to mucous membrane from handling, but can die later from the stress of this "Defensive Action". In cases where Puffers are hauled out of the water by snorkellers or divers and inflate themselves with air rather than water, the implications for the puffer can be catastrophic. "Burping" a puffer that has ingested air has varying degrees of success dependent upon the species. In the domestic environment, aquarium puffers should be treated with utmost care, they are sensitive to changes in their environment, transferring them from one tank to another has to be done very gently, and with containers rather than nets. The shock of being manhandled can result in them becoming ill and dying weeks after the handling.
I saw a video on u-tube of a moray eel being harrassed and driven from it's hole by what I assume to be a guide, the eel seemed to be intent on returning to it's hole, only to be prodded again and again until it had swum around the heads of the tour group. If you see this kind of behavior speaking out is the only way to get people to stop doing it. Telling a dive guide how disgusted you are is going to result in embarrassment on the part of the guide, and reflection of conscience by those observing.
These cowboys are showing off macho stunts for their own egos at the expense of the creatures in who's environment they are merely guests, and in so doing they are encouraging the tourists who pay them that it's alright for them to do it too.
Unless the animal demonstrates a curiosity and wants to play, be satisfied with observing it in it's natural environment.
Diver Dennis
Contributor
Works in Jellyfish Lake...
erparamedic
Vampire Girl......er Dork
drbill:
TOS... what's that? 
GulfDiver77
Guest
Her skin felt like that of one of my former girlfriends... or a hard boiled egg.
LOL ....And you wonder why you can't find a date
LOL ....And you wonder why you can't find a date
Occasionally the wildlife wins, sort of.
I once saw a diver trying to pull his dive knife out of a hole. Turned out an octopus had a grip on it. They’d apparently been harassing the octopus, which did not let go. The divers eventually abandoned the knife. A not inexpensive lesson for the diver, but it made my day!
I once saw a diver trying to pull his dive knife out of a hole. Turned out an octopus had a grip on it. They’d apparently been harassing the octopus, which did not let go. The divers eventually abandoned the knife. A not inexpensive lesson for the diver, but it made my day!
erparamedic:
TOS = Terms of Service. Gives the rules regarding posts (such as courtesy towards others, politics, sex, etc.)
gangrel441
Contributor
One of the strangest encounters I have had, and one of the few where I was compelled to touch a critter on a dive, came on a night dive in Playa Hermosa, Costa Rica. About midway through the dive, a clarinet fish very deliberately swam up under me and shadowed me as I swam horizontally. He hovered about 2 ft under my chest. After watching him for a minute or two, I gently reached down and touched his side near his pectoral fin. He bolted into a very fast figure-8 and resumed the same positioning in formation with me. I reached down again, and as soon as I touched him, he bolted into another figure-8, and once again returned to his original positioning. I reached for him a third time, and this time he swam off into the darkness.
I admit that curiousity got the better of me, but I didn't read any great amount of stress on the fish. I never attempted to grab or manipulate him, only to initiate contact, and though his bolting might be interpreted as a negative response, the fact that he instantly returned to me would seem to indicate to me that he did not see me as a threat. If I ever felt that he saw me as a threat, I would not have continued the encounter. This was one of my favorite diving moments from that trip...
I admit that curiousity got the better of me, but I didn't read any great amount of stress on the fish. I never attempted to grab or manipulate him, only to initiate contact, and though his bolting might be interpreted as a negative response, the fact that he instantly returned to me would seem to indicate to me that he did not see me as a threat. If I ever felt that he saw me as a threat, I would not have continued the encounter. This was one of my favorite diving moments from that trip...
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