Riding marine life

[Splitlip]

We here in Palm Beach got some bad press when a drunk neck hooked a spotted Eagle Ray and then tortured it on a YouTube vid. AFAIK he was prosecuted.

Happily our young divers are proactive in protecting the Rays and Turtles.

 

[Zippsy]

I bascially agree with this (and similar posts).... HOWEVER: A gentle touch or stroke as a sea creature passes you is one thing..... a GRAB AND RIDE is an entirely different beast.

If you are not sure if your interaction with the "critter" has the potential for harm, just look.

Sea turtles: We have lots of them here at my favorite dive site in Hilo... I'll often see over a dozen very large turtles every dive. They are friendly, will often come up to divers, and are fun to watch. The reason they are so plentiful and "tame" is that we follow a "look but do not touch" rule (and they are protected by law here, at least as far as hunting goes).

I do not think a gentle touch or stroke of their shell would bother them... but I still refrain.

Grab a turtle? No.

Ride one? Absolutley Not.

Best wishes.

today's post of the day!

 

[Zippsy]

This thread is SO full of BS from all the "save-the-whales" kids who learned their liberally-biased, politically-correct outlook on life in our government-funded school system. It's not even close to any realistic world-view.

The mainstream mentality nowadays is that we all need to "save the children", "cure AIDS", solve the "hunger problem", all that crap. This "ride the creatures" hysteria is just one more goofy affectation of all this.

The "creatures" don't even notice.

"Kids"? I'm 52.
"Government-funded public school"? 16 years of private school without a hint of government money. :mooner:
"world-view"? At last count, I've spent half my life outside the US and travelled to more than 50 countries. Do you have a passport?
"don't notice"? Have you ever seen any marine life?

 

[ScubaSteve]

Concur completely.

This thread is SO full of BS from all the "save-the-whales" kids who learned their liberally-biased, politically-correct outlook on life in our government-funded school system. It's not even close to any realistic world-view.

The mainstream mentality nowadays is that we all need to "save the children", "cure AIDS", solve the "hunger problem", all that crap. This "ride the creatures" hysteria is just one more goofy affectation of all this.

The "creatures" don't even notice.

Way to take it to the other extreme. A real talent you have. By that logic, you are full of just as much BS as those that you have described....just a different BS.

The SCUBA Authorities will soon be in contact with you.

Now this was funny. Well played.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Depending on the circumstances, the act of fleeing can use up enough energy to kill the critter you're trying to enjoy. Bison and moose in winter for instance. I can imagine disturbing octopus on eggs could lead to an earlier demise of the parent (since they don't eat at this time and just defend & aerate their eggs) Thus exposing the almost hatched eggs to greater predation.

So the capacity to flee does not equal harm free.

Of course not ... but as I mentioned in my first post, you need to know when it's OK to interact and when it's not.

So telling everyone "don't touch, ever" is as silly as riding a whale shark.

There are no hard and fast rules in diving ... or in life, for that matter. It always boils down to the application of a little bit of common sense.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

The SCUBA Authorities will soon be in contact with you.

Someday I wanna get a flashing blue light, mount it to my scooter, pin a "SCUBA POLICE" badge on my hood, and drive around pulling divers over and writing them a "ticket" from my wetnotes ...

... just to see if there are any divers out there with a sense of humor ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[ScubaSteve]

Someday I wanna get a flashing blue light, mount it to my scooter, pin a "SCUBA POLICE" badge on my hood, and drive around pulling divers over and writing them a "ticket" from my wetnotes ...

... just to see if there are any divers out there with a sense of humor ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

It would be good if you could get a waterproof one that could mount on your tanks for when you come upon a diver during the dive...........sounds like a fun project to work on.

 

[Soakedlontra]

Easy, easy tiger. Lets not forget this is a forum and not a boxing ring

I know that's why I wrote I wish those guys went out of business!

I don't play with a Giant Pacific Octopus because you never know how things could turn out. The divers that shot that video got lucky that the animal did not ended up probing them further to their masks or regulators or come out from its den. They took their chances, I guess.

I used to volunteer at the local aquarium where in some pools visitors are allowed to touch all the invertebrates but not the fish because, for those you don't know it already, their skins is covered with a mucus that protect them from getting sick. Now I watched the divers feeding the wolf eels and they did not seem to have a problem in stroking them like they were cats. So now I am kind of confused...Does the wolf eel not have that mucous after all? Or is it a tougher fish that can cope with less mucus on its skin? Ma!

 

[TMHeimer]

Petting Octopi, sharks, rays? Wouldn't do it in a million years. Not worried about them, worried about ME. I suppose it's just me.

 

[Zippsy]

Do you reckon the whaleshark wiggled his fin to indicate he wanted to be ridden in these photos? I know it's hard to tell a whole story from a couple of shots but I still think it's wrong to do this.