The Observer Effect?

[Storker]

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A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

OK, guys (in a gender-neutral meaning of "guys"). Time to leave the septic¹ and get (remotely) back on topic.

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¹ Which, in Cockney rhyming slang, means US American.

 

[dmaziuk]

Don't eat the mussels.

You really don't want to watch the beach scene from Tin Drum, then.

(With apologies to the mods)

 

[NYCNaiad]

I really appreciated this discussion. Gave me quite a bit to think about & some things to change re: my diving & my choice of dive spots. Thank you!

 

[RayfromTX]

I already wanted to improve my personal awareness of my body position in close quarters and eliminate accidental contacts but it's importance has moved up a notch thanks to this discussion.

 

[NYCNaiad]

I already wanted to improve my personal awareness of my body position in close quarters and eliminate accidental contacts but it's importance has moved up a notch thanks to this discussion.

Excellent! I love discussions that open my eyes to improvements I can make & am happy it had a similar effect with you.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Did anyone else see the article "Reef Rage" in the Spring 2017 issue of Alert Diver (the DAN magazine), in which Stephen Frink posed the question of "whether a scuba diver was likely to harm the environment by kneeling in the sand" to "two prominent marine scientists," Sylvia Earle and Ellen Prager?

I thought Prager made an interesting point in noting that stirring up the sediment could cause the particles to settle back down on corals and "cause stress and require expenditure of energy for removal via mucus sloughing." I hadn't thought of that. Earle said that although there are "thousands of creatures" that live in sand environments, merely kneeling on sand is unlikely to harm most of them. Nevertheless, she recommended treating with care "places that are conspicuously populated with burrows and trails." In a sidebar, she also listed the (presumably greater) impact of things like dredging, anchors, trawling, etc., on the seafloor.

A timely article!

 

[drbill]

As a marine biologist and underwater videographer, this becomes an even more difficult decision for me. It depends on what species I'm interacting with and what type of habitat I'm in (kelp forest, coral reef, etc.). As a marine biologist, I probably have a better idea than most regarding what kind of approach or contact I can have with different species (at least in my home turf). I may wish to investigate a critter for specific characteristics such as gender or identification criteria. As a videographer, I may want to image a critter to show these characteristics for my viewers. In doing so, I touch I do occasionally touch or even grasp a critter.

I may alter its behavior such as when I'm filming our giant sea bass (comparable in size to goliath groupers). I always try to approach them slowly and in a non-threatening manner because the thrill for me is to spend as much time as I can observing and imaging them closely. At times I have spent nearly an entire dive with them. They often seem as inquisitive about me as I am about them. At other times they are more skittish, probably due to rapid approach and contact by other divers. If they begin to swim away from me, I don't follow them. Sometimes I will feed local critters, especially during our recent warm water episodes when giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) was scarce and abalone weren't getting much drift material to eat.

Our rocky reef/kelp forest ecosystems here in SoCal are less sensitive to contact than coral reef environments where I am far more cautious both due to their fragility and the fact that even as a marine biologist I do not necessarily know the behavior (and sometimes the toxicity or aggressiveness!) of the local fauna.

I stopped "hunting" local critters such as lobster or abalone way back in the mid-1970s. That also slows me down in my approach to critters since what I want is for them to stay put so I can film them.

 

[NYCNaiad]

Did anyone else see the article "Reef Rage" in the Spring 2017 issue of Alert Diver (the DAN magazine), in which Stephen Frink posed the question of "whether a scuba diver was likely to harm the environment by kneeling in the sand" to "two prominent marine scientists," Sylvia Earle and Ellen Prager?

I thought Prager made an interesting point in noting that stirring up the sediment could cause the particles to settle back down on corals and "cause stress and require expenditure of energy for removal via mucus sloughing." I hadn't thought of that. Earle said that although there are "thousands of creatures" that live in sand environments, merely kneeling on sand is unlikely to harm most of them. Nevertheless, she recommended treating with care "places that are conspicuously populated with burrows and trails." In a sidebar, she also listed the (presumably greater) impact of things like dredging, anchors, trawling, etc., on the seafloor.

A timely article!

I somehow missed this issue of Alert Diver. Not sure where it ended up as I can't find it with the other Alert Diver issues. So thank you for posting! Very timely & great info.

As a marine biologist and underwater videographer, this becomes an even more difficult decision for me. It depends on what species I'm interacting with and what type of habitat I'm in (kelp forest, coral reef, etc.). As a marine biologist, I probably have a better idea than most regarding what kind of approach or contact I can have with different species (at least in my home turf). I may wish to investigate a critter for specific characteristics such as gender or identification criteria. As a videographer, I may want to image a critter to show these characteristics for my viewers. In doing so, I touch I do occasionally touch or even grasp a critter.

I may alter its behavior such as when I'm filming our giant sea bass (comparable in size to goliath groupers). I always try to approach them slowly and in a non-threatening manner because the thrill for me is to spend as much time as I can observing and imaging them closely. At times I have spent nearly an entire dive with them. They often seem as inquisitive about me as I am about them. At other times they are more skittish, probably due to rapid approach and contact by other divers. If they begin to swim away from me, I don't follow them. Sometimes I will feed local critters, especially during our recent warm water episodes when giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) was scarce and abalone weren't getting much drift material to eat.

Our rocky reef/kelp forest ecosystems here in SoCal are less sensitive to contact than coral reef environments where I am far more cautious both due to their fragility and the fact that even as a marine biologist I do not necessarily know the behavior (and sometimes the toxicity or aggressiveness!) of the local fauna.

I stopped "hunting" local critters such as lobster or abalone way back in the mid-1970s. That also slows me down in my approach to critters since what I want is for them to stay put so I can film them.

Thanks for providing a marine biologist's answer. Your lines, "If they begin to swim away from me, I don't follow them" & "even as a marine biologist I do not necessarily know the behavior (and sometimes the toxicity or aggressiveness!) of the local fauna" make me feel better about my own reasoning on these points.

 

[dmaziuk]

Thanks for providing a marine biologist's answer. Your lines, "If they begin to swim away from me, I don't follow them" & "even as a marine biologist I do not necessarily know the behavior (and sometimes the toxicity or aggressiveness!) of the local fauna" make me feel better about my own reasoning on these points.

I wonder how dive pressure etc. factors into it. IME on Bonaire they tend to swim away, In Guanacaste they don't. In one of the local lakes, apparently (some day I'll get around to going for dip in there), the fishes come to you and wait for you to start turning over rocks for them. Tarpons on Bonaire are another example of that, of course. So... if they wanna play I'll play. If not, I'm not forcing myself on 'em.

 

[Saniflush]

If not, I'm not forcing myself on 'em.

Good. No means no.