Why are people so careless on the reefs?

[fisherdvm]

I have noted that about 1 out of 3 DM in the caribbean and mexico hovers immediately above the reefs and kicking at the reef unconsciously. I've noted this also on the SSI open water introduction video.

I believe that these professionals showing careless activities are encouraging divers to follow, and thus damaging our reefs. I know that the law in the Cancun national park state that you must stay at least 6 ft away from the reef, yet, I have not seen a DM following the rule.

I hope someone from SSI will go through and edit their DVD. I am sure other organizations have bad behavior on their instructional material also. But to teach divers to hover too close to the reef that their fin or gauge touches a coral, is BAD, in my book.

 

[Carribeandiver]

incorrect diving styles, careless habits, vertical diving, not knowing any better yet knowing something isnt right ---- why do you think I researched and discovered GUE DIR? I thought surely there has to be a better way and by golly, I found it.

 

[MBH]

Poor bouyancy control, bad trim, and being unaware that live coral is crushed and killed when it's mashed against the structure of the reef.

 

[stepup]

Yes this is very pitiful diving habits but who could actually say something and as most DM are so egotistical you cant say anything to them with out being made to look like a idiot because you dont have the same c-card as them. Just my 0.02

 

[lucybuykx]

most DM are so egotistical you cant say anything to them

Ouch!

A couple of days ago I read a thread about tipping divemastershttp://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=178630&highlight=tipping+divemaster.

I'm a Brit where tipping is unheard of so 'scuse my question if it is off, but would you tip a divemaster who dived so badly? Perhaps witholding tips is a way to register your disapproval...

 

[Whale Whisperer]

Yeah I cringe when ever I see a DM or instructor touch the reef like that (I have a tendency to give some stink eye too). Anytime I'm with a group with new certified divers weather if in a class or guiding, I always remind them to stay off the reef and do my best to set the example.

You can usually tell if a diver is a reef stomper if they have a metal "Roll" cage installed on their console, and scrapes on their fins lol.

 

[Diveral]

We had a marine ecologist at our scuba club meeting last thursday explaining some of this. Most of the damage we do is purely unintentional. So its really a matter of ignorance and lack of education. Most of the damage done to a reef by the typical recreational diver is done in the first 5 to 10 minutes of the dive. That is the period when we are adjusting equipment and buoyancy and not paying attention to how many times we are tagging a reef. Poor buoyancy control, trim, dangling consoles and hoses, and poor swimming techniques are responsible for most of the damage divers cause.

We are also poorly informed as to how fragile the coral animal really is. We think of coral as a hard rock and sometimes think of it as relatively impervious to damage. We are unaware that the coral animal is extremely sensitive to injury and that simply brushing the coral with our fins, gauges, or grasping coral with our hand is enough to kill it. All of the coral animals are interconnected so once we kill a small area on a brian coral, star coral, boulder coral, etc. we can make the entire colony susceptible to disease and that one careless fin tip strike can eventually result in the death of the entire colony. Multiply this by hundreds of divers a day such as we have in the Keys and you can see how that damage adds up.

So we need to be proactive in educating our fellow divers on the true risks we pose to coral reefs and help educate them on how they can be better and more coral friendly divers. We also need to hold our dive charters accountable and not ask them to engage in coral unfriendly practices. We should be good coral evangelists and reach out to educate our fellow diver in a friendly and informative manner and strive not to be a holier than tho diver. We need to promote coral friendly diving practices, support mooring buoys, sand anchorages, and begin our dives over sandy areas and not venture over coral until we are in total control of our dives. We should strive to take only memories and leave only bubbles when we are diving coral reefs.

We should all take a coral pledge, "I pledge I will strive to be a coral friendly diver and become a coral evangelist to promote coral friendly diving practices and help educate my fellow divers."

Good diving,

AL

 

[ScorpioScuba]

I am fairly new to diving but I feel like my LDS educated me on being mindful of the reef and maintaining neutral buoyancy. I was greatful for this education on my recent trip to Cozumel. Most of the trip was spent diving with divers from my LDS (as the trip was organized through them). But my boyfriend and I decided to do an afternoon dive on our last day. There was a group of 5 of us with 1 DM. There was one guy on the dive who had NO CLUE how to maintain buoyancy, was constantly kicking the reef with his fins and at one point was even STANDING on the coral with his fins!! As he was doing this I pointed to him and pointed to his fins, telling him to get OFF, the best way I could. He was still clueless - he thought I was pointing something out for him to look at. This guy also got "lost" twice during the dive with another dive group and we had to sit and wait for our DM to go drag him back to our group. It was very frustrating. Back on the boat I tried to explain to him what I was doing when I pointed to his fins. I explained that he was standing on the coral and that it can be very damaging. He just brushed me off like he didn't care. I wish that all divers who go through the basic open water courses were given a strict education on respecting the reef they are visiting.

 

[Whale Whisperer]

Chrissy, you did the right thing by signaling him that he was damaging the coral and talked to him after the dive. It's too bad his attitude wasn't agreeable. It is frustrating when you see divers have the "So what" attitude. I think it really is the guide's (divemaster or instuctor) job to brief everyone before the dive to do their best to avoid touching the reef, and brief them on the problems it will cause if they do contact the reef. They're leading the dive so they're the ones setting the guidelines.

Unfortunately there are ALOT of incompetent divemasters and instructors out there. So it makes it that much more difficult. The best thing to do is set the example and spread the knowledge in my opinion

 

[trucker girl]

I was on my last dive of my trip to Hawaii out off the west side of the island of Oahu and I was being all careful about not touching the coral- everyone was crowding around and we were doing swimthroughs (some of which I didn't do because they looked too skinny) etc and I was very paranoid about touching the reef.

After the dive, my DM told me it was lava. Oh well. Better safe than sorry