Would you lay on a sandy bottom?

[blackvans1234]

Would ya?

 

[ibj40]

I guess it depends on what for? I've hovered over a sand bottom waiting for a shot of something like a Garden Eel or a Jawfish, but never actually laid on the sand (their bretheren may be right under me, unseen).

Now, if this question was in the Pub, it might be an altogether different answer. :cool2:

 

[vshearer]

Just remember, that bottom looked sandy to Steve. And he just got a bit close.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

Steve who?

Just remember, that bottom looked sandy to Steve. And he just got a bit close.

Because Steve Irwin was not surprised by a sandy looking bottom.

Steve Irwin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The events were caught on camera, and a copy of the footage was handed to the Queensland Police.[75] In an interview with TIME, marine documentary filmmaker and former spearfisherman Ben Cropp concluded that Irwin had accidentally boxed the ray in, causing it to attack: "It stopped and twisted and threw up its tail with the spike, and it caught him in the chest.... It's a defensive thing. It's like being stabbed with a dirty dagger.... It's a one-in-a-million thing. I have swum with many rays, and I have only had one do that to me."[76]

Initially, when CNN's Larry King interviewed Irwin's colleague John Stainton late on 4 September 2006, Stainton denied the suggestion that Irwin had pulled the spine out of his chest or that he had seen footage of the event, insisting that the anecdote was "absolute rubbish."[77] However, the following day, when he first described the video to the media, he stated, "Steve came over the top of the ray and the tail came up, and spiked him here [in the chest], and he pulled it out and the next minute he's gone."[75]

Sand dwellers are evolved to cope with 350 lb turtles laying on the sand, and 600 lb dolphins laying on the sand. I try to make sure there are no obvious homes where I'm intending to lay.

I seriously doubt that gently laying in the middle of a garden eel patch has any negative effect to the garden eels below you. If that were damaging it would seem the garden eel patches at the Corsair and Molokini would at least be declined some since divers started photographing them. I've never heard anybody even hinting that Hawaii's garden eel populations at regular dive sites are any less healthy a populations than the garden eel populations not at popular dive sites.

Some sandy areas, especially closer to shore and shallow, will move significantly with storms and seasons. I have seen areas, both hard pan rock and coral reefs, cover up, later expose and then repeat up to 6 feet deep "dunes" over the course of years.

In many underwater ocean environs, human impact by gentle sand laying photographers is infinitesimal compared to mother natures impact. Kind of like worrying about strolling through a pristine clearing in the South Western New Mexico forest.

 

[Tortuga68]

Regardless of the environmental impact and what did or didn't happen to Steve Irwin, rays do like burying themselves in the sand and people have been barbed when unknowingly stepping on them

 

[bowlofpetunias]

I am amazed at the changes I see in our regular dive sites after periods of high seas and storms. I don't think diver touching the bottom after a careful check is going to cause harm of any significance. That said I have literally protected a patch with some tiny Pygmy Pipehorses with my body from some careless divers.

IMHO it is vital that we use reasonable care and respect for the environment. I find it amazing that some of the same people who find it acceptable to spear fish or "dig lobsters and "bugs" out of their hiding places" are horrified at a photographer touching the sand to get a picture! Please note ....I don't question anyone's right to take creatures they are legally entitled to. I will admit I couldn't do it myself but I do occasionally touch the sand altho I prefer to practice better buoyancy control!

 

[DevonDiver]

That depends entirely on the bottom...

 

[Walter]

Would you lay on a sandy bottom?

If I had a reason to do so, sure.

Regardless of the environmental impact and what did or didn't happen to Steve Irwin, rays do like burying themselves in the sand and people have been barbed when unknowingly stepping on them

True, but unless you don't look or haven't yet learned how to see things underwater (a skill we all have to learn), they are pretty easy to see and thus easy to avoid.

 

[under water]

Yes,
After looking to make sure I'm not going to hurt anything (or myself).
I also walk on grass by the way.

 

[mjh]

NO

Trying to minimize my impact while underwater supercedes any image I am trying to capture.

In part because every "new" diver with a camera sees you do it and rationalizes it as permission for them to do it. Cameras are becoming part of many brand new divers starting kit those with more experience have to set a more reef/sand/structure friendly example.

For me part of the challenge of underwater photography is getting a shot while trying to keep to an "one finger on dead reef/sand" rule. I have found the use of a muck stick useful.

(PS, Yes I know just being in the water, getting to the site, buying gear made of petroleum, etc, etc, are all bad for the Ocean. But I am a junkie and this is my line in the sand)