Buddy Diving

By Stephen Frink

To: Steve 

Re: Jerks on the boat

Dear Stephen,

I just got off a dive boat here on Little Cayman and need a chance to vent. I know you are hundreds of miles away, but your e-mail address is handy and I'm still pissed, so here goes:

I paid good money to go on the boat too, but these underwater photographers act like they're so very cool and special. They race to be the first ones in the water, not even listening to the dive briefing. Instead, they incessantly fiddle with their cameras and then bolt to the platform, shouldering us poor "regular" divers out of the way. They pay absolutely no attention to their dive buddy, only their viewfinder. They bang into the coral, harass the marine life, go too deep, stay too long, and if I happen to see something cool under water, they bump me out of the way so they can shoot it. They berate anyone who comes too near their precious little cameras while they are changing film, and look out if you should ever rinse your mask in "their" rinse tank ... as if a little of my spit could really damage their cameras! You guys are a pain in my butt!

Linda in Little Cayman

Dear Linda,

Yikes! I didn't realize I was a part of such an evil empire. But, yes, I have noticed that there are too often distinctly different objectives between underwater photographers and the "regular" divers on the boat, and maybe even a little latent hostility. Perhaps some understanding of basic photo etiquette by both sides could at least initiate a cease-fire, even if the peace talks continue to break down. Here's a mini-Camp David Accord for dive boats:

Etiquette for Photographers

1. Be Eco-Friendly

Getting a good photo is no excuse for damaging the environment.

This is where we underwater photographers are most vulnerable to criticism. Adding a camera and strobe will affect buoyancy, and once the eye is glued to the viewfinder, depth perception and peripheral vision are reduced enough so that even a skilled and concerned diver might accidentally bump into coral. In addition, the technical limitations of underwater photography require proximity to the subject in order to maximize color and resolution. Get too close, catch a bit of surge, and, regrettably, accidents do happen. Those photographers who truly care about the reef will learn and practice optimal buoyancy control.

Unfortunately, there are also callous photographers who are willing to damage the reef in pursuit of a photo. You've seen them lie in a patch of fragile staghorn to get close to a butterflyfish, or wedge their fins between boulder corals to steady themselves for a wide-angle shot. Is it possible they simply do not know better? Not likely in this age of eco-enlightenment. We now realize the reef is a finite resource, and no one should be allowed to trash it purposely, whether in pursuit of tropical fish for the aquarium, food for the table, or even photos for a slide show. Doing so is criminally wrong.

2. Be Nice

Harassing marine life for the sake of a photo is wrong.

Too often, photographers assume that because they're holding a camera, they should get best access to marine life encounters. Don't forget that the non-photographers are paying for the dive, too.

Photos of purposely inflated pufferfish or divers riding turtles show a lack of respect for sea life and the marine environment. These photos shouldn't be taken, and certainly should not be rewarded by being published or considered in photographic competitions.

But there are other, less obvious ways marine life may be harassed photographically, sometimes by a photographer and sometimes by those assisting a photographer. I've watched divemasters plunge their hands in the sand to drag garden eels from their burrows and then hold them for a photographer's macro framer. Tossing a shrimp into the water column to photograph it against a black background often results in a yellowtail swooping in to eat your subject. Even the seemingly benign act of hand feeding a fish can cause it harm. There is the obvious consideration of inappropriate diet, but more significantly, hand feeding bears the risk of desensitizing fish to a potential threat from humans, especially in areas where hook-and-line or spearfishing is allowed.

3. Be Considerate

Just because you hold the camera doesn't mean you automatically acquire eminent domain over all marine life encounters.

If you see a diver observing something of interest, wait from a respectful distance and approach for the shot when the other diver is finished.

4. Be Safe

Don't ignore dive safety in pursuit of a photograph.

This is my prime example of "do as I say, not as I have all too often done." For too many years I dived too deep, stayed too long, and performed careless zigzag profiles, all because that's where the pictures were. I assumed I was bulletproof--until I got bent. My incident was more than a decade ago, but it was also on a live-aboard boat in Vanuatu, far away from help. There were no recompression chambers anywhere nearby, and had it been a more serious hit, I could have been in big trouble. The dive boat would have had to steam back to port for an air evacuation, and my aggressive dive profiles could have not only hurt me physically, but also cut short the dive holiday for the other 15 divers on board. As it turned out, I didn't dive anymore that week, but everyone else had a great time. It clearly illustrated to me the need for all divers to behave responsibly, because a dive accident inevitably affects everyone on the boat.

5. Be Appreciative

Taking photographs under water is a privilege, not a right.

Toting cameras below does not bestow upon the photographer any special status or rights. Whatever one's underwater interests--identifying fish, photographing them or just watching them--all divers should enter the water with an ample supply of humility and an appreciation of one another and the special place we are going.

Etiquette for non-photographers

1. Be Knowledgeable

All contact is not necessarily bad contact.

There are portions of the reef, particularly bits of rubble or algae-covered rocks, that are unaffected by careful finger or fin placement. Kneeling in the sand patches is certainly reef-friendly, so long as a photographer doesn't erupt in a cloud of detritus leaving the bottom, thereby silting the very coral reef you so admired a moment before. Before assigning guilt, make sure the photographer is actually in damaging contact with live coral. Sometimes the perspective of distance gives a false illusion of eco-terrorism.

2. Be Understanding

Because they can't change film or batteries under water, photographers often carry more than one camera system on a dive. If you find a camera resting on the bottom, don't assume it's yours for the taking.

Appreciate the value of the equipment.

Not everyone on a dive boat understands the value or the fragility of photographic equipment. The photographer bears the responsibility of keeping the gear on a dedicated camera table or somewhere out of the normal flow of traffic. Other divers on boats bear the responsibility of not dropping weight belts on dome ports or flinging saltwater droplets from wetsuits or hair as the photographer is changing film. A little space for photographers and their gear is essential.

3. Be Sensible

Use common sense with underwater encounters.

If you see a photographer carefully stalking some elusive specimen of marine life, don't swim nearby. Just the sound of your regulator exhaust may blow the photo-op. If you see a photographer setting up a wide-angle shot on a vertical wall, don't swim directly beneath. Your exhaust bubbles will inevitably rise exactly where they shouldn't.

4. Be Forgiving

Just because you see an unattended camera on the bottom, don't assume you've struck it rich.

Photographers can't change film or batteries under water, so occasionally they will carry more than one camera or strobe on a dive. In fact, I do this often, moving the cameras to various parts of the reef and setting them carefully on the bottom when not in use. Yes, camera gear may get dropped and lost. But if it is a known dive site and the camera is sitting oh-so-carefully on sand or a bit of shipwreck, it is far more likely there is a photographer lurking nearby who will be very distressed to see you swimming away with your "prize."

5. Be Careful

The rinse tank is no place for carelessness.

This precaution is for photographers, non-photographers and divemasters. Too often, camera floods or dome damage occurs at the end of the dive in the rinse bucket. When multiple camera systems are placed in the rinse tank simultaneously, cords entwine framers and abrasive arms and trays inevitably bounce on delicate ports. Pulling one system out pulls something else off, and a flood ensues. The goal is to displace salt water with fresh water immediately, and to that end, a brief but thorough rinse is all that's required.

PS

Oh, by the way Linda, the reason they may tell you not to rinse your mask in the camera rinse bucket is because it's possible that a commercial defog agent might damage an acrylic dome port. But really, we don't want your spit on our cameras. Does that make us bad people?