Cave Diving Police

[WEPIV]

I'm a crazy kind of guy that happens to like Pete, but then again I like most divers. I will say though that I would get quite frustrated if I saw some of the stuff Pete mentioned seeing, especially with the hands all over the floor of the cave leaving marks behind. I would almost rather have my hand cut off then make a hand print that will be there for years and years.

[TracyN]

I agree Gene. People just don't care anymore about anything. It's sad. I can say one thing about Pete, if the guy truly didn't suck Pete wouldn't have said anything.

[kidsdream]

I have to say its hard to accept that the use of a camera is and "acceptable" reason to have bouyancy issues. If that is adding to your task loading to the point of impacting your dive the poster should have left it clipped off - I have done it more than once.

Unfortunately this is a big issue issue, even in open water. Recently I saw a post from Stephen Frink with a image of some of his students from a "master" DSLR class that had his students standing on the reef in Key Largo. I politely stated this behavior wasn't a something that I would consider acceptable. He responded in an equally friendly manner that they were in a area of rubble, not reef so he didn't have an issue. I like and have met Steve, but this attitidude that if you are capturing images or video creates a different allowance is something that I can't accept or ignore.


Jeff

[hunabku]

Fair enough!
I do get a kick out this since I live in a part of the world where if you are productive enough citizen to own your own boat; you can pretty much dive any place. No one checks for C cards or cares if your gear is politically correct.

Being from Florida, it's hard to imagine a place in the world like that.

[Kelly Jessop]

I have to say its hard to accept that the use of a camera is and "acceptable" reason to have bouyancy issues. If that is adding to your task loading to the point of impacting your dive the poster should have left it clipped off - I have done it more than once.

This is a comment that has been brought up in reference to cave conservation. People with newly acquired cave diving skills will want to try video/photography too soon (even surveying),and when task loaded,buoyancy and trim become lost. I have seen sections of cave silted out from someone attending too much to the camera and subject,but not the fundamentals to cave diving. This becomes a safety and cave conservation issue.

[FW]

Cameras do take a lot of attention, at the expense of other things. Even Wes Skiles had a safety diver to keep an eye on him while he was concentrating on the camera. Not that he would loose buoyancy or trim control, but more that he might loose track of gas, line, etc.

[RGU]

Being from Florida, it's hard to imagine a place in the world like that.

The three Lakes around the state are broken up into marine preserves. Most of the wrecks have moorings placed on them every spring. All you have to do is drive up, hook a mooring, and raise a dive flag

[cavewoman]

Ill admit that I hit the silt. As for the pistol grip light that was a GoPro with a small brand new video light on a tray.

http://www.cavedivinginstructor.com/...fore-you-shoot

apply the same principles to video...

[Superlyte27]

I can say one thing about Pete, if the guy truly didn't suck Pete wouldn't have said anything.

Wow, do you guys know the significance of that statement?

I was once banned from a forum for writing in a private message to a friend that TracyN was unsafe and going to die in a cave. There's never been anyone who has taken more crap from me about poor skills than Tracy. For months and months I blasted her about the fact that her buoyancy, trim and frog kick sucked. She always countered with disbelief and stated that she couldn't be that bad or she wouldn't have passed class.

I dove with Tracy a year later (now more than a year ago) and was amazed at her SAC rate, trim and buoyancy. She looked amazing in the water. I couldn't believe it. She dove A LOT, worked on the skills that suffered and looks great in the water. She could have ignored all the advice her friends gave her and stuck her head in the sand, but instead she worked at resolving the issues. Great Job Tracy.

Now, if we could just do something about your attention span with scooters? HAHAHA.... jk kidding. Sorta

[WEPIV]

Pete's message to Tracy got me laughing. It's fun to see how friends deal with things through the years.
As for the camera comments while diving, as I and others have said before, no photo is worth anyone's safety or damage to where you are diving. The only time I ever make contact with anything while diving, (unless there is some mistake made somewhere -- as after all no one is "perfect"), is hard rocks or soft sand. Other than that, I stay away from anything that might be damaged, broken or imprinted (like silt or clay).