"Marine Life Protection - A Scuba Diver's Guide"

"Marine Life Protection - A Scuba Diver's Guide"," Scenes of scuba divers engaging in such activities are frequent in dive tourism advertising. Trying to communicate feelings of affection, support, or understanding by petting or feeding marine animals may be satisfying to humans, but all available scientific evidence suggests that such practices actually harm the intended ""friend"". There are several ways in which such activities may be harmful. In general, animals are adapted to rely upon certain natural foods found in their environments to satisfy all their nutritional needs, and other foodstuffs may be unhealthy for them. Because of widespread recognition among protected area managers and experts that the ""feeding the bears"" syndrome is a serious problem, stringent educational programs, regulations, and enforcement have been developed in our national parks and refuges to eliminate this form of environmental damage. Touching marine life may also prove hazardous to their health. Also, fishes, corals, and some other animals secrete a protective mucous layer that serves as a barrier to infection and the loss of water to the surrounding sea. It would seem most ironic that such problems are increasing today, rather than being systematically and methodically eliminated. A primary reason for visiting places like coral reefs is to observe a great diversity of marine life in its natural state. In recent years, the practice of feeding sharks and fishes has been banned by the U. states of Florida and Hawaii, and by some nations heavily invested in dive tourism, including the Cayman Islands (Caribbean). Yet, the practice and its promotion persist within the sport diving industry. If you consider yourself an environmentally responsible diver, or want to become more so, please do your part to support the protection of marine life by patronizing dive operations that refuse to engage is such practices, and avoiding dive operations that do. LEARN SOMETHING NEW AND EXCITING