Q4_Fall_2016_AlertDiver_web

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“It doesn’t matter that the daughter is an
adult. For the father to encourage her to swim with a
croc was a stupid, stupid thing to do. You can show
that the croc’s environment is shrinking without
endangering a human. What an idiot!”
“Personally, I think the photographer/dad is a bit
daft, myself. Go figure … crocodiles eat people for
goodness’ sake!”
“The risks people will take — even putting their
own family in harm’s way — just for a moment of
attention. Hope he doesn’t make a habit of it. Seems
a very foolish thing to do.”
“Very irresponsible and selfish behavior. I am
a father of a girl, too (same age as this one), and
I would never think of risking her safety like this.
Amazing what people do for five minutes of fame!”
One comment was less inflammatory: “I’m sick
and tired of armchair people using photos and social
media as the sole means of assessing an event. Quite
frankly, it’s no one else’s business but Stephen’s and
his daughter’s. Unless you have an equal amount of
experience with diving and sea creatures, you have
no basis to be critical.”
The whole experience was enlightening. For a
moment I felt a little of what Jennifer Anniston
must feel every time she goes to the grocery store
and sees tabloid headlines speculating that she
might be pregnant. I didn’t engage with any of
the commenters. Clearly their experiences were
different from mine, and my words weren’t going to
bridge the experiential divide.
This also gave me some insight into the vast gulf
in understanding between a general public who
will never see the world though our face masks
and those of us who know the ocean, its creatures
and the realities of life underwater. They may
never understand the importance of sharks to
our oceans and therefore not comprehend what a
massive problem shark finning is. They may never
see coral bleaching and thus never understand the
implications of climate change. And they may not
be able to differentiate marine life that is safe to
approach from marine life that’s hazardous.
I wish we could help them understand. But most
people will never commit to learning about the
ocean firsthand as scuba divers and seeing what we
see, so consensus will continue to be difficult. AD
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WHAT’S NEW ON
ALL THIS AND MUCH MORE AWAITS
AT
BACK IN
THE GARDEN
Read about Stephen
Frink’s trip to Cuba
(Page 68), then watch
his daughter’s video of
the experience and view
a bonus photo gallery.
SEEING
LIKE SEIFERT
Learn how Douglas
David Seifert mastered
photography (Page 92),
then see more of his
excellent imagery in a
bonus photo gallery.
LOVING
LOOE KEY
After reading about
Florida’s Looe Key
(Page 36), check out
the online photo gallery
to discover more of what
awaits divers there.
CARE AND
COLLABORATION
Leigh Bishop explains how
to prepare for a deep wreck
expedition on Page 46.
Go online to watch a trailer
for the film made during
his expedition to the
Britannic in 2016.
JIM GARBER
STEPHEN FRINK
DOUGLAS SEIFERT
LEIGH BISHOP