well i that case i'd be more worried asbout the damage you'd do to marine life than the other way
personally i'd ban , gloves and flippers and even shoes
you should never need to walk in water where there is coral and marine life or why is there a need to touch or pick anything up.
I'm there to swim not to paddle or wade
if this guy was going around picking things up as i've seen people do in the sanctuary there then he deserves all he gets. I myself can swim in around
a foot of water and i never touch or pick up ANYTHING. that way i'm safe and so is the marine life. I saw one idiot in thew santuary here last time picking up shells and cone shells. i told him to not be an idiot as it was un safe for him and the marine life. he just looked at me in an aroogant
i'll do what i like way (he was Italian).
I was hoping he was going to get zapped by a cone shell inhabitant as well but no such luck.

 

You are completly right ,people should leave everything alone and as it is. But yet , it is so much true "Curiosity killed the cat "
HOWEVER for instance the Lethal Stonefish loves to camoflage between the calcarious reefstones which lay first from the beach in yes !! a foot of water. I personaly safed somebodies life some 25 years ago as I could just push him real hard asided from stepping BARE FEET on a pretty big Stonefish at Green Island (Batangas)
One of the things I would like to do in Duma once settled is to give seminars about how fragile the Coral reef is and how carefully we should be while we are visiting it.Especialy during Night Diving !!. Funny, I just send this afternoon before your response a private email to the administrator on this topic ! Attached picture is of the very common Stone fish easy to be confused with "just an other rock "

It is a show stopper at Public Aquarium and very much appreciated at "the Chinese cuisine " It is good for your Libido (that is what Chinse men will tell you atleast)

 

good photo and yes more info is needed for people to educate them about how fragile the coral is. the locals seem to wade all over it when seard=ching for crabs and urchins to eat
never understood why they can't or don't swim over the coral instead
far easier on the back as well without all that stopping over.
strange i've been thinking the stonefish all these years was actually the
harmless lizard fish i believe its called,. hangsout in the sand and rocks
and i thought it was a stonefish so always avoided that while having no idea
it looked like this

 

witch craft

you all dont know of the witch craft going on there and maybe he was a bad guy and black magic was placed on him if you dont beleive this go there and act bad to the people and see what happens to you i see it first hand dont laugh to hard

 

Thanks earlmj for all the information. I was a bit scared and AWED by the Ocean while in Dgte. I am so ignorant since I grew up around rivers only. I would love to attend a seminar to teach me more about the Ocean life and especially how to protect it. I would also love to pass along that info to the kids that I volunteer with. They are so eager to learn but no one is willing to teach them. I do know that the environment could be protected if we trained up the young people. I hope one day to get in touch with you and be able to pass on your knowledge. Knowledge is POWER! Power to protect not only yourself but the environment! It is a WIN WIN situation.

 

Oh dear! I love water so as my hubby. Thanks for sharing your knowledge here Earl.

 

Thanks Yabs...nice to know. Did anyone do a post mortem (autopsy) or are these procedures unheard of in those parts ?