Please DON'T Feed The Fish
February 9, 2007 - 2:35pm — mikesscuba
During the DEMA (Diving Equipment and Manufacturers Association) show this year there were several vendors who were selling fish feeding equipment. This plastic bottle allows the diver to squirt the food away from the divers so that divers may 
avoid accidentally being bitten and therefore enjoy the experience of feeding the fish. Bright idea? Not.
avoid accidentally being bitten and therefore enjoy the experience of feeding the fish. Bright idea? Not. In the 1960s if you and your family went to Yellowstone National Park you would have encountered bears eating out of the hands of visitors. Yellowstone even had a garbage dump where the bears dined while Park employees interpreted the bears. Even in 1888 Black Bears had lost their fear of humans and fed on garbage dumps around hotels and camp sites.
As the bears became accustomed to human food they ignored their other sources of food namely berries, insects, roots, fish, and bison carcasses. They no longer desired to forage for these foods and instead were attracted to campsites, picnic areas, and garbage dumps in search of food. These activities ultimately led to human and bear interactions which meant injury and even death for both.
In the 1970s, the National Park Service realized the problem and asked every to avoid feeding the bears, unfortunately this took the bears a long time to learn and many of them were killed in the process. This unfortunate set of circumstances led to the Grizzly bear being listed as a threatened species on the endangered species list.
So, have we learned nothing from our past? As Scuba Divers we are explorers in a new frontier. We have a responsibility to respect that environment. The feeding of fish or any animal is wrong. It changes behavior and increases risk for injury to the diver. I still like the old adage “Take pictures, Leave Bubbles”.
Tell me what you think? I would love to hear your opinions.
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Comments
heritage conservation
Mike,
Right you are. Feeding wildlife can make them dependent on often irregular and inappropriate food supplies. I worked in Yellowstone in the late 60's thru 1970 and the results of 40 years of people feeding the bears were not pretty to see. I actually saw a father trying to put his young son on the back of a sow with cubs so he could get a "good picture"! We have learned much over the years in wildlife management but your blog highlights the reality that we seem to need to relearn the same lessons in new environments. Have you written the manufacturer of this product? It is good to see you exhibit common sense, keep up the good work.
RC