DO NOT TOUCH MY ARTHROPOD! By FRANCIS LE GUEN

The mood of Francis Le Guen

Because sometimes, do not mess around!

Music credits: Erwan & Eric Le Guen

I hesitated for a long time to open this debate, which always makes waves. What am I saying, tsunami! A real taboo! I am talking about one of those diktats that have appeared in the world of diving in recent decades, I named: the prohibition to touch ...

Underwater, we look but we do not touch! Yes, but when we dive, we already pack up the smell, the taste, the colors ... And we should also give up touch? No question for the sensual! It is no longer diving but sensory isolation!

For my part, I confess to be part of the touch. See, I do not dive, I make love with the sea. And yes! And in this exercise, touch is essential. Attention eh, I said touch to the sense of stroking, not to squash. And I do not feel at all disrespectful of the environment, quite the contrary.

So, under the sea, it would be forbidden to come into contact with wild fauna while we are stroking cats and dogs? That we touch the snout of whales provided they have their heads above water? That I learned in Botswana to put the arm up to the elbow in the elephants' mouths to put pressure on two organs at the base of the trunk, an operation which, if successful, allows the elephant to count you among you his friends ? That we transsheat crocodiles, stranded dolphins, under the pretext of saving them?

But what is so special under the sea that we are thus doomed to dive our arms crossed?

It seems that they would be transmitted diseases. That by dint of touching the fish, they would sand their protective mucus, etc., etc. Yes ! All this is true, at least for some species. Which in general, by the way, do not let themselves be approached. Not crazy, species.

So we do not touch diving but we let the Japanese harpoon cetaceans; we admire the underwater hunters who pierce beautiful fish to knead them proudly in front of the photographer? In other words, to have the right to touch fish, you have to shoot them first!

Not to touch, I want to. But who touches who first? Have you ever dived in Corsica, in Lavezzi, in the middle of dozens of large groupers and morays? They are the ones who come close to you, until the overdose. What about the clowns who come to peck your crotch to keep you away from their anemone? What about the titan triggerfish that you often have to hunt with your fists? Not to mention that filthy remoras! While diving on the Great Barrier Reef in the middle of sharks, I found myself one day with two remoras of a good meter literally stuck to the buttocks! They did not condescend to unhook until I got out of the water, after having floated for a long time in the open air on my rear end! A shame…

For my part, approaching a marine wild species and this until contact if possible is a proof of great communion with the sea. And I am not talking about the large, sadly plucked napoleons who come to beg for hard-boiled eggs on ultra sites. frequented ... In my opinion, this is the ultimate meeting and it is not that easy to achieve it. Try. No, I didn't say anything! This requires qualities of aquaticity and knowledge of the environment that many convinced ecologists do not have. And respec, precisely.

Also tell yourself that animals can only be touched if they want to! And there are some who like it. Take the manatee, for example. Vigorously scratch his back, where he maintains a lawn of algae and pests worthy of an English garden. You will immediately see him overturn and present his stomach to you. To make the other face! Animals are not masos. If they let it go, it's because they like it! Don't you like having your back scratched? So…

Yes, but “We divers respect the environment”. Rubbish! There is a fake side in this statement that makes me cry. We have to put up with the fact that our very existence constantly threatens the survival of species that we do not even know exist.
We don't touch “nothing”, let's admit, but who cares about the bubbles released under the overhangs? Who leave half of the wildlife stuck on the floor? Well yes, imagine that we keep your head under water. After a while, you die. What about the “educational” touch tanks in our aquariums? And the feeding? What about industrial fishing? What about the pollution caused by diving hotels? Not touch ? My eye…

To compare with other outdoor sports, can we imagine going in the mountains without touching the rock? It would no longer be climbing but free fall! And even, question protection of ecosystems, you will come back. We now know that there are quantities of bacteria living in the atmosphere, a whole world living in raindrops… I'm not telling you the hecatomb when passing through at 200 km per hour!

I am always suspicious of lesson givers who impose learned rules without even knowing why and by whom they have been elevated to the rank of taboo. During our shootings, we sometimes faced similar ayatollahs. I remember in particular this episode where one of our underwater cameramen had unfortunately broken a small branch of coral by moving the box during a sequence. We are not "breakers" and always regret this type of accident but that who has never damaged anything by moving under the sea throws me the first stonemason! Anyway, we saw a monitor coming out of the blue carrying a line of customers in straitjackets. Fury, she rushed on the cameraman and began, with whistle and board "educational" a real underwater fight. Except that, in its rage, receding, it descended like a castle card a whole fringe of reef with the ass of its bottle! The algarade continued on the deck of the boat where everyone was back (very reassembled), the guilty refusing to recognize that she, too, had screwed up the reef she claimed to protect.

Well, without wishing to swing, I also witnessed during night dives on certain "house reefs" real elephant evolutions in a porcelain store ... They do not touch these disciplined divers with their hands but then, they compensate with fins, blocks and… hello damage! All is relative…

So, touch or not touch?