[Coral-List] Underwater signage

Wed May 22 16:26:54 EDT 2013

Good post!!  Many thanks!!  Cheers,  Doug

On Wed, May 22, 2013 at 5:13 AM, Dennis Hubbard
<dennis.hubbard at oberlin.edu>wrote:

> Hi all:
>
> Not that this is the case in the instance that started this discussion,
> but there is another possible way of dealing with lost experiments,
> signage, etc. - at least philosophically.
>
> Years back, my daughter (now Arch/Anthro faculty) visited Tanzania on a
> study away program. She had the foresight to convince the college president
> to hire a temporary full-time person to teach Swahili. As a result, she
> arrived in Tanzania quite conversant in the language and had an experience
> that was VERY different than that of her peers. She is now fluent in
> several dialects and that has given her a unique perspective (and a lot of
> valuable advantage) when she has to work with local tribes and elders.
>
> When the group visited Ngorogoro (sp?) crater, the local Masai invited her
> into their village, apparently quite an unusual honor. Anyway, since the
> early studies by Richard Leakey, the anthropologists had been leaving
> "permanent" markers so they could revisit important sites. And.... as fast
> as they were left, they mysteriously disappeared; it was presumed that the
> Masai had stolen them.
>
> Being a naive college student, Amy asked one of the village elders about
> this... fortunately not insulting the elder, but rather giving him a
> welcome opportunity to explain what now made sense to him. Apparently, for
> all those years, the Masai had been interpreting these as territorial
> markers such as those too frequently left in the colonial days and had
> removed them with the intent of retaining their territorial boundaries
> which did not correspond to the markers. The answer to the mystery was
> simple - nobody had explained what the markers were for.
>
> The lesson is that a naive undergraduate was apparently the first to ask
> the Masai about this long-standing misunderstanding. At the time, it struck
> me as amazing that a discipline that placed such cache on cultural
> sensitivity had never thought to bring the Masai into the conversation.
> Perhaps the signs will continue to disappear.... and it is probably much
> harder to explain to an unidentified potential thief why they should
> respect signs, experiments, etc. left underwater, but that might be a place
> to start. Presumably these are divers and I would naively hope that they
> would respect something  they understand to be an effort to better
> understand the environment they love.
>
> As a science coordinator for Hydrolab for some years, I found myself
> dumbfounded over how much "research trash" was left behind and how
> generally disrespectful my peers were of the system they were striving to
> understand. I have had an opportunity to dive near the old Hydrolab sites
> in both Salt River (St. Croix) and in the Bahamas. Myriad "experiments"
> still grace the seascape if your eyes are calibrated to those pesky linear
> patterns that nature is so loathe to create. I'm sure I could have filled
> the boat at least three times over with all these "artifacts".
>
> I'm sure we're all much purer of heart now.
>
> Dennis
>
>
>
> On Mon, May 20, 2013 at 5:13 PM, Douglas Fenner <
> douglasfennertassi at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Many years ago, a public aquarium that will remain unnamed had a large
>> reef
>> aquarium.  After weekends, they noticed some of the fish were missing.
>> They put up signs that said "Warning: Chemically treated fish, do not
>> eat."  Fish stopped disappearing.
>>      I once was told about an electrophysiology lab where things
>> disappeared.  A sign was then posted saying something like "Danger High
>> Voltage, 5 million ohms" with a radioactivity sign below it.  Things
>> stopped disappearing.
>>     Cheers, Doug
>>
>>
>> On Tue, May 21, 2013 at 2:30 AM, Ulf Erlingsson <ceo at lindorm.com> wrote:
>>
>> > How about this:
>> >
>> > "WARNING - DO NOT TOUCH - CONTENTS UNDER HIGH PRESSURE"
>> >
>> > Ulf Erlingsson
>> >
>> > On 2013-05-19, at 19:42, Scott Heron - NOAA Affiliate wrote:
>> >
>> > > Two thoughts on this from my experience:
>> > >
>> > > * Saying "WARNING" rather than "DANGER".
>> > >
>> > > * Rather than 'radioactive', perhaps try "ELECTRICAL WARNING: 50,000
>> > > ohms."?  Ohms are the units of resistance (better still, use the unit
>> > > symbol of capital omega rather than the word to look good).  High
>> > > resistance is a safe thing; to the unknowing potential interactee, the
>> > > reference to electricity combined with a big number should be enough
>> of a
>> > > deterrent...
>> > >
>> > > Cheers, Scott.
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > On Sat, May 18, 2013 at 6:14 PM, martina <
>> > m.milanese at studioassociatogaia.com
>> > >> wrote:
>> > >
>> > >>
>> > >> Nice idea!
>> > >> I will try it myself, and adapt it to our dataloggers (that are
>> > >> recurrently being stolen).
>> > >> They are little cute things with a pulsing red LED light - apparently
>> > >> very attractive to marine life covered in neoprene.
>> > >>
>> > >>
>> > >> Martina
>> > >>
>> > >>
>> > >> Il 17/05/13 19.48, Michael Risk ha scritto:
>> > >>> Good day.
>> > >>>
>> > >>> Many years ago [the statute of limitations has now run out] I was
>> > >> attempting to obtain settling rates of invertebrates on panels with
>> > >> different textures, set underwater at Catalina Island. I ran into
>> > terrible
>> > >> problems with treasure hunters/vandals/thieves damaging the
>> experimental
>> > >> setups. So I devised a modified technique. I wrote my text on the
>> panels
>> > >> using red nail polish, and then covered that with a fiberglass
>> gelcoat.
>> > The
>> > >> panels themselves were simply soft wood 2 x 6 pieces, covered in
>> > >> fiberglass. What I wrote was not accurate, but was designed to repel
>> > >> invaders.
>> > >>>
>> > >>> Worked like a charm. The panels were underwater for many months, the
>> > >> signage remained legible, and any algae could simply be wiped off.
>> > >>>
>> > >>>  A friend of mine, the manager of the Marine Lab, was standing on
>> the
>> > >> lab dock one day when a dive boat pulled up, and a red-faced
>> overweight
>> > >> irate diver  jumped off. He said "Hey! I was just diving out on the
>> > rocks,
>> > >> and I saw some panels down there.  I whipped out my knife and was
>> going
>> > to
>> > >> collect them for my rec room, when I read the sign that said DANGER
>> > >> RADIOACTIVE.  Am I in any danger because I came so close?"
>> > >>>
>> > >>> Bob had a moment to think, this is the kind of guy that has just
>> caused
>> > >> Mike to lose six months work. Then he said "Sir, you are in
>> absolutely
>> > no
>> > >> danger. There is only a slight chance of any damage. Go home, and if
>> > you do
>> > >> not notice any change in your external genitalia over the next six
>> > months,
>> > >> you will know you are out of danger."
>> > >>>
>> > >>> Several lessons here. First, don't try this at home. Second, a
>> gelcoat
>> > >> over your text is a guarantee of longevity. Of your text.
>> > >>>
>> > >>> Mike
>> > >>> On 2013-05-16, at 8:39 AM, Ruleo Camacho wrote:
>> > >>>
>> > >>>> Good Day,
>> > >>>> I am attempting to create some underwater signage for a snorkeling
>> > reef
>> > >>>> trail but I have been having immense difficulty in obtaining a
>> > material
>> > >>>> which would be adequate to stand up to the rigors of salt water and
>> > and
>> > >>>> micro organisms. Any suggestions on what materials/methods may be
>> > >> suitable
>> > >>>> for this use?
>> > >>>> Regards
>> > >>>>
>> > >>>> --
>> > >>>> Ruleo
>> > >>>> _______________________________________________
>> > >>>> Coral-List mailing list
>> > >>>> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
>> > >>>> http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
>> > >>>
>> > >>> Michael Risk
>> > >>> riskmj at mcmaster.ca
>> > >>>
>> > >>>
>> > >>>
>> > >>> _______________________________________________
>> > >>> Coral-List mailing list
>> > >>> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
>> > >>> http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
>> > >>>
>> > >> _______________________________________________
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>> >
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>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> PO Box 7390
>> Pago Pago, American Samoa 96799  USA
>>
>> The views expressed are those of the author alone.
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>
>
>
> --
> Dennis Hubbard
> Dept of Geology-Oberlin College Oberlin OH 44074
> (440) 775-8346
>
> * "When you get on the wrong train.... every stop is the wrong stop"*
>  Benjamin Stein: "*Ludes, A Ballad of the Drug and the Dream*"
>

-- 
PO Box 7390
Pago Pago, American Samoa 96799  USA

The views expressed are those of the author alone.