Darker cells mean a higher score for this topic on that metric.
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Quick answers
Which local rescue or training agency should I check first?
Use the local lens: coastguard/federation norms and the shop briefing for that bay — not a blog visibility claim.
Is touching coral always illegal?
Often yes in a park, and always a bad idea. A glove does not make a polyp tougher.
Why do Hawaii and Palau restrict sunscreens?
Statutes target ingredients such as oxybenzone. The science and the politics are both live; long sleeves work regardless.
Can people take a shell?
In many countries, even empty shells and sand are restricted. Assume no souvenir.
How far from a turtle?
Many parks specify 2–3 metres or more, no blocking the surface path. If the animal changes direction, the person is too close.
Is feeding fish kind?
It changes behaviour and is banned in serious parks. The bread-ball boat is a failure mode.
Etiquette is mostly about not harming the habitat. A few rules also keep people out of fire coral, lionfish and territorial damselfish. Not a medical page.
A cut from coral is a clinical cleanliness problem. A broken colony is a century problem.
Hazards
- Fire coral and hydroids — Look, do not brush.
- Lionfish and stonefish — In some seas; shuffling on sand, not on reef, if wading.
- Territorial damselfish — A comical bite that still means you are in the nest.
- Night-light blindness — Yours and the animal’s.
- Anchor scars as a group hazard — A boat that cannot moor should not “just drop it.”
- Human crowd panic — A kicked mask in a shallow grove leads to standing. The stand is the injury to the reef.
Rules
- No touch, no take, no chase — The whole code in six words.
- Use moorings — Or drift. Do not invent an anchorage on a bommie.
- Follow ranger signals — A whistle is not optional audio.
- Report damage and feeding tours — Parks cannot fine what they never hear about.
- Night: one beam, low — See the night-diving chapter.
Red flags
- A guide handing out bread — Refuse and say why.
- A selfie stick in the thicket — Stop the group.
- Someone pocketing a shell — The park’s problem now.
- Bleached or recently broken branches under knees — Exit the photo.
First response
- Coral abrasion — Clean water, then clinical care if it is a reef cut — they infect. Not a protocol.
- Stings — Local park card over internet myth.
- Not medical advice — Infections from marine cuts need clinicians.
The red flags are social. The first-aid is ordinary wound care plus a clinic, not a folk vinegar debate.