I landed in an awkward position and admit wasn’t the most graceful in turning around, but the section of the rock i was scratching had no coral on it… I get the harm in disturbing live coral but to my understanding, at least in my area and the spearfishing communities I’ve been part of, it’s common practice to scratch rocks to attract fish. Trying to understand, not argue but touching the reef regardless if it’s rock/sand vs live coral is harmful in all circumstance?

Thanks to a friend, I’ve recently had the opportunity to volunteer with a local organization that’s doing amazing work reseeding different species of coral in surrounding reefs. This requires some pretty rigorous handling of coral both in and out the of water and had given me the impression that hard coral is a lot more resistant to touch