Diving in Marine Protected Areas: Best Practices

When diving in Marine Protected Areas like Marine Parks, divers should:

a) Follow the same diving practices as outside the parks

b) Only participate in guided dives

c) Only collect marine life that is not protected by federal law

d) Respect and follow the local Marine Park regulations

Final answer: When diving in Marine Protected Areas, divers should respect and follow the local Marine Park regulations to protect marine biodiversity and ecosystems. Such regulations typically go beyond standard diving practices.

Explanation: When diving in Marine Protected Areas such as Marine Parks, divers should primarily respect and follow the local Marine Park regulations. This is crucial because such areas are specifically designated to protect marine biodiversity and ecosystems. Therefore, it's best to adhere to principles of responsible diving in all cases, in and outside the parks. However, within these parks, there may be additional rules to further safeguard marine life. These can cover things such as not touching coral or other marine life, and not collecting any species, protected by law or not. Local regulations generally supersede standard practices. Therefore, the correct answer is d) Respect and follow the local Marine Park regulations.