I am also a diver - we don't touch reefs - we don't spear them and we do everything we can to avoid having our fins kick them - I don't even wear sunscreen when I dive (and I am a melanoma survivor) because of the issues with the chemicals - I wear spf shirts and ridiculous looking big floppy hats.

Pictures may provide some idea of what is there - but there is nothing like seeing it in person - that's sort of like saying Orient beach is beautiful in pictures, so who needs to actually go there.

On the whole, divers are more conservation minded than most folks - most dive boats don't use single use plastics (bottled water and the like) and I've never been on a dive boat that allows divers to touch or take anything. Part of learning to dive is learning how to control your body so that we don't disturb the fragile ecosystem.