If you're a little ocean critter, it really sucks ass when a human rolls up and picks you up out of the water.
Take the humble sea star, for example. No gills, no lungs. It breathes through tiny bumps on its skin that pull oxygen straight out of the water. Lift it into the air for a photo and those bumps collapse. The critter suffocates.
And the grab itself does damage too. Sea stars, limpets, and mussels hang onto the rock with everything they've got, because letting go means getting eaten or washed away. Pry one off and you can tear it or kill it. Flip a rock and whatever lives underneath gets baked by the sun.
In a lot of marine protected areas, picking up an animal even for a second can get you fined.
Crouch down, get close, take the picture in the water. If you have to touch, wet your hand in seawater, make sure it's sunscreen-free, and use two fingers. Then leave it where it is.