Substantial reef damage from boat anchor... again

[Ambassador Divers]

Paul Allen's Yacht Tatoosh Destroys Protected Cayman Reef | Cayman Islands Diving | iDive Blog

 

[diver0008]

Sad. Criminal.

P.S.: I have dove with you several times when on Grand Cayman. My profile photo was taken on your boat. Hope to see you again soon.

 

[Stoo]

I'm not familiar with that reef at all (Been years since I've been to GC) but I presume that the damage was caused by the anchor chain swinging/dragging across the top of the reef? The reason I ask is that the little gullies and more protected areas appear to just be rubble and bare rock for the most part. Is that why this was considered a replenishment area? Had coral been seeded on an otherwise dead area?

I'm not trying to defend what's happened here... Just trying to understand what damage is "new" to what appears to be a pretty much dead area previously...

 

[tkaelin]

What is also concerning is the lack of fish life in general in your video. It is barren. I think I watched one of your videos recently of sand chute. What was noticeable was the lack of fish in the video. This has not always been the case, but it is something I am starting to notice.

 

[Insta-Gator]

There doesn't appear to be any discernible demarcation between the damage area and what might have been considered healthy area. If the reef had been recently damaged, wouldn't there be small areas of live growth and broken pieces of live growth strewn about? The entire area looks as if it has been unhealthy/dead for quite a while. Just my observation from the video.

 

[letterboy]

Isn't this the same boat that was told by someone, I assume harbor master, to anchor there and they did as they were told?

 

[letterboy]

My mistake, the port authority.

Billionaire Conservationist's Yacht Damages Coral Reef

 

[Insta-Gator]

Well, if someone is trying to make a point using the video, they'd better narrate it in order to point out where the damage is versus just used/abused dying reef prior to the yacht arrival.

Again, I am not trying to defend the action of the yacht.

 

[kelemvor]

according to the article, it is "mitch miller's reef". They also have some photos from October 2015 Mitch Miller's Reef | Scuba Diving in West Bay | iDive Cayman

I guess I don't understand enough about how boat anchors work. Why do they have such a long chain on the sucker such that it was even possible to touch 14,000 sf of any kind of bottom?

 

[diver0008]

What is also concerning is the lack of fish life in general in your video. It is barren. I think I watched one of your videos recently of sand chute. What was noticeable was the lack of fish in the video. This has not always been the case, but it is something I am starting to notice.

Come to think of it, having dove some other places since beginning on Grand Cayman, you may be quite right about the lack of fish life there. Interested in some other divers weighing in on this.