stay off the corals

I handle corals in an aquarium environment on a daily basis -- hundreds of species, hard, soft, large, small. I believe that many corals, given the right conditions are very hardy and can be fast-growing. Some corals are incredibly hardy.

Divers should stay off the coral reefs. I agree with this because there is no good reason to be bouncing off of reefs.

How do divers kill reefs? I just can't believe it is due to touching the corals or an inappropriate fin kick. In my experience corals usually die from lack of light, lack of food, inappropriate water conditions, or a predator.

Do divers get incorrectly blamed for the degradation of reefs? Is this a case of blaming the "messenger"?

You're wrong, it is divers, at least a lot of it is. When I was captaining in Key Largo we'd feel for coral slime on diver's fins after the dive (discreetly of course). 80 % or more were slimy. I've seen divers break off pieces to take home, seen them crash uncontrolled into the reef because they KNEW they needed 20 lbs of weight, seen them stand on the reef and wave at passing boaters. I've seen it all. Whose fault is it? Piss poor instructors, most of whom haven't been diving a year themselves.

Tom

On a recent night dive I saw a diver at the Monterey Breakwater knock 6 starfish off rocks with his fins in the space of 15 feet. You can't tell me he couldn't feel his fins bashing the boulders he was swimming over. They were literally raining off the rocks - I saw three falling at the same time, and a number of others upturned on the bottom where they had landed. I know it's not coral, but it has to be drummed into divers heads to stay off the bottom regardless of if you're on a reef or not. Even apparently bare rocks are usually supporting some macro-sized creature or another. Obviously some activities such as kneeling on sand can be harmless, and you can't always prevent yourself from brushing or bumping something, but an outstretched finger should be enough to "bounce" you out of harm's way. Kicking the bottom constantly, oblivious to the wake of damage you leave behind, is just utterly thoughtless and negligent, and will eventually lead to restricted diving activities in affected areas. Look at Point Lobos just south of Monterey - it's closed to only 15 buddy pairs a day to limit the impact from divers on the site. Most people become divers to enjoy the underwater environment - unfortunately some of them are the inhabitants' biggest enemies. :upset:

This is going to sound negative but here goes anyway...I see enough divers to say with certainty that the reefs and my fresh water vis would be better if they just used a tiller. There are far too many divers who just want to sight see on vacation and have no interest in learning how to dive, now...what percentage of reef damage can be blamed on this? O course I have no data but I know what I see. The sad thing is they don't even improve with time or number of dives.

Originally posted by MikeFerrara
This is going to sound negative but here goes anyway...

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Mike, sometimes, as you clearly know, reality is negative. The best teachers speak the truth, wether it be negative or positive.

Tom

A few months ago, I saw an INSTRUCTOR with his class STANDING on a reef at 50fsw, practicing skills. If the instructor doesn't teach it, how can the students learn it?

My point exactly!

I dont have ANY experience diving along reefs yet, so I havent seen first hand the types of horror stories that Ive heard. Thus far, all my dives have been in fresh water. Fortunately for me, all my instructors strongly emphasized the importance of protecting the reefs, as well as staying clear of muddy, silty bottoms so as not to silt up the vis for divers following behind. Personally, I treat all my dives as if they were reef dives, including lake dives and pool dives. I'm always working to better my buoyancy skills by using the "1 finger only" to keep myself off of silty lake bottoms, lake rocks, even nice clean pool bottoms. When the day comes that Im hovering above an actual reef.......I should be well practiced to keep clear of it.

I also have been handling corals in an aquarium environment for the last 10 years.

Yes some of them are hardy, but some of the stonies can be damaged exteremely easily, and they grow very slowly. One fin kick can do enough damage to a piece to the stony that it could cause necrosis, and end up killing it.

In any case, I think its very difficult to present a good argument that a lot of divers DON'T cause damage. You look at a reef that is highly frequented by divers, and its often in a lot worse shape the less frequented reef. I doubt anyone here with more than a dozen dives hasn't seen someone damage the reef.

My favorite - a very cocky guy, thought he was the best diver - that I went diving with in Puerto Vallarta. Hi had his console on a 5-6' hose, unattached to his bc. So as he's swimming along, its bouncing off the coral on the bottom.

I think that environmental awareness should be something that training - especially OW training - should focus much more on. I can't remember if this is even mentioned. As diving becomes more and more popular, I think this is critical.

Darryl

Originally posted by dvleemin
Hi had his console on a 5-6' hose, unattached to his bc. So as he's swimming along, its bouncing off the coral on the bottom.

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Almost like these morons:



Another favorite:

http://www.geekopolis.com/scuba/idiots/P1010023.jpg


- JT