Brand new dive site damaged by fishing trawler

[Bowmouth]

I was once criticized on a dive-boat in Florida for bringing rubbish aboard and putting it in the bin.

Often over time rubbish on the reef becomes new habitat for creatures. Once creatures have transformed the rubbish into a "home" it's (often) better to leave it as it is. In Lembeh Straits (North Sulawesi) you find the best creatures living in old shoes, empty paint cans, discarded oil filters and other trash.

Maybe on the boat in Florida your DM was worried you picked up trash without being careful and selective. Or maybe he just didn't like a smelly bin.

 

[lord khram]

Often over time rubbish on the reef becomes new habitat for creatures. Once creatures have transformed the rubbish into a "home" it's (often) better to leave it as it is. In Lembeh Straits (North Sulawesi) you find the best creatures living in old shoes, empty paint cans, discarded oil filters and other trash.

Maybe on the boat in Florida your DM was worried you picked up trash without being careful and selective. Or maybe he just didn't like a smelly bin.

Just too lazy to want to dispose of it I think, It was only your usual plastic bags and empty beer cans and it was picked up from the sand around a small wreck, so certainly nothing was damaged by me picking it up.

 

[lord khram]

On a popular site frequented by two dive operators..... One operator regularly feeds UW critters to amuse their divers .... One operator insists all rubbish be stored and returned to shore. They don't even allow bread crusts to be thrown overboard!

Guess which one gets my money.... no contests! We vote with out business and our dollars!

I have been considered radical because I don't think we should interfere any more than necessary which includes Burley and shark feeding which I believe upset the balances and ecosystem.

Yes we will impact the environment every time we dive but we can choose how much we impact it by our own actions. I chose to be part of the solution but I need to do more. Please remember when you chose to "clean up" underwater... to make sure you are not removing something that has become home to some opportunistic critter!

Well said bowlofpetunias, I totally agree with you.
Everything we do impacts on the environment in some way, every piece of dive equipment we buy has been produced in a factory that causes polution. Every time we dive on a boat, the boat uses oil and causes polution.
But as I have said before, Just a little thought and consideration which costs neither money or time can minimise our effects on the environment and other people. If we all did that it would be a good start.
Maybe we should start a thread to name and shame these organisations/individuals. If we see something we dont like, post it on here, then let others judge if they still want to dive with these shops or not.
Maybe that would make some people change their ways if they started losing customers.
To make it work fairly though we must also post our posotive experiences to assist people in deciding which shops to use.

 

[Bowmouth]

Maybe we should start a thread to name and shame these organizations/individuals.

You've started with that already a looong time ago...

 

[stevenl]

Strong currents had caused further damage to the plane hit by the anchor, Mr Gottwald said.

As Mr. Gottwald knows all too well, the divesite will be non- existent anyway after the low season. The planes are completely unsheltered, and the swells will destroy them completely there. But personal interests have again prevailed here.

 

[ayeshacantrell]

Not sure how the passage of time will effect these wrecks but I visited in Jan and have had an article printed about them.....take a look pg 10 and 11

 

[ayeshacantrell]

C-Publishing

sorry - forgot the link ...pg 10 and 11

 

[CHDiver]

Again I am not saying I agree with this type of occurance, but if that is the case in a round about way there was a positive outcome for the guy who sold it, and at least it will be recycled.
But can someone enlighten me what positive outcome Mermaids in Pattaya get from their daily littering of the sea bed?

Your knowledge may be a little outdated here

I did some dives with Mermaids since 2006. Policy on the Boats are not to toss food or other trash over Board. Every Boat from Mermaids has a Sticker that educates the Divers about it.

Mermaids is doing a lot of Reef and Beach Clean ups. Instead of telling tales why not just go there and help on a clean up?

 

[lord khram]

Your knowledge may be a little outdated here

I did some dives with Mermaids since 2006. Policy on the Boats are not to toss food or other trash over Board. Every Boat from Mermaids has a Sticker that educates the Divers about it.

Mermaids is doing a lot of Reef and Beach Clean ups. Instead of telling tales why not just go there and help on a clean up?

I still dive in the Pattaya area on a regular basis and have done for many years. And unless my eyes are deceiving me or a new species of chicken that lives underwater and sheds scores of wing bones on a daily basis has evolved, this practice is still prevalant on pattaya dive boats.
Or maybe they just fall out of the sky???

 

[lord khram]

As Mr. Gottwald knows all too well, the divesite will be non- existent anyway after the low season. The planes are completely unsheltered, and the swells will destroy them completely there. But personal interests have again prevailed here.

I am not sure who is Mr Gottwald?
But I have to agree, too many people in diving try to convince themselves and others that their actions are for some good other than their bank balance. I think it is just the PADI way unfortunately.
i would have more respect for these people if they were just honest for once.