New cruise ship pier

[bamafan]

I can see good and bad with this.

Cozumel mayor says fourth cruise ship dock a fact - Riviera Maya News

 

[northernone]

Should at least take care of sea urchin problem in the shore entry spots where they stick it ... A few million tons of concrete on them should reduce the likelihood of getting spiked...

 

[DandyDon]

Sad. So much reef destruction, so much ongoing pollution, so many more barge people, changes in business aimed at barge people. I enjoy modern comforts like indoor plumbing and all, but hate to see so much of the island life lost.

 

[gopbroek]

Mega-Ship Lands In Cozumel
Not a miss print, came in on a Sunday to add to already grid locked / closed roads due to the very large GNFY Bicycle race that day.

 

[Coral-Reefer]

I wonder if they're going to build another trap area for the thousands that will be pouring off of the new pier. I wonder if it will be in the area between Villa Blanca and Blue Angel...

 

[jlyle]

 

[ChuckP]

There's this article and it seems pier would be farther south?????

Cozumel mayor says fourth cruise ship dock a fact - Riviera Maya News

 

[jlyle]

There's this article and it seems pier would be farther south?????

Cozumel mayor says fourth cruise ship dock a fact - Riviera Maya News

You're right Chuck, "between the San Miguel pier and the SSA pier" puts the new dock just south of downtown San Miguel near Punta Langosta.

 

[scubafanatic]

Should at least take care of sea urchin problem in the shore entry spots where they stick it ... A few million tons of concrete on them should reduce the likelihood of getting spiked... View attachment 489074

Sea urchins already went pretty much extinct Decades ago (a disease plague annihilated them back in the late 70's and 80's), but I do get your overall point.

The Great Diadema antillarum Die-Off: 30 Years Later

https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/10.1146/annurev-marine-122414-033857

Abstract

In 1983–1984, the sea urchin Diadema antillarum suffered mass mortality throughout the Caribbean, Florida, and Bermuda. The demise of this herbivore contributed to a phase shift of Caribbean reefs from coral-dominated to alga-dominated communities. A compilation of published data of D. antillarum population densities shows that there has been moderate recovery since 1983, with the highest rates on islands of the eastern Caribbean. On the average the current population densities are approximately 12% of those before the die-off, apparently because of recruitment limitation, but the exact factors that are constraining the recovery are unclear. Scattered D. antillarum cohorts in some localities and aggregation of settled individuals in shallow water have created zones of higher herbivory in which juvenile coral recruitment, survivorship, and growth are higher than they are in alga-dominated areas. Unlike other stressors on Caribbean coral reefs, recent changes in D. antillarum populations progress toward aiding the recovery of coral cover.

Sea urchin recovery from mass mortality: New hope for Caribbean coral reefs?

Sea urchin recovery from mass mortality: New hope for Caribbean coral reefs?

By February 1984, the sea urchin had been virtually eliminated from all of its range, making this the most extensive and severe mass mortality ever reported for a marine organism.

 

[scubafanatic]

Sad. So much reef destruction, so much ongoing pollution, so many more barge people, changes in business aimed at barge people. I enjoy modern comforts like indoor plumbing and all, but hate to see so much of the island life lost.

Honestly 'Wilma' back in 2005 killed the Coz reefs, at this point who's really counting anymore ? Between increasing global warming, illegal fishing in the marine park, the ever increasing onslaught of the pod people and the land-based politically connected vested interests who enjoy a short term financial benefit from them, the interests of scuba divers are little more than a passing thought to the powers that be in Cozumel these days.