The Observer Effect?

[TMHeimer]

Agree with the last 3 posts. A big problem with all of this is that there are too many divers visiting the "highlight" reefs, wrecks, etc. Don't know how you can regulate this without affecting the dive op businesses. They're not gunna take divers to less attractive areas. I believe that is why it is very difficult for a shell collector to find a Caribbean op that will allow it--nobody else would be more interested in a reefless sandy bottom where shells hang out. And if even a few collectors take specimens from the same area it reduces the attractiveness to divers, and that reduces dive op income.
But, I guess you could pass laws regulating number of divers to specific spots--why not, we always like to pass new laws anyway.

 

[RayfromTX]

I have reef aquariums. I also have dive sites where every 6 inches is another pistol shrimp and goby burrow entry.

Ocean sand is anything but dead. Except MAYBE within 50 yards of the beach.

I agree based on my limited Caribbean diving experience. Ocean sand is like the desert. It seems like there's nothing out there until you know where, how and when to look and then you find out it's crazy full of life. The upside for the sand creatures is that most divers gravitate towards the coral and the walls so the sandy or grassy areas near reefs may be spared the heavy pressure and anyway, the little critters are perhaps limited by things other than human pressure such as food, temperature or inter-species dynamics.

 

[JamesBon92007]

I have reef aquariums. I also have dive sites where every 6 inches is another pistol shrimp and goby burrow entry.

Ocean sand is anything but dead. Except MAYBE within 50 yards of the beach.

Personally I've seen a LOT of life in the sand much closer than 50 yards.

 

[RainPilot]

Hence the MAYBE part

Had to hedge my bets a liiiiitttle else we'll end up with a thread of pics of barren sand saying, "see, told you the sand is fine!"

 

[JamesBon92007]

Hence the MAYBE part

Had to hedge my bets a liiiiitttle else we'll end up with a thread of pics of barren sand saying, "see, told you the sand is fine!"

I've also seen a lot of sand that appeared to be just sand

 

[RayfromTX]

If I was a better video editor I could post some great shots of flounder the size of my pinky nail in the sand that appeared to be just sand and others of various Rays going town on something that wasn't just sand and Conches scarfing down on something in the sand. All the critters that make their life eating stuff in the barren sand would disagree with the idea that sand is just sand. To them it's a pantry.

 

[JamesBon92007]

So, what you are saying is that by kneeling on the sand we are killing some creatures that are just going to be eaten anyway? Just kidding

By "sand that appears to be just sand" I was referring to places where there doesn't seem to be much of anything alive, such as San Onofre, California. That is (was) the site of a nuclear power plant. The peculiar thing is that along the Orange County coast you can easily see layers of seashells in the bluffs and in-between there are layers of dirt. However, at San Onofre I could find no layers of seashells as though nothing lived there thousands of years ago as it apparently did everywhere else. It makes me wonder if they picked that particular site because it would have a lower impact on the sea life but that is probably giving them too much credit.

 

[tursiops]

I've also seen a lot of sand that appeared to be just sand

Right. And then I looked at the same sand at night with a UV light and a yellow mask. Wow.....covered with things I could not even see when I turned on my regular dive light.

 

[ronscuba]

Tough crowd when it comes to protecting the sand.

This is the video I posted earlier in this thread and it was pointed out that a diver was touching the bottom.


I am all for ocean conservation and protecting wild life, but I think it is possible some are getting a little too strict. I think the divers pee did more harm than his muck stick touching the sand for a split second.

 

[Marie13]

Dive the Great Lakes. There are no reefs to worry about. The invasive species are the mussels, not lion fish. But then the cold water probably keeps the number of divers down. ;-)