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Coral Reef Etiquette

 

The following pages are taken from a booklet that was given to us by some of our Hong Kong friends. The booklet contains no copy right messages and we at SEAQUEST find its contents important.

 

Therefore we re-shaped it into web pages, for everybody to read. In this way we hope to contribute to the well being of the under water world, and at the same time share with you some absolutely marvelous cartoons...

 

Coral Reef Etiquette

The people who enjoy and appreciate our underwater life most are scuba divers. They are however, a growing threat to the survival of many marine ecosystems. The sport of diving has become increasingly popular. It is no longer considered dangerous, nor is it only a rich-man's sport.

With advances in safety equipment and an increase in tourists visiting tropical destinations for their vacations, diving is becoming a standard activity on the holiday agenda. As a result, coral reefs throughout the world are beginning to suffer and show signs of stress from the constant pounding of divers' fins and sediment rain.

 

Each illustration shows a spiny character reprimanding the wayward divers. This animal, Diadema setosum, the long-spined sea urchin, is abundant in a growing number of dive areas and indicates an imbalance in the marine ecosystem. Under normal conditions, these sea urchins hide from predators, in crevices and under rocky overhangs, only emerging at night while natural predators for example, triggerfish, have been fished out long ago, leaving the urchins to multiply unchecked. Their spines are poisonous and few divers have managed to avoid being stabbed in low visibility dives, or when diving in a swell.

 

By following a few simple rules, it is possible for divers and snorkellers to enjoy visits to coral reefs and to leave them as they found them.

 

A final word for instructors who may set up diving schools where there are still pristine reefs, novice divers are the ones most likely to cause damage to the reef through incorrect buoyancy and rapid movement of the arms and fins. training should preferably be carried out in an area where the least harm can be done.



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Coral Reef Etiquette
By Jo Ruxton Andy Hinks

 

DON'T ANCHOR ON REEFS...

Always anchor away from the reef. Much damage to coral reefs and their associated animals, is caused by anchors falling onto and dragging across them. Permanent buoys set in areas frequently visited by divers will prevent such damage. Alternatively care should be taken to drop anchors where little or no damage can occur.

 

 

 

 

GO DOWN SLOWLY...

Master proper buoyancy control. Neutral buoyancy is the most important way to avoid damage to the reef. Over-weighted divers crash down onto the reef, shattering the coral and damaging the animals below. Over- buoyancy causes divers to grab sections of coral, harming the individual polyps and frequently breaking sections off. Practice in a pool, wear a minimum of lead, relax, breath slowly and make fine adjustments to buoyancy by regulating your breathing.

 

 

KNOW HOW TO DIVE CAVES...

Learn to maneuver over the sea-bed without stirring up the sediment. Corals and other sedentary animals cannot swim away from sedimentation and become smothered by the silt and detritus raining on them. Corals require sunlight to grow and increased sediment in the water reduces available light placing them under stress. Try to stay horizontal during a dive. Divers in a vertical position frequently 'bicycle' with their long fins breaking the reef and stirring up sediment.

 

 

DON'T 'BICYCLE'...

Don't try and squeeze through small places. Divers sometimes do not think about their increased size with a tank on their back and try to swim through small openings, between rocks or into wrecks. Sponges, soft corals and small encrusting animals can be dislodged or damaged in this way.

 

 

 

 

LEAVE THINGS WHERE THY BELONG...

Fasten down extra equipment to prevent it from trailing. Consoles, octopus rigs, torches and extra equipment should be kept fastened to the dive jacket to prevent it trailing over corals and other sensitive organisms. Even perfect buoyancy control cannot prevent damage created by unfastened equipment.

 

 

 

 

TIE UP THOSE HOSES...

Don't spearfish. There are simply not enough fish available for the number of spearfishermen who hunt them. Over-fishing by commercial fleets has already caused serious depletion of our fish stocks and with spearfishermen indiscriminately killing the remaining few fish, it is possible to dive in several places around the world without seeing any at all.

 

 

 

AVOID MERMAIDS...

If you become snagged, don't try to struggle free. It is easy to panic when you are suddenly unable to swim forward but, usually, a piece of equipment has simply become caught on the reef. Stop and gently free yourself: you'll use less air and do less damage. Discarded nets can be a problem especially in poor visibility: trying to struggle free often makes the situation worse. If you pull away, there's a good chance that encrusting animals will be scraped off at the same time. Stop and use a knife to free yourself if the net cannot be removed gently.

 

BRING A LIGHT, BUT...

Leave everything as you found it. When stones and boulders are turned over, the small residents beneath are exposed to predators and currents. They can be examined safely if the stones are replaced. When you dive overseas, remember that huge basket sponges may look inviting to sit or hide in and are frequently used as 'props' for photographs. The damage to these colonial animals that results from this brief activity however, may be enough to kill the whole sponge months later. Picking up 'sea fans' is not like picking flowers, each one is a coral colony made up of thousands of tiny individual animals which have taken many years to grow.

 

TAKE PICTURES, BUT...

Collecting empty snail shells may seem harmless, but, such shells are potential homes for hermit crabs and offer protection to other smaller animals. Leave live shells alone. Each snail is part of a complicated food chain and removing just one shell could lead to the disappearance of other types of marine life. Shell-collectors taking rare species are decreasing the diversity of these animals in reef systems throughout the world.

 

 

 

BRING YOUR GARBAGE HOME...

Take extra care on night dives. Diving at night is different from the day time. A reef that was swarming with fish during the day may appear empty at night but closer inspection will reveal sleeping fish hiding in crevices and amongst the corals. A diver's bright torch may disturb and frighten the fish causing them to crash into obstacles and injure themselves. Many corals feed at night and if a diver's vision is limited, damage to the delicate polyps, as they are extended to feed, can result.

 

 

TURTLES ARE NOT HORSES...

Never buy shells, corals or any marine life as souvenirs. If we continue to buy marine souvenirs, then more living reef inhabitants will be taken to supply the demand. The effect on local reefs could be devastating. As long as there is money to be made in the dried specimen or shell business, it will continue to thrive.

 

 

 

 

DON'T BUY SHELLS...

Don't force contact on docile animals. Catching puffer fish for example, and passing them around as they inflate may make interesting photographs, but the stress it causes could be enough to kill the fish. If you are lucky enough to dive with them, don't ride turtles. Remember, these animals are air-breathing and could be on their way to the surface to breathe. Excessive handling may frighten or shock the turtle.

 

 

 

DON'T SPEAR FISH...

Never throw plastic bags into the sea. The ocean has enormous problems with plastic bags and they can also cause problems on pristine reefs when divers enthusiastically feed the fish with food taken down in them. Once all the food has been eaten, bags are often left to just float in the water where turtles and other large sea creatures mistake them for jellyfish and choke on them. Should you be feeding the fish at all ?

 

 

 

IN THE NET...

Avoid crowding underwater caves. The roof of a cave may be home to many small encrusting animals. If inside a cave there are too many divers for too long, bubbles collect in pockets in the roof causing these animals to 'drown in air'.

 

 

 

 

 

WATCH YOUR DIET...

'Take only photographs - leave only ripples'. Photographers usually remember the motto, but are y o u damaging the reef for the sake of a photograph ? Underwater photographers probably appreciate marine life more than any other divers and yet are often the worst offenders of reef damage. With all their concentration on the view- finder, fins are forgotten as they kick and scrape behind to gain a steady hold on the sea bed.