Dive tourism IS a primary cause of coral reef damage...Maurice - AOW / Teacher
August 14 at 09:58:58Evidently the three people who have already posted in this forum do not travel. Dive tourism definitely IS a primary cause of coral reef damage wherever large numbers of tourists dive and
snorkel.
Scientific studies have found that reefs have a carrying capacity in terms of how much diver impact they can absorb and remain healthy. Exceed that capacity and coral reefs rapidly degenerate and die. It's death by a thousand cuts by too many divers day after day after day not only at overdeveloped and overcrowded dive destinations in the Caribbean but also in more remote areas in Oceania and Asia. And then there's the impact of the tourism infrastructure starting with the bungalows built on the beach and the big hotels that inevitably follow as market forces work to satisfy increasing demand for the latest scuba diving hotspot.
There is another Scuba Forum on this topic based on the CDNN article "Race to save coral reefs from scuba divers". The article clearly states that scuba divers are the "main culprit" (ie "primary cause") of the "estimated 50% to 70% of the Red Sea's reefs that have already been destroyed". www.scuba-forum.com/forums/coral_reef_degradation/coral_reef_degradation.html
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