Oh, dive tourism only damages reefs where tourists dive?Kat - Rescue / Paralegal
August 19 at 22:38:13Re: "...divers do not visit most of any reef. I'll give you that heavily used areas suffer, but they are a small fraction of the reefs that are being lost." David N |
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How reassuring. Your point that divers only damage coral reefs where they dive sounds
like a very persuasive argument for no-take, no-dive marine reserves. I mean given the fact that divers damage reefs, why not set aside large areas right in the middle of popular scuba diving destinations where divers are not allowed to do their "I'm still working on my buoyancy thing thanks to my quickie scuba certification course"?
You are wrong that dive tourism is a non-factor in the decline of coral reefs. Long before global warming hit Palau, divers had already taken a heavy toll. I witnessed the damage on several dive trips spanning more than 20 years. Gail is right. The scuba diving industry should be regulated in my opinion more to protect coral reefs than the idiot "ambassadors of the ocean" who cause so much damage and then blame it all on
global warming and over-population as the waitress delivers the catch of the day. | 
