Posts Tagged ‘coral reefs’

That title is a bit misleading… of course you will always be able to scuba dive – but what you’ve gone into the ocean to look at might not have such a bright future.

So concerned are they by the threat of global warming that Maldive government officials donned scuba gear on 17th October to draw the world’s attention to it one more time.

As a publicity stunt they held an underwater meeting amidst pristine coral, to highlight the threat global warming poses to the world’s lowest-lying nation – it will disappear if global warming continues at the rate it is at the moment.

The Maldivian cabinet held a meeting underwater to highlight the need for action on climate change

During the meeting, conducted mainly by writing on white boards and using hand signals, Maldivian President Mohammed Nasheed signed a document asking all countries to cut down their carbon dioxide emissions, prior to the U.N. climate change conference scheduled for December in Copenhagen.

Now, you might think this all a little dramatic and possibly even far-fetched, but it is the bleak future we are leaving to our children if we don’t wake up to this fact now…

Coral is an excellent indicator of climate change, and they are on the brink of collapse.

Are you a keen scuba-diver? and is this pretty much what you hope to see when you slip into the ocean and fin towards a coral reef…

If we’re not careful, our favourite hobby will feature scenes more like this one… some of you might already have seen reefs like this…

Coral reefs are the most diverse and beautiful of all marine habitats.

It is not unusual for a reef to have several hundred species of snails, sixty species of corals, and several hundred species of fish. Of all ocean habitats, reefs seem to have the greatest development of complex symbiotic associations.

Coral reefs are valuable eco-systems that we will not be able to rebuild. They save the world billions of dollars annually by acting as natural sea defenses. Reefs also earn in the region of $30 billion a year for local economies from tourism. Quite apart from this about 500 million people worldwide depend on the reefs for their food. That’s a lot of people who will need aid if reefs collapse.

Globally, coral reefs are under threat from climate change, ocean acidification, overuse of reef resources, and harmful land-use practices. High nutrient levels such as those found in runoff from agricultural areas and industry can harm reefs by encouraging excess algae growth.

Ascidian Overgrowing Coral

Even touching coral can harm them.

Any rise in the sea level due to climate change would effectively ask coral to grow faster to keep up. That’s problem number one.

Secondly, water temperature changes can be very disturbing to the coral. This was seen during the 1998 and 2004 El Niño weather phenomena, in which sea surface temperatures rose well above normal, bleaching or killing many coral reefs. In the event of a 2°C temperature increase, it is thought that coral would not be able to adapt quickly enough either physiologically or genetically.

Perhaps my title isn’t that misleading after all. If either of the two above phenomenon occur there will be very little “wow” factor for us scuba divers to admire. Look at that second photograph – how could we possibly allow that to disappear?

If you feel strongly enough about this topic you should contact an organisation called Avaaz (the word means ‘voice’ in many languages). They are a not-for-profit global campaigning organization that works to ensure that the views and values of the world’s people inform global decision-making. They are campaigning fiercely for the world to wake-up to the reality of global warming and to finally do something constructive at the Copenhagen talks in December – before it’s too late:

After the near fatal tragedy off southern Taiwan earlier this week I thought I should give you diving enthusiasts some information to help make your dive a success in every sense. This comes courtesy of ‘Try Diving.net’ to whom I am very grateful.

18 Practices to Make You a Responsible Diver

• Make sure that you plan all your dives before you get into the water.
• Make sure that your deepest dive of the day is also your first dive of the day.
• The deepest part of each dive that you plan should be reached at the beginning of your dive.
• Try to avoid exerting yourself during your dive. You should also avoid physical activity for half an hour after your dive has finished.
• Check your dive computer and/or guages often throughout your dive.
• If you are diving in cold water or after strenuous activity, make sure that you begin your ascent before you reach your no-decompression limit.
• Always act in compliance with the ascent rate that is indicated by your dive computer.
• Always carry out a 3-minute safety stop between 20 feet (6 meters) and 10 feet (3 meters).
• Try to avoid decompression stop dives and be absolutely certain not to dive deeper than 130 feet (40 meters) unless you are a specially trained deep diver.
• When you are doing a decompression dive, prolong the decompression stop nearest to the surface.
• After all of your decompression stops, ascend to the surface very slowly.
• Always make sure that you are not “yo-yo” diving (repetitively ascending and descending under the water).
• Do not carry out any dive until the desaturation time, as dictated by your previous dive, has passed.
• Avoid repeatedly diving to a single depth deeper than 60 feet (18 meters). N.B. Repeated diving to the same depth is known as ’square diving’.
• Be sure to separate any repetitive dives by at least a 2 hour surface interval.
• If you are planning repetitive dives for a number of consecutive days, be sure to take at least one day off from diving each week. The recommended number of consecutive time diving should not exceed 3 days i.e. take 1 day off every 3 days.
• Be certain that you do not go mountain climbing or take a plane flight for at least 12 hours (preferably 24 hours) after a dive.
• Finally, never try to exceed the limits of your experience and skill.

So there you have it – I can certainly relate to the second last tip – some years ago after diving in the Indian Ocean off of Pemba Island, Tanzania I stupidly climbed into a light aircraft to fly to Nairobi, Kenya. It had been a beautiful dive, incredible visibility and the most wonderful fan corals 5 metres across and then the flight past Mt. Kilimanjaro was equally inspiring – but boy oh boy did I regret that flight. We landed at Wilson Airport where I collapsed with an excruciating headache. To cut a long story short – I recovered – but take note – you have been warned. The only other thing I would add, which I’m sure our Taiwanese diving friends would endorse, is do be aware of the winds and currents in the ocean and make sure in your dive plan that the rendez vous on the surface is agreed and understood by all. This is after all an extreme sport which involves risk but with careful planning this world of a different dimension can and should be enjoyed by all.