The world’s coral reefs
“Corals reefs all over the world are in serious trouble” according to the World Atlas of Coral Reefs. The total area of the coral reefs of the world is only about 286,000 square kilometers. During the last 20years, the world has lost more than 25 % of these precious natural resources. Moreover, of the remaining reefs (according to the World Resources Institute) 58 % are in imminent danger due to human activities. This scary state of deterioration is probably the most significant catastrophe facing the diving community, because simply, without reefs there would be a remarkable decrease in the diving activities.
Many of the world’s top reef scientists predicted that coral reefs as we know them today will be destroyed by the middle of this century. That means, the next generation will only enjoy reefs in documentary movies and printed materials!
There are several reasons that coral reefs are dying, probably the top four are:
- Nutrient loading into coastal waters from agriculture and poorly or untreated sewage.
- Heavy sedimentation from large coastal construction and/or poor land-use practices.
- Over fishing or destructive practice such as blast or cyanide fishing.
- Global-scale problems like abnormal atmospheric warming and ozone depletion.
Tourism, diving and the coral reef
Of course we can’t ignore the impact on the coral reefs from tourism, but the fact is that the nature of tourism related damage is not what you might think. Most destruction related to coral reefs’ tourism is not because of scuba diving, but due to improper or irresponsible building design or construction practices and other problems related to infrastructure.
Poor planning and practices result in excessive sedimentation and habitat destruction during construction, and lack of adequate wastewater treatment afterward. 
It is clear that there has been some confusion and misconceptions over exactly who has been the main reason for the coral reef degradation. Of course, divers are obvious targets to blame, since our activities are so visible and also because scuba diving and coral reefs are as well-associated as skiing and mountain slopes. That is why the view has been expressed by some that scuba divers represent a major factor in the decline of the coral reefs. There is a single major problem with this argument: It is not true. In fact, the beauty, the value of coral, and the efforts made to protect and preserve them, would have not been even an issue if the scuba diving had not been a common sport practice. Many of the coral reefs all over the world have been, for years, mistreated, misused and in fact destroyed by a variety of ignorant human behavior. In addition, scuba divers are the only known group that receives environmental information and adequate reef protection behavior during their basic training.
Researchers showed that the leading cause for coral reef damage from tourism activities is not diving, but in fact anchoring. Fortunately, the problem of anchoring is easily eliminated by using morning lines and doing drift dives as it is the case in the Egyptian Red Sea.
However, the dive community accepts that divers are responsible for some damage to coral reefs (although both the scale and nature of such damage is not nearly as widespread or devastating as from other sources). Moreover, the dive community has been positive in dealing with this concern through its educational programs and continuous cooperation with the nature protection programs.
Since the mid 80s the effect that divers have on coral reefs has come under the close examination of researchers and resource managers. Unfortunately, based on this research, politicians and government administrators now take important decisions about management of coral reefs with respect to diving activities and often disregard other vital effects.
Although these studies seem to be classic in terms of that the divers can have a significant negative effect on coral reefs within limited areas where diving is especially popular, they do overlook that overall damage caused by diving activity is less than 1% of the damage to coral reef.
Research and the outcomes
Some of the best known studies have been conducted on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, the Virgin Islands of the Caribbean, Florida Keys and of course the Red Sea. A summary of observations and conclusions is presented herein;
- The vast majority of damage is caused by a very small minority of divers. It was found that 84% of divers caused no damage whatsoever, 4% of divers accounted for more than 70% of the damage. In addition, most damage was unintentional and divers who do damage are often unaware that they did.
- Branching corals such as table, Elkhorn and Staghorn (Acropora Sp.) are much more susceptible to divers’ damage than more robust boulder-type corals.
- 6-4% of all corals on a popularly dived reef were touched during a typical week. In addition 90% of all divers make at least one contact to the bottom, however, only 2% of these contacts caused immediate visible damage.
- Most of the researchers agree that divers do not inflict extensive damage comprehensive to the ecological function of a coral reef. However, divers’ damage can degrade the sparkling value of a reef.
- Many researchers concluded that the experience, the advice, and the quality of the briefing given by competent Dive Masters and/or Instructors is important. This is particularly critical since the prime element responsible for divers’ damage is poor buoyancy control.
- Divers tend to be at their clumsiest during the first 10 minutes of a dive. Studies showed that divers’ impact is greatest near moorings where divers arrive to the bottom and take a few minutes to adjust equipment and/or get control of their buoyancy. This has a critical implication for where mooring lines are placed.
- Out of almost every study, researchers found that women impact the coral reef far less than men do. This is not a call to start a gender war, but your explanation for this consistent finding is welcome!
- Another interesting finding is that there is no correlation between one’s level of diving experience and how often that individual contacted the corals (how about that!). In fact some of the researchers offered that “It seemed that inexperienced divers generally had poor buoyancy and finning control, but were more cautious about approaching the bottom, while more experienced divers spent more time exploring close to the terrain and bumping it as a result”.
- On the contrary to the above finding, some other studies showed indications that the more experienced the diver, the less effect she/he has on coral reefs. They note that the number of contacts with corals is remarkably reduced the higher the level of the diver. So these last two findings are still in the debate!
- Finally, carrying a still camera, video camera, being engaged in close up observation of coral reef are all identified as high-risk factors for reef impact.
Zoning and carrying capacity.
Many researchers are convinced that any damage to coral reef as a result of tourism would be likely to remain insignificant if appropriate management systems were implemented. The protected coral reef management plans include:
- The number and type of tourist visits
- Appropriate behavior of visitors
- Ensure that the coral reef has the proper natural surroundings to rapidly recover from any damage.
In addition, many resource managers use or consider the idea known as “zoning”. This is simply assigning special areas as “for research only” or implementing rules such as “take nothing but photos, leave nothing but bubbles”.
Closing areas to allow them to retrieve has been successfully part of the management plan implemented in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.
Recently, resource managements have defined the new concept of the “carrying capacity”. A carrying capacity is simply “the maximum level of visitor use an area can accommodate so that high levels of satisfaction are gained by visitors with little negative impact on resources.”
Applying the carrying capacity concept to divers as a management strategy is not only a new area of research, but also inflicts several debatable issues that can be summarized in the following;
- Diver carrying capacity is a highly specific and localized measure, rather than a universal number for all coral reefs.
- The number of divers a reef can absorb without negative effect is totally dependant on the behavior of the divers.
- Other factors affecting the reef carrying capacity are hotels and resorts, snorkellers and other beach users. This is especially important in - easy to access from shore - sites such as those in the Red Sea.
Public awareness and education.
One can observe a positive point, that is, a significant change in the attitude of divers has occurred during the last two decades. Divers are definitely considered one of the most environmentally sensitive groups around, not only because they learn in every beginner’s course about the delicacy of the underwater marine life, but also because the environmental resources turns out to be the major attraction for them.
In addition, divers are the first to notice any decay or degradation in the marine environment. This explains why the damage that would have been done by a specific group of divers would be actually eliminated or at least minimized through education.
In a study done by David Medio in the Red Sea, he found out that;
- Uninformed divers – those who received no environmental briefing made contact with the coral reef 8 times per dive.
- 80% of those contacts were damaging.
- Only 35 % of all contacts were unintentional.
The following findings are especially important for dive guides and Instructors to remember. After a short adequate briefing reminding the diver of the following appropriate practice;
1. Controlling buoyancy
2. Maintaining a respectful distance
3. Being cautious about fin kicking
4. Avoid intentionally touching the corals
The following astonishing results were found;
- The impact went down from 8 to only 1.5 per dive
- Less than 30% of those were damaging
- 80% of all contacts were unintentional
This significant change put a lot of responsibility on dive guides and instructors conducting daily or safari diving. More public awareness efforts should be directed to visitors, especially snorkellers, and prior to conducting any activities. In addition, responsibility should also be shared with tour operators, tour guides and hotels to increase public awareness and encourage responsible environmental behavior.
We - the diving community - have always been not only backing up the efforts of preserving and protecting the natural resources but also delighted to take the initiative to do it. It is certainly unfair to accuse divers of being the cause of the significant and implacable damage to the coral reef. On the contrary, it is probably realistic to affirm that divers revealed the secrets of the underwater terrain, explored the magnificent marine life and introduced the submersed beauties to humanity.
Nevertheless, it is also essential that we - the diving community - continue to do our best to preserve the environmental resources through adapting responsible behavior, promote public awareness, emphasize education and above all promote diving activities.
By: Zeyad M. El Bassel
