I have not posted for a while and there is a reason for
this.
Over the last week or so I have been lucky enough to have
the opportunity to spend three days diving on the Great Barrier Reef, with a
company called Pro Dive Cairns. An experience if I had to describe in one word
it would be, EPIC! However in my eyes that is underselling it.
Now I have a reason while I’m writing about this experience,
I don’t just want to rub it in everyone’s face. The Great Barrier Reef is an
absolutely amazing ecosystem which is quickly being lost. I urge as many people
as possible to go and see just how amazing it is with their own eyes and if not
the barrier reef just go diving or snorkeling locally to you, which will allow you to have a
glimpse of the underwater world. A glimpse is all you’ll get though as there is
simply so much to see you will have to spend years doing it to even make a
slight dent in what there is to see under our oceans.
I will be putting up a few pictures with this post which I
was able to take whilst diving, and even these are not an accurate
representation of what you can see. This is because as it turns out fish are
very fast and don’t like the alien in their world producing vast amounts of
bubbles so I came back with lots of blank pictures and some with just the tails
of fish. I did however manage to get some half decent pictures of the slower
moving creatures like turtles and larger fish, which are also seen as the
iconic sea creatures. I want to be able to expand your knowledge further than
these ‘classic’ animals though. There are over 1500 different species of fish
found on the barrier reef and countless other different species of crustaceans
and over 400 different types of coral and plant life. For instance there are 28
different species of Nemo (for those of you who have been living in cupboards
your whole life - Clownfish).
The reef though like many other great ecosystems is getting
damaged and the habitat quality it is providing is slowly being degraded. This
means that specialised niche creatures are finding it more of a struggle to be
successful and their population numbers are decreasing. Even generalised marine
species that can cope with harsher more varied conditions are beginning to
experience population declines.
Reefs are getting damaged more and more every day and
already ¼ of the world’s reefs are beyond recovery. So something needs to
change or the secret world of reefs will be lost from the world before many
people have had a chance to see and experience them.
Damage is being cause in a number of different ways
including, destructive fishing which use poisons, explosives or bottom-trawling
to capture fish and in the process rips ecosystems apart. Overfishing is also
playing it part and is resulting in the warping of food chains as keystone
species are removed in vast numbers from our oceans. Careless tourism and coral
mining are steadily breaking down the living structures which are used to
shelter thousands of species of fish and pollution and sediments are causing
corals to die or have only stunted growth before they are destroyed by us.
There are steps which you can take as an individual however
to protect our marine life and you don’t even need to go to the sea or swim on
a reef.
Start by trying to use a sustainable fish for your dinners,
cod is eaten in vast quantities across the world (on average 300,000 metric tons
a year) along with other species such as Tuna and Haddock. I know these types
of fish aren’t linked in your mind with tropical reefs but they are still involved in
temporal and tropical reef systems. It is there for important that we reduce
the demands for these fish. Instead try using a more sustainable fish such as mackerel
to fill your plate and try to reduce the amount of fish you eat. It will also
help to look at the way the fish was caught with things such as line caught
tuna being significantly better to consume than net caught. 
Another simple option is too simply avoid everything which
contains coral. I know everyone now refuses to buy items made from or containing
ivory but the same attitude should also be had towards coral and other exotic
marine life such as tropical fish which are both legally and illegally bought and sold
throughout the world. Did you know that an estimated 20 million fish, 12
million corals and 10 million other types of marine animals are removed from
waters around the Philippines, Fiji and other Pacific island each year to be
put into personal aquariums which are in the majority of cases unsuitable for each
creatures needs.
The final points I want to say is that several countries now
are creating reef taxes on tourists who visit these sites. This money is put
towards preserving the reefs and also teaching locals how to respect and care
for it. So don’t trying to go with companies who avoid these charges as it may
be cheaper but ask yourself is it worth it. Also if these aren’t in place in
the areas you’ve visited please attempt to donate to a suitable marine charity.
Finally look out for the ecotourism logo on website and fliers,
and if possible go with these companies as they are committed to marinating the
quality of the marine life around them.
Thanks for reading.
This time I have three videos for you to use to procrastinate,
the first is of the Great Barrier Reef while the second is more temperate
waters and the final being shot in arctic waters. This is simply to show you
don’t have to jet of to some tropical paradise to experience the wonders of our
planets oceans.
I hope you enjoy.
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