Mass tourism and our disappearing reefs – part 2

As outlined in the first part of this article the dead coral reefs around Honduras’s Utila island are becoming the norm throughout the Caribbean. The only region in the Caribbean that has a completely intact major coral reef eco-system is the Jardines de la Reina (Queen’s Gardens) coral reef off Cuba’s south coast. There aren’t any hotels along this shoreline and thus the mangrove swamps, which keep coral reefs healthy, remain intact.

Utila, a Parrot Fish chowing down on dead coral.

Only 500 scuba divers and 500 catch and release anglers are permitted in the Jardines de la Reina National Park per annum which covers an area 175 kilometres (109 miles) by 10 kilometres (6 miles).

An Italian company, Avalon, is the only entity permitted to bring divers and anglers into the Jardines de la Reina National Park. I’ve spoken with marine biologists who state that the Jardines de la Reina’s coral reefs look the same as when Christopher Columbus first spotted them in 1492. I was fortunate to dive in the Jardines last year, a coral reef eco-system paradise. I haven’t seen anything remotely like it in the Caribbean since the early 1970s. Extremely healthy hard and soft corals, up to a dozen shark swimming around you and Goliath Groupers up to 90 kg (200 lbs), are truly spectacular.

Jardines de la Reina, a 95 kg Goliath Grouper and a shark, a sure sign of a healthy coral reef.

A month later I returned to Cuba to dive with my son. This time I decided to try Cayo Coco, an island off of the country’s north coast. Cayo Coco and its neighbouring islands presently have 15 resorts with more being built. Hundreds, if not thousands, of scuba divers dive on the coral reefs off Cayo Coco’s north shore each year in an area that is only a few kilometres (miles) across. I have to say that the reefs off Cayo Coco were disappointing when compared to the Jardines de la Reina, but still superior to those I’ve seen in places such as Utila, Jamaica, Hawaii, and the Florida Keys, to name a few.

Coral reefs in the Red Sea show the same wear-and-tear. The reefs off Egypt’s Red Sea coast with thousands of scuba divers descending on them each year are not as healthy as reefs found further south off Sudan’s coast where very few divers venture due to political instability and piracy. Indonesia shows the same pattern. The coral reefs off Irian Jayra’s west coast, which are visited by small numbers of divers, are probably the best in the world, while reefs in Indonesia’s western half are degraded.

Mass tourism, and some forms of ecotourism, are clearly detrimental to the health of coral reefs. So, if you are enticed by ads geared to mass tourism in scuba diving magazines or travel publications be prepared for a disappointment.

Continued from – Scuba Tourism And The Death Of Coral Reefs – Part 1

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