Here's a link to my report report about our dive trip to Laguna Beach Resort in Utila.
Utila Trip Report
Utila Trip Report
Our Underwater Adventure in Utila
- Thread starter Scubagal
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
CheddarChick
Contributor
Great report....So sorry about your strobe. Did you by chance shoot in RAW???? If so you can whit balance in post production...Ikelite is the best......I flooded my strobe and they fixed it
castaways01
Guest
- Messages
- 92
- Reaction score
- 8
- Location
- Roatan - www.castaways-cove.com
- # of dives
- I just don't log dives
Thanks for the well documented trip report. Excellent photos. Just curious, did your DM get the Lionfish out of the water? Seems we are losing the battle over here as more and more tropicals disappear as these invasive hungry fish keep reproducing.
Thanks. Excellent report with good pictures above and below.
Thanks for the kind comments.
CheddarChick - no, I did not shoot in RAW this trip. I may give it a try on our next dive trip. I also hope to try out my Fisheye and Macro lenses.
castaways01 - The DM did not collect or kill the lionfish. I inquired about it but didn't really get an answer as to why they don't remove them.
CheddarChick - no, I did not shoot in RAW this trip. I may give it a try on our next dive trip. I also hope to try out my Fisheye and Macro lenses.
castaways01 - The DM did not collect or kill the lionfish. I inquired about it but didn't really get an answer as to why they don't remove them.
keesmon
Contributor
I'm here on Utila now. From what I understand, the dive shops are waiting on clearance from the government before they can kill any species in these protected waters. the dive shop i am working with has ordered the harpoon made for it and they hope to get clearance withing the next week or so, but this being Honduras, it could be longer. We have seen one lion fish so far.
- Messages
- 10,951
- Reaction score
- 4,148
- # of dives
- None - Not Certified
Ahh, "clearance from the Government"
Any real Naturalist Scientist would advise that attempting to eradicate this invasive species is pure folly.
It is universally accepted that these fish live and breed in the depths-
What we notice, see and kill is only the very tip of the iceberg.
Anyone familiar with the machinations of Honduran bureaucracy will know that "clearance" will be a real uphill battle.
However.....
If you are familiar with both of the above - you will know that in the context of the Honduran mentality, this process will likely be green-lighted very soon.
Order the harpoons, game on.
It is truly a testament to the hubris of man to think we can "fix" this problem we ourselves have created.
________________________
The OP- Nice report, well written. Good to see that kind of material, we need more on real-life experiences about Utila here!
Any real Naturalist Scientist would advise that attempting to eradicate this invasive species is pure folly.
It is universally accepted that these fish live and breed in the depths-
What we notice, see and kill is only the very tip of the iceberg.
Anyone familiar with the machinations of Honduran bureaucracy will know that "clearance" will be a real uphill battle.
However.....
If you are familiar with both of the above - you will know that in the context of the Honduran mentality, this process will likely be green-lighted very soon.
Order the harpoons, game on.
It is truly a testament to the hubris of man to think we can "fix" this problem we ourselves have created.
________________________
The OP- Nice report, well written. Good to see that kind of material, we need more on real-life experiences about Utila here!
castaways01
Guest
- Messages
- 92
- Reaction score
- 8
- Location
- Roatan - www.castaways-cove.com
- # of dives
- I just don't log dives
Thanks Keesmon for the update. Seems odd since DMs are making an attempt to kill them on Roatan. I've suggested to the Marine Park here via email that they do a Lionfish Derby like in Florida and the Bahamas. In a single day, 19 boats brought in 1,408 lionfish as part of a derby at Green Turtle Cove. Here is a link Earthfiles.com Environment | Lionfish Invaders Are Eating Up Other Marine Life in Florida Keys, Bahamas and Bermuda
Nice report! The airport has been fixed up since we were there a few years ago. 
Utila Center for Marine Ecology (UCME) is attempting to coordinate lion fish removal around Utila. They have asked for special exception to the no spear fishing law just for lion fish removal, using licensed Hawaiian Slings around 1.5m. I have been informed that there is a hitch on the final minister's signature that will allow this to happen, although everything else is in place. Well, we're in Honduras so basically what RoatanMan said! There could be more removal, more action from the dive centers. Everyone is basically sitting and waiting.
We're never gonna remove them all. Like RoatanMan said, they live through a large depth range. We can try and control the numbers through training and removal on sight. We can run Lionfish Derbies, cook outs and the like but what then... are we going to keep doing this forever?
When I read the Earthfiles report referenced - it seemed to me to be like a battle already lost. Perhaps there are other strategies? The reef ecology will hopefully to adapt to them in someway. Maybe we can encourage that? Maybe even that is a bad idea. Maybe we should just let nature get on with it. We are a great top level predator when we're motivated enough by $$$ but there is little motivation.
What do people think about all this.? Does anyone have any references that shed some light on all of this?
We're never gonna remove them all. Like RoatanMan said, they live through a large depth range. We can try and control the numbers through training and removal on sight. We can run Lionfish Derbies, cook outs and the like but what then... are we going to keep doing this forever?
When I read the Earthfiles report referenced - it seemed to me to be like a battle already lost. Perhaps there are other strategies? The reef ecology will hopefully to adapt to them in someway. Maybe we can encourage that? Maybe even that is a bad idea. Maybe we should just let nature get on with it. We are a great top level predator when we're motivated enough by $$$ but there is little motivation.
What do people think about all this.? Does anyone have any references that shed some light on all of this?
Similar threads
