7.1 Earthquake 39 miles off Roatan

[Doc]

This will do more damage to the reef system than a hurricane......Roatan went thru Mitch & we dove it a few weeks later, son was in the water 24 hours after it left out...It was a little different post Mitch but this will be more apparent, IMO.....

An interesting thought. More apparent- decidedly. More damage? Arguable as to one's definition of damage.

Hurricanes leave a lot of siltation from rain running-off of the nearby land. The water gets very churned up and mixed with cold fresh water. The shallow reef structures, notably the things other than "walls", the flat horizontal reefs show the most damage from storms. The Horn Corals and other shallow, delicate structures are subject to fierce wave action.

The Hurricane at first glance did a lot of damage, but maybe it served to clean out the wall tops of the reef.

The reef structures are dramatically different from the South side's shallow zones to the deeper more horizontal plateaus that your son dove on the North and West Sides. At the same time, although the South side "had more to lose" in terms of surge and wave action, it was relatively preserved as the Hurricane did hit from the North side, instead.

In this situation of Eatrthquake, reef structure damage will be more apparent on the South side due to it's shallow and verdant nature- like a garden being tossed around. On the North side, after careful observation, I'll bet that we'll find less obvious cracks in the shadows, in the less lush darker "rock" formations.

On both sides, we are likely to continue to log large chunks of Coral rock that have been moved and cracked, but comparing these two disparate natural traumas would be difficult.

What an opportunity for the conservancy groups to monitor the rebirth and regrowth that surely follows every hiccup of Mother nature.

Suppose the ----- lines represent the Earth's history
The + represents what might well be all of Mankind's entire time on earth
The Earthquake.... it meant nothing in the total scope of things.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------->

Our perspective is, by "nature", rather shortsighted.

Latest updates on Underwater Observations: Under Water: What has changed since the Earthquake? Report in here.... - CoCo Chat

 

[JoyousDiver]

Just returned from CCV. The quake was definitely a real shaker in the cabanas. A few water lines broke but no major damage. It tweaked the buildings enough that some of the doors wouldn't open or not all the way. Power was off but generator kicked on. Water was off for a while. Used buckets of sea water to flush toilets! Amazingly enough...no broken windows. Did hear of a ceiling fan falling down and only brusing a guest. Everyone remained very calm. The staff got right on repairs. Dove the CCV wall to survey damage later that day. At 78 feet some big overhang must have fallen off. Big crack along base of wall with sand showing and then just a milky murk coming up from the deep....eeeerrrrry! Newman's wall shows signs of force hitting it also. At corner of Newman's (before the compass marker board, huge coral chunks broken off and rolled over on to the sand and plates of coral that slide down were piled up. Prince Albert has big crack about mid ship with a few more holes in the side...top deck shows a big buckle now. Mary's Place reef, they said they only saw one broken sponge! Another site had all the large sponges broken and laying down or just gone. The walls are still a great dive...just different now!

 

[cap10]

RoatanMan does not live on Roatan RTBDiver although does.

 

[parrotheaddiver]

RoatanMan does not live on Roatan RTBDiver although does.

Hi Randy I think you are thinking about Doc R rtbmediver http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/members/rtbmediver.html that we both know lives on the island...

RTBDiver may possibly also live on the island but I think you have them confused:kiss2:
or maybe I am confused

 

[undefined]

LOL...

It seems that many of the people with "Roatan" in their username live there, and many do not. Either way, keep the info coming on how the reef was 'reconfigured' by the recent quake.

If anybody has time, I'd love some updates on the following sites:

1. Odyssey wreck
2. Hole in the Wall shallows (caves and caverns status)
3. Gibson bight (cave system)
4. Texas
5. Spooky Channel

Any updates the folks who are there, either on holiday or more permanently, can give are greatly appreciated. I can't wait to get back, especially to see the divesites that may be 'new' again due to the recent quake!

 

[RTBDiver]

RoatanMan does not live on Roatan RTBDiver although does.

RTBDiver only lives on Roatan about 4 months a year. Don't know about the others

 

[Doc]

RTBDiver only lives on Roatan about 4 months a year.

Only lives on Roatan about 4 months a year.... or .....

Lives on Roatan for only about 4 months a year?

Suffice to say, when you're on Roatan- then you're living!

Don't know about the others

Oh, but you should.

It makes for a much more amusing and expansive world.

Doc Radawski = RTBmeDiver (full time since 1970, can't afford to leave except for New Orleans Jazz Festival, easily 6,504+ dives off of Roatan)
Will Wellboaurn = BayIslandDiver (Resident that goes "home" for tea and biscuits, also snowboarding, a minor PADI god)
Doc Adelman = RoatanMan (Left the Island, but visits about 4 weeks a year nowadays- between other dive trips, 1480+ dives off of Roatan, with 250 or so being night dives)
Captain Randy = Capt10 (Peg Legged Sea Captain, about 303 dives off of Roatan and approx a gazillion on Flower Gardens, collects brand new Size 8 Left New Balance shoes)
Ann = Parrotheaddiver (Known habitue and photographer lurking about the Southern Shores of Roatan, 256+ dives there)
(You may roughly compute TBT at a factor of 1.21 hrs per logged dive, except for Radawski who has gills, so figure 1.65x for him. He smells like a fish, anyway.)

All of the above... and many more... love the diving off of Roatan.

 

[RTBDiver]

Suffice to say, when you're on Roatan- then you're living!

I do love Roatan and the Area our home is in along with the locals we share our time with AND I agree to a small extent about the living on Roatan thing but the fact is I am LIVING when I am in so many other places the other 6 months a year as well.

 

[Doc]

I do love Roatan and the Area our home is in along with the locals we share our time with AND I agree to a small extent about the living on Roatan thing but the fact is I am LIVING when I am in so many other places the other 6 months a year as well.

It's great that you're a liver! People call me by the name of various other bodily organs. :mooner:

Lemme see... 4 months on Roatan (post #77), and then "many other places 6 months a year". The other two months are what? In suspended animation? (Airport transit lounges, right?)

 

[robint]

BAck on topic....................

Hurricane damage can be devastating! The churning action of the waves for hours and hours tends to break off all sponges and soft stuff, and the sand tends to bury the hard coral.
Take a look at this picture taken just a few months ago in Cozumel. Can you see the reef? It is completely buried under those sand dunes!

From what we are hearing so far, the damage of Roatan reefs seems to be very limited , just some cracks and broken barrel sponges. Nothing like Cozumel experienced 4 years ago. :shocked2:

I don't know about the rest of you, but to me, Roatan diving seems to be just as good as it was a month ago, before this earthquake!!!!:luxhello::yelclap:


robin