Bonaire Oil Slick - Gone after Omar

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Pasaltran

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Location
Windereme, FL
All,

Just got back from Bonaire. Omar packed a hell of a punch on the island. Divi resort sustained damage to the water front rooms and lost one of their dive boats. (Broke lose during the storm and was being smash against to break wall. During the storm one could smell gas leaking form the boat.)

The Oil Slick site is totally out of action at this time. The platform was wiped out during the storm. The locals are attempting to find the ladder to the platform and will rebuild the platform. If they can not locate the ladder, a new one will have to be ordered and shipped in. Additionally the road will need to be repaired reaching the site.

Most all of the reef on the west side of the island is now heavily silted with sand. There is a significant amount of sand/silt deposited on the coral reef. I am not sure of the long term damage, but to the novice it appears a significant amount of damage occurred.

More update soon.
 
The Oil Slick site is totally out of action at this time. The platform was wiped out during the storm. The locals are attempting to find the ladder to the platform and will rebuild the platform. If they can not locate the ladder, a new one will have to be ordered and shipped in. Additionally the road will need to be repaired reaching the site.


I may not be too popular for posting this, but Oil Slick needed a bit of a break, sort of like the Hooker. It is a very heavily dived site due to the easy access with the ladder and platform...so, maybe it will have a chance to recover a bit and have a rest.

The dive shops are asking divers to fan the coral to remove the sand, of course, taking care not to touch the coral. This has been done with past major storms.

By some of the reports on Bonaire Talk, things faired better than most thought (underwater), hopefully it will continue to recover and not too much marine life was lost.
 
Good news Water Wolf..I am hearing the same. I snorkel but did not go out post Omar. I went swimming and was sad to find my little sandy beaches full of rubble. On a good note the divers were out in full force Thur. after Omar. Tori's was packed as was the Hilma, Pink Beach and Windsock. I have not gotten north yet. Sad about Oil Slick but knowing STINAPA they will get things right soon.
 

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