Leejnd
Contributor
Maybe I'm just dense, but something is not clear to me: Did the boat discharge sewage while moored or anchored at a dive site? With divers IN THE WATER???
If this is the case, EEEWWW!!! Obviously that's horrific...dumping poo on top of divers' heads??!!??
On the other hand...did the discharge take place while the boat was underway out at sea, during the journey there or back? If that's the case, and if the boat was more than 3 miles offshore, then they did nothing wrong. We have a boat, and when we go for multi-day trips out to the Channel Islands, we've gotta pump out our head occasionally. Hey, a holding tank will only hold so much! It is perfectly legal to dump your holding tank into the open ocean, provided you are outside of that 3 mile limit.
Obviously human waste is a health hazard if it is dumped in large quantities in small areas, such as many boats in a harbor, or in areas where people might come in contact with it, such as near shore. But when you're talking about a single boat out at sea it's no different than the waste that a pack of sea lions or a pod of whales or dolphins are putting out there...it's just poo, and is quickly diluted in the big ocean.
But if it was on diver's heads, PLEASE do share who the dive boat was! I'm going out on a SoCal dive boat this weekend, and I sure don't want poo on MY head!
If this is the case, EEEWWW!!! Obviously that's horrific...dumping poo on top of divers' heads??!!??
On the other hand...did the discharge take place while the boat was underway out at sea, during the journey there or back? If that's the case, and if the boat was more than 3 miles offshore, then they did nothing wrong. We have a boat, and when we go for multi-day trips out to the Channel Islands, we've gotta pump out our head occasionally. Hey, a holding tank will only hold so much! It is perfectly legal to dump your holding tank into the open ocean, provided you are outside of that 3 mile limit.
Obviously human waste is a health hazard if it is dumped in large quantities in small areas, such as many boats in a harbor, or in areas where people might come in contact with it, such as near shore. But when you're talking about a single boat out at sea it's no different than the waste that a pack of sea lions or a pod of whales or dolphins are putting out there...it's just poo, and is quickly diluted in the big ocean.
But if it was on diver's heads, PLEASE do share who the dive boat was! I'm going out on a SoCal dive boat this weekend, and I sure don't want poo on MY head!