Based on the reports I'm not surprised about the engine fire on the Carib Dancer.
As for the diving in the Bahamas, I did a week long trip with Blackbeards recently and had a great time. Yes, the marine life was much sparser than in the western Caribbean, but as a marine biologist I looked at this as a challenger... to look for the causes of what I presumed were a decline (having never dived there before). The shallow water and position in the hurricane belt offered one explanation, the lionfish predating (I used to pre-date, too) on herbivores another. I wasn't aware of the die off in the Diadema urchins but now that it has been mentioned, it certainly helps explain the presence of the algae on the reefs (along with the loss of herbivorous fish).
Of course for those looking to view and film abundant marine life, this is an important issue. For me it was a challenging ecological puzzle. I greatly prefer diving the more diverse waters of Asia than the Caribbean.
As for the diving in the Bahamas, I did a week long trip with Blackbeards recently and had a great time. Yes, the marine life was much sparser than in the western Caribbean, but as a marine biologist I looked at this as a challenger... to look for the causes of what I presumed were a decline (having never dived there before). The shallow water and position in the hurricane belt offered one explanation, the lionfish predating (I used to pre-date, too) on herbivores another. I wasn't aware of the die off in the Diadema urchins but now that it has been mentioned, it certainly helps explain the presence of the algae on the reefs (along with the loss of herbivorous fish).
Of course for those looking to view and film abundant marine life, this is an important issue. For me it was a challenging ecological puzzle. I greatly prefer diving the more diverse waters of Asia than the Caribbean.
