Coral Bleaching – Why it happens? Diving Maluku

[Joneill]

The doom and gloom is real. Your efforts, while very commendable are largely wasted. Demand for fish is at an all time high, we dump filth in every waterway, poaching of endangered species will render several extinct within the decade. I see little reason for optimism.

So what's your point then? First you tell us we should do more and then you tell us our efforts are wasted?

Here's a suggestion that will help both the planet and all of us here - stop posting here!

That will cut down on your use of greenhouse gas creating electricity to post and have others read your posts AND we won't be subject to your any more of your useless commentary...

 

[diver0008]

So what's your point then? First you tell us we should do more and then you tell us our efforts are wasted?

Here's a suggestion that will help both the planet and all of us here - stop posting here!

That will cut down on your use of greenhouse gas creating electricity to post and have others read your posts AND we won't be subject to your any more of your useless commentary...

"us", "all of us", "we".

Please speak for yourself, if you are going to be an as&hole.

 

[tilikum]

He was talking to me.

 

[Joneill]

He was talking to me.

Yes - I was - and it was just a suggestion. I don't set the rules here!

But I will just ignore your doom and gloom moving forward and do my part to try to live responsibly. I don't share your unhelpful, fatalistic views and, thankfully, many in the younger generation don't either. Plenty of people likely much smarter than all of us here are working to come up with solutions instead of just whining...

 

[Joneill]

"us", "all of us", "we".

Please speak for yourself, if you are going to be an as&hole.

I'm the as&hole? Really - so you think it is productive to just b_tch about issues and offer zero solutions. Even worse, tell people that any efforts they make are worthless. Sure, I'm the as$hole... and, btw, I did not suggest anyone is - I was just pointing out how useless and demotivating their posts are - certainly not the way to fix the issues that they claim to be concerned about...

 

[TMHeimer]

Patoux01, You clarified your point on boats in that we should just look closer at shore diving (which is about literally 98% of my diving), and not try to ban all boats. Thanks. But the "bigger" boats--like those necessary cargo ships you mention--are the ones we should be really looking at. And yes, Cruise Ships, two of which we have taken over the years. Also, I'm sure you are aware that shore diving in such places as Nova Scotia, New England, the UK, Scandinavia can be quite interesting. But IMO very dull compared to the tropics, where I have had a chance to dive only once.
The whole situation, as pointed out, is something those way more in the know than us are continually working on. A good case and point is how clean the Hudson River is now compared to 1970--hey I even eat --some--of the fish I catch there (well, I eat them all since I catch so very few.....). Yes, some sunscreens and BC disinfectants are no doubt harmful, but if all the really big problems (like agriculture runoff, coastal development, other pollutants from many countries) were solved, I would imagine if every diver used sunscreen and disinfectant every day it would matter very little.
No, I'm not saying you should NOT do your little part because it's "so little". Just putting it in perspective.

 

[diver0008]

I'm the as&hole? Really - so you think it is productive to just b_tch about issues and offer zero solutions. Even worse, tell people that any efforts they make are worthless. Sure, I'm the as$hole... and, btw, I did not suggest anyone is - I was just pointing out how useless and demotivating their posts are - certainly not the way to fix the issues that they claim to be concerned about...

You have posted zero solutions here yourself.

Others have and have stated their honest feelings about the whole issue.

And you b_tch about them.

I doubt that you will see the hypocrisy, but there you have it.

 

[diver0008]

He was talking to me.

Yes, that was clear.

He just took too much liberty in assuming that he could speak on behalf of the group in telling you to go away.

We are all entitled to have our say.

Trying to shut down or cast out disagreeing voices instead of engaging them with civility or simply ignoring them is an ugly trend these days.

We don't need that type of behavior creeping in on Scubaboard.

 

[Joneill]

You have posted zero solutions here yourself.

Others have and have stated their honest feelings about the whole issue.

And you b_tch about them.

I doubt that you will see the hypocrisy, but there you have it.

You are correct - I see no hypocrisy in my statements as I never claimed to have solutions.

My point is that there is ZERO benefit in doom and gloom and telling people that there is no benefit to anything they do. With that attitude, we are doomed. I pointed that out - I did not "bitch" about it.

But since you accuse - In my personal life, I spent considerable money to install a super high efficiency water heater and heating and air conditioning units even though everything was perfectly functional and did not need to be replaced. I further installed a second zone system to isolate the upstairs and downstairs floors of my home to cut down on energy use. I have programmable thermostats and let the temp go down to 56F at night (blankets are cheap)or when we're at work in winter. In the summer I usually keep the AC at 77-78F when we are home and let it go to 80 when we're at work.

I also replaced every light bulb in my house, inside and out, with LED bulbs at considerable expense to cut power usage.

I recycle all I can and compost food waste. I mulch my lawn clippings and only use limited natural fertilizers. I use organic oils instead of pesticides on the fruit trees in my yard (I grow my own apples). I properly dispose of paints and old electronics at municipal recycling facilities. I did not install sprinklers for my lawn as I don't think wasting water on a lawn makes sense, so I end up spending $ reseeding each fall as parts of the lawn always burn out.

I also work for one of the biggest companies in the world and have been personally involved in getting virtually all of our facilities in the US fully self sufficient for electricity via large solar installations. We are making headway globally as well and will be fully off the grid in the not so distant future.

Plenty of other little things I try to do both personally and professionally - but, of course you don't care as you are busy making judgments without facts as you know nothing about me.

However, I also travel to the Carribean to dive a few times a year and plan on doing Indonesia next year - so shoot me, I guess.

And, with that, I'm done with this thread - not worth wasting electrons on (to follow my own advice)...

 

[tphelps]

Revisiting an earlier comment, divers and the dive industry is not the main fault for climate change the degradation of reefs. If anything we help the reefs by providing an economic niche (like ecotourism) that captures the attention of politics and governments to take interest. But I do see the point of view of divers being harmful to these systems. Bad diving habits like kneeling/standing on the bottom or kicking up sediment can certainly impact benthic (or bottom) communities.

As a young scientist, I don't believe our ocean and planet is too late to save. But if we focus on the enormity of the issues at hand, we will not be as effective in combating them. As Sylvia Earle describes, we need to create "hope spots" that start with small communities to take action that will eventually broaden. In the spirit of this past Earth Day, we need to invest in the advancement in science and technology to understand effective ways of dealing with climate change.