Earthquake Damage Observations

[CajunDiva]

We got home Friday night and I am SOOOOOOOOOO missing Roatan.

I wanted to share a heads up with any of you who may be diving the south side now or in the near future. On our last dive day, we visited Anka's Place...oh my goodness!!! I could not believe what I saw. What used to be a gorgeous sloping wall of coral is now a sheared off cliff of dirt! There is a huge section where the wall just broke off and fell to the floor of the ocean. But here's the cool part: while most of the divers ignored the "ugly" damaged section of the site and continued on to the "pretty" coral section, we turned back and examined the new dirt wall. Would you believe it is already starting to make a comeback? We took our time and watched...we discovered THREE banded coral shrimp and numerous other small critters busily setting up house on the "new" wall. I can't wait to dive this site on our future trips to Roatan to witness the incredible regeneration of the reef after the earthquake.

We are so blessed to have the opportunity to witness such an AMAZING change in our natural environment - take advantage of it...

 

[Doc]

Although it's hard to find damage, I am looking forward to returning to Anka's Place and noting what you were looking for. Lot's of stuff to see, even in that highly localized zone. Many dive ops have taken that dive site, Anka's Place off of their "to do" list, many guests don't know what to make of what you described. I'm with you, it's fascinating.

There is also a substantial chunk of rock that fell off a point on Newman's Wall. This has caused a whole lot of interest by the macro photo crowd.

If you look carefully along the reef structure elsewhere, you'll see minor fissures that tell a similar tale, but not in such a large scope as Anka's Place. That's where going slowly and careful examination of those opportunistic little critters that take advantage come in to play.

Seems like Banded Coral shrimps are one of the first residents to move in, I have noted this on a few shipwrecks, as well.

 

[CajunDiva]

I guess in a way watching things grow on a shipwreck is pretty cool. But those opportunities do come along every now and then, so I don't get the sense of wonder I felt looking at the new wall at Anka's Place.

This was a completely natural act, resulting in the creation of a brand new "blank slate"...how awesome to watch the formation of a new reef that we can visit over and over in the years to come. We can tell our kids and grandkids that we saw that reef created! How often does that happen?

Can you tell I miss Roatan???

 

[Dee]

I'm just sorry I can't go back until next June. I'd love to be able to see the new, clean area being populated and growth starting. One of those once in a lifetime things!