So. Fishing here in Kuwait is not well supervised. The shrimp boats drag the bottom and many animals and plants are damaged. They do have to carry safety features for turtles and dolphins, but.... Many local fishermen, however, are not scrupulous. They drop fish traps on the reefs and use the long hanging nets a soccer field long to fish.
I took my recreational divers on a reef that I had been on three weeks before. There were two massive nets that had gotten hung up on teh reef. These had been drifting a long time. My group volunteered to help cut it away. We only got about 1/4 of the net with a 2 tank dive.
While cutting it up, we found the bones and shells of 4 sea turtles. They were all green turtles. 3 were adults and 1 juvenile. We had been searching for these turltes who nest and live around this island all year. Now we know...
On the only positive notes here, these paying recreational divers, several new divers(students of mine), ALL chose to forgo touring and playing along the wall, and used their mesh gear bags to collect the netting, worked well as teams, and safely cleared lots of reef. They were happy to pay for working. I was very proud of their social conscience and their work.
I took my recreational divers on a reef that I had been on three weeks before. There were two massive nets that had gotten hung up on teh reef. These had been drifting a long time. My group volunteered to help cut it away. We only got about 1/4 of the net with a 2 tank dive.
While cutting it up, we found the bones and shells of 4 sea turtles. They were all green turtles. 3 were adults and 1 juvenile. We had been searching for these turltes who nest and live around this island all year. Now we know...
On the only positive notes here, these paying recreational divers, several new divers(students of mine), ALL chose to forgo touring and playing along the wall, and used their mesh gear bags to collect the netting, worked well as teams, and safely cleared lots of reef. They were happy to pay for working. I was very proud of their social conscience and their work.