how to use sunblock on face

[Scubaroo]

In all seriousness - the wide floppy brim hat with a drawstring is your friend on the diveboat. Protects face, nose, ears and neck all in one go.

The nicest sunblock I've found is the BananaBoat sprayon stuff - it sprays on clear, and is *not* oily at all - I regularly use it around water eg goldpanning. No mess, super easy to apply, and I'll happily use it. I seem to be adverse to smearing the thick white stuff on my skin, and would get burnt as a result of simply chickening out of using sunscreen, but this sprayon stuff I'll happily use. It rocks.

The engine of the dive boat you're on easily dumps many magnitudes more of crap into the ocean than an application of sunblock. Unfortunately there's almost nothing you can do nowadays and be eco-friendly - the computer I'm typing this on uses power from a coal burning powerstation

 

[truva]

If those diving in drysuits, sunscreen will significantly decrease the life of your latex gaskets.

It deteriorates the silicon on dive masks.

Truva

 

[Gary D.]

Best sunblock ever. "GO NIGHT DIVING" Yahooooo and a lot of cool stuff to see.

The hat recomendations are by far the best. Find something very low in oils. KEEP IT AWAY from eyes and seals.

Enjoy your diving and don't be afraid to ask questions. If we can't come up with a solution we can at least have fun with it.

Enjoy

Gary D.

 

[H2Andy]

Best sunblock ever. "GO NIGHT DIVING"

:rofl:

 

[glbirch]

You are trying to tell me that the little bit of sunblock on my face, diluted in billions of gallons of water, is going to have any effect on a reef? What about what ends up in the water after going through the cooling system of an engine, or the exhaust from the engine? Or do you dive out of row boats?

Hey.. while we're at it.. lets kill all the parrotfish.. they keep eating the reef.

Hey... do you use charter boats that tie up to a moring ball that's attached to the reef, or do you live drop?

The engine of the dive boat you're on easily dumps many magnitudes more of crap into the ocean than an application of sunblock. Unfortunately there's almost nothing you can do nowadays and be eco-friendly - the computer I'm typing this on uses power from a coal burning powerstation

Sigh...

Someone on this board has the perfect sig for this one, something like "no singlre raindrop believes it's responsilble for a flood".

Ok Spectre (and Scubaroo),first off, let's look at the logic. You're saying that because you pollute less then someone else it's ok. Should we extend that to cover theft, or familiy violence? "But your honor, I stole less than the bank robber you tried this morning, so it's ok, right?" That could get bad in a hurry.

Now, some math. If we assume that you 'shed' a single ounce of sunblock into the ocean in a week of diving... multiply by 85,000 divers who visit Coz annually... (in imperial if I can remember how) and that comes to... 665 gallons of sunblock. Add several hundred thousand swimmers and snorkelers and multiply by Australia, Thailand, California, etc, and we're into how many thousand gallons a year? So where do you draw the line between harmful and harmless?

Cruise ships dump their grey water into the open ocean. Thousands upon thousands of gallons. Their defence is the same as yourse. There's lots of ocean to dillute it, right? There are lakes in the US (and other countries) where the water is so polluted any bird that lands in it is dead within an hour, but there's lots more lakes...

Obviously, we can't just stop everything and make it all go away. But I disagree strongly with people who have the opinion that the problem is too big and there's nothing they can do. Every day each and every one of us has hundreds of little choices that they make that contribute one way or another. When you fix something broken instead of throwing it away and buying another one. Turning the light off when you leave a room. Not printing something unless you truly need a hard copy. Walking instead of driving. Buying things that aren't overpackaged. Recycling glass, tin, or paper. (Wearing a shirt and hat instead of sunblock, or using bio-degradable sunblock).Each choice is a little one, but over time if each of us does what we can the total benifit can be enormous. I know it's cliche, but if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem.

And yes Spectre, I do prefer boats that use a permanent mooring point.

I will now climb down from my soapbox...

 

[Spectre]

You might want to look into live boating procedures. Have you ever looked at the damage that those moring lines cause to the reef?

As far as the sunblock goes. I probably go through 8 ounces _a year_. And of that 8 ounces, most of it is on my body and not my face.

 

[glbirch]

You might want to look into live boating procedures. Have you ever looked at the damage that those moring lines cause to the reef?

As far as the sunblock goes. I probably go through 8 ounces _a year_. And of that 8 ounces, most of it is on my body and not my face.

Yes, they cause damage. Less than anchoring every night somewhere new, more than not anchoring at all. I've seen mooring lines tied off on rocks and sunk into sand to minimize impact, and others tied off on living coral.

I stand by what I said. Less is better than more, none is better than less. Every bit that I can do to lessen the impact I have on my environment is a little more that I have left for the next generation to enjoy. Of course none of us are perfect, but IMO that doesn't mean we should try to do what we can.

 

[archman]

NOAA and the associated gaggle of marine scientists (including me) stands by the use of mooring buoys over both other anchorage methods and not anchoring at all. There's too much option for error in both of these cases. Not everyone is a licensed and/or prudent captain.

As for sunblock... well whatever happened to the popular adage,

"the solution to pollution is dilution." just kidding...

I thought some of the newer sunblocks incorporated natural pigments derived from corals. Anybody read the ingredient labels lately?

 

[Scubaroo]

glbirch,

Please don't assume you know anything about my environmental practices or attitudes. If you read my post, the first advice I gave was just wear a hat - there's not much more ecologically friendlier than that. If you want to get nitpicky - make sure it's made from hemp and not cotton.

I recycle, I buy larger packs to reduce the amount of unnecessary packaging, I walk through the house after other people turning lights and unwatched TVs off, I reuse paper in the unclaimed printing tray at work, I actively participate in feral animal control on my parents farm, I grow some of my own veges organically, I pick up plastic and trash on the bottom when I go diving, I pick up plastic on the beach, I pick up other people's rubbish when hiking or camping, I catch public transport - the list goes on. I'm not the raindrop, I'm part of the umbrella.

 

[glbirch]

glbirch,

Please don't assume you know anything about my environmental practices or attitudes. If you read my post, the first advice I gave was just wear a hat - there's not much more ecologically friendlier than that. If you want to get nitpicky - make sure it's made from hemp and not cotton.

I recycle, I buy larger packs to reduce the amount of unnecessary packaging, I walk through the house after other people turning lights and unwatched TVs off, I reuse paper in the unclaimed printing tray at work, I actively participate in feral animal control on my parents farm, I grow some of my own veges organically, I pick up plastic and trash on the bottom when I go diving, I pick up plastic on the beach, I pick up other people's rubbish when hiking or camping, I catch public transport - the list goes on. I'm not the raindrop, I'm part of the umbrella.

Scubaroo,

You're right, I don't know anything about your environmental choices, and you did indeed recommend a hat.

I referenced you because of the last para in your post:

The engine of the dive boat you're on easily dumps many magnitudes more of crap into the ocean than an application of sunblock. Unfortunately there's almost nothing you can do nowadays and be eco-friendly - the computer I'm typing this on uses power from a coal burning powerstation

This was the point of my post. I believe that there IS something that you (and I, and everyone) can do to help the situation, and I don't believe that saying that others pollute more is a justifacation for polluting to a lesser degree when it can be easily avoided. If you are doing as you say, then IMO you are wrong in your earlier post. There are things you can do to be eco-friendly, and you are doing many of them now.