just returned from san pedro after 20 yr absence

[laurenceh]

this is just a comment/opinion and i'm sure many belize fans will disagree...... but.
i used to dive ambergris cay 20-25 yrs ago, it's where i fell in love with diving.
san pedro and the southern half of ambergris cay has not faired well since my last visit. all the mangrove gone, land fill everywhere, subdivisions, 12 boatloads of sunburned cruise ship passengers standing on the coral having their pictures taken at hol chan and the little deserted cays near caulker turned into party islands for the cruisers rum drinking, reggaeton and limbo contests. from the air the runoff coming from some of the cays is unbelievable, huge brownish green clouds suspended in the water. i never made it up to the northern (formerly remote) parts of ambergris but i hope they've faired better.
maybe i'm just getting nostalgic in my old age but it looks like an ecological disaster.

 

[Midget]

You brought up some of the reasons why I'm always so hesitant to make a dive trip to a place where the cattle boats stop. I've actually yanked a snorkelers fin once when the guy was standing on coral. When he looked at me I gave him the shame shame don't do that pointer fingers sign. Why don't dive shops and snorkel guides enforce or emphasize this sort of stuff? Money over conservation. I know.

I don't have huge expectations for Belize, but am still a bit excited to get wet and willing to take my first look in May.

Thanks for being honest.

 

[Hank49]

Just to put this post in perspective, what place do you know of that HASN'T changed for the worse, ecologically, in the last 25 years?

The good news is that northern Ambergris, at least from Mexico Rocks up, is still pretty nice.

 

[Midget]

Of course you are right, Hank.

Plastic bags are found everywhere in Indonesia. They used to carry everything in a banana leaf or coconut. Those are biodegradable and it didn't matter if they just threw them anywhere. But now plastic bags get haphazardly thrown instead of properly discarded and they end up in the ocean.

 

[peterbj7]

... and being at the western end of the Caribbean we collect a lot of plastic bags and other stuff from other countries. Much of the trash of the Caribbean ends up here.

But it's certainly true that the reef has deteriorated. The change in my 9 years here is very marked. But sadly I don't think it's anything we've done, or can reverse. It's global water pollution, both chemical and heat, and until mankind changes his ways drastically it'll only get worse. Coral reefs in the Pacific are better off than those in the Atlantic because there's more water to absorb the effluent from fewer countries, but give it time and they'll suffer the same way - it's inevitable and in human timescales irreversible.

 

[Hank49]

Of course you are right, Hank.

Plastic bags are found everywhere in Indonesia. They used to carry everything in a banana leaf or coconut. Those are biodegradable and it didn't matter if they just threw them anywhere. But now plastic bags get haphazardly thrown instead of properly discarded and they end up in the ocean.

It is amazing the amount of plastic that is used for nothing. Here in Belize if you go into a market (in Dangriga anyway) the put everything in plastic bags, including items that you buy that are in plastic bags already.
And yes, we are the cesspool of floating garbage in the Caribbean. Damn tradewinds.
Somedays there are tiny pieces of plastic debris in the water. It's been broken down by the sun over time but where the hell does it come from?

 

[Ralph Capeling]

There is too much garbage around but most of the year it is ok. When the rainy season starts, then lots of flotsam and jetsum come down the rivers, particularly in Guatemala and Honduras which have much larger populations (Belize is about 300 000 people so we don't generate quite as much garbage as our neighbors to the south) and here in Placencia we have regular beach cleanups. Every year Splash Dive Shop organizes a big cleanup at Laughing Bird Caye which is a National Park and a World Heritage site. Most of the cleanup is done by the school kids and the community supports the effort by providing boats and lunches. Some of the Splash Kids Club do presentations on the Caye during the lunch and snorkel break on the importance of the ecology. Yes, there is more garbage than there used to be, but people are becoming more aware of the need to keep our environment clean.

 

[Wookie]

Just to put this post in perspective, what place do you know of that HASN'T changed for the worse, ecologically, in the last 25 years?

The good news is that northern Ambergris, at least from Mexico Rocks up, is still pretty nice.

Ummm, Well, the entire Florida Keys is a good place to start. The fish life is returning, and the corals are much healthier than they were 10 years ago. American Red Snapper are being found in places where they were unheard of 30 years ago. A lot of the reason is because of the reduced agricultural runoff from the Everglades, as well as the reduced sewage runoff from the Keys.

Next we shall admire the healthiest reefs in the world, located at the Flower Garden Banks off of Texas. You can't really say that they are better or worse than they were 20 years ago, because they haven't really changed. They are tough to get to, very few divers visit, and, oh, snap!! there is no indigenous population to over fish the area.

Mona Island seems to have exceptionally healthy reefs. Again, it's remoteness and difficulty in getting a charter out is probably the deciding factor in it's health.

I get a little tired about the pissing and moaning about how the reefs aren't as good as they were 20 years ago, and the world is going to end, and there aren't any fish. Coral reefs are exceptionally resilient as are fish populations. A little conservation effort goes a long long way. If we stopped selling our fish overseas, we wouldn't be overfished. Yes, I get pissed when I see a plastic bag on the reef, or a turtle caught up in monofilament or pot warp. I still have great hope for the future of the reef.

 

[Hank49]

Ummm, Well, the entire Florida Keys is a good place to start. The fish life is returning, and the corals are much healthier than they were 10 years ago. American Red Snapper are being found in places where they were unheard of 30 years ago. A lot of the reason is because of the reduced agricultural runoff from the Everglades, as well as the reduced sewage runoff from the Keys.

Next we shall admire the healthiest reefs in the world, located at the Flower Garden Banks off of Texas. You can't really say that they are better or worse than they were 20 years ago, because they haven't really changed. They are tough to get to, very few divers visit, and, oh, snap!! there is no indigenous population to over fish the area.

Mona Island seems to have exceptionally healthy reefs. Again, it's remoteness and difficulty in getting a charter out is probably the deciding factor in it's health.

I get a little tired about the pissing and moaning about how the reefs aren't as good as they were 20 years ago, and the world is going to end, and there aren't any fish. Coral reefs are exceptionally resilient as are fish populations. A little conservation effort goes a long long way. If we stopped selling our fish overseas, we wouldn't be overfished. Yes, I get pissed when I see a plastic bag on the reef, or a turtle caught up in monofilament or pot warp. I still have great hope for the future of the reef.

That's good news about the Keys.
Are you disagreeing that there has been a general degradation of the reef systems worldwide over the last 25 years?
Most certainly the majority of reefs were severely stressed in the El Nino of 98. This is well documented.
And I"m not saying that man cannot help to restore the reefs. The US and other developed countries will have to lead the way though. The mentality of cleaning up (not throwing trash everywhere) in the developing countries where I've lived is about where the US was in the 1940s.

 

[deeper thoughts]

Ummm, Well, the entire Florida Keys is a good place to start. The fish life is returning, and the corals are much healthier than they were 10 years ago. American Red Snapper are being found in places where they were unheard of 30 years ago. A lot of the reason is because of the reduced agricultural runoff from the Everglades, as well as the reduced sewage runoff from the Keys.

Next we shall admire the healthiest reefs in the world, located at the Flower Garden Banks off of Texas. You can't really say that they are better or worse than they were 20 years ago, because they haven't really changed. They are tough to get to, very few divers visit, and, oh, snap!! there is no indigenous population to over fish the area.

Mona Island seems to have exceptionally healthy reefs. Again, it's remoteness and difficulty in getting a charter out is probably the deciding factor in it's health.

I get a little tired about the pissing and moaning about how the reefs aren't as good as they were 20 years ago, and the world is going to end, and there aren't any fish. Coral reefs are exceptionally resilient as are fish populations. A little conservation effort goes a long long way. If we stopped selling our fish overseas, we wouldn't be overfished. Yes, I get pissed when I see a plastic bag on the reef, or a turtle caught up in monofilament or pot warp. I still have great hope for the future of the reef.

Ditto on the Keys. I have been diving the keys since 1993 and the Fish life has increased dramatically.