Laguna Beach Resort, Utila: Trip Report, March 15 - 22nd

[CODMAN]

Dave, there is also coral bleaching due to temperature increases. It doesn,t take much to affect these delicate creatures. I'd be curious to sea the trend in monthly average temperatures for the last 10 years on utila.

Cheers!

I adore Utila. The people are friendly and the Bohemian vibe is absolutely charming. The warm, tropical waters (up to 32degrees!) - mostly without any current - make for a wonderfully relaxed diving experience. I found the dive outfits on the island to be professional and dedicated to a high standard of dive education.

I spent much of 2006 and 2007 on Utila studying the reefs (and whale sharks) and believe I have a fine sense for ecology and natural ecosystems. Based on hundreds of hours underwater all around Utila (every dive site), my professional opinion is that "Sorrows" is mostly correct. I give the reef five years. If something drastic is not done soon then the reef will be irreversibly damaged. The reefs are not okay. They are not even close to being okay. And those of you who know me will know that I am an optimist and love the Utila reefs, so it really pained me to see the "head in the sand" philosophy that is generally being adopted on the island. I honestly feel that the people of Utila (both locals and expats) do not realize the extent of the trouble the reefs are in.
I believe that there are two major anthropogenic affects on the reef:

1. Nutrification from the town. The mangroves, harbour and soil are treated as a dumping ground for trash and dirty water. By way of example, we could hear when any of our neighbours was taking a shower for the dirty water was falling on the ground below the house. This would not be a major problem if one lived in a low-density area and lived a good distance from open water (rivers, lakes, the ocean). Unfortunately, most of the people in Utila live in high density "suburbs", which are often flooded during the rainy season / high tide. This means that the dirty water (and refuse discarded below the stilted houses) would move directly in to the mangroves (ooh, not good) and the ocean. The affect of this nutrification (and pollution) on the reefs is most evident at the sites closest to the harbour. My heart weeps seeing the beginnings of "unstoppable" damage on Black Coral wall - one of the most beautiful sites I have ever dived.
Remedying this incredibly complex problem will take the acknowledgement of the problem by ALL the people of Utila, and a concerted effort by the local government (and soon!). Not doing so is likely to spell the end of the south side reefs.

2. The second major problem is over fishing. The classic argument is that the fishermen need to feed their families and have a right to practice their traditional lifestyles. I agree. Who would not? But, by way of analogy, coal was traditionally used for heating in downtown London. People have a right to heat their homes and workplaces, and this is their tradition. but, unfortunately, that means (to the end of heating) is highly detrimental to the environment and to the other citizens of the area. If fishing continues as is, then we might as well prepare our farewells for the practically extinct sharks, and then to the groupers, then the snappers, then the parrotfish, then the tourists. for the ecosystem will crash. Unfortunately, these statements come across as the melodramatic rantings of "some foreigner" who does not appreciate the situation. I may not. But I understand ecology. And if reef fishing is not stopped soon (preferably outright) then we can kiss our beautiful reefs goodbye.
The marine reserves near Cayes Kalker and Ambergis (Belize) gave me a huge amount of hope for the Bay Islands. Near these cayes, the FISHERMEN established marine protected areas where they do not fish or catch lobster AT ALL. The reserves are large enough that they can provide a breeding sanctuary for the marine life that is strong enough to supply large numbers of big fish to the surrounding reefs. This has had a great impact on the catch success of the local fishermen and provides a wonderful diving experience - lots of big, tame groupers and real, live sharks! Something like this could easily be implemented in Utila. It just needs the support of the local fishermen who understand how important this is for them.

The issues facing the reefs of Utila are not small, and are certainly not simple. Remedying them will take the support and action of lots of people. I am not talking about a "pick up trash" day. It will require an entire shift in culture and the way the reefs are viewed. But all of this needs to happen fast. I give the reefs 5 years. My heart and hopes are with you, Utila!

Please feel free to comment on what I have said here, either directly in this forum or privately to me.

Dale Forbes

 

[UTLgirl]

Wow, I'm sorry if my post was in anyway seen as an attack Snorkyman. That certainly wasn't my intention!

I believe if you scan back through any of my posts here or on other boards you'll see I try to be fair, and do understand people have different opinions and perspectives. I've been in the business for 12yrs and have seen (on more then one occasion) 2 couples, on the same trip... have 2 totally different vacations. I've seen 2 people on the same dive, have completely different opinions. People see things through their own glasses and we're all entitled to our opinion.

I only posted because of the generalities such as 'Town is a "dump"', 'trash is "everywhere"' and '"all" sewage on the island goes directly into the water' were used that were presented as fact.

I fully admit we have issues to tackle, just as every community/country does. The difference is how soon, how agressively, & how we tackle them directly effects the health of our reefs, our water supply, & our livelyhood.

I have my affiliations posted as my sig. line and don't hide behind any alias. I'm sorry if my post offended Sorrows or anyone else as an attack, it wasn't intended to.

PS: I didn't comment on the diving because there are way too many people on this board more qualified then I am to discuss reef stress and it's causes (both ecological, man made, and human impact).

 

[Doc]

I'll hope to get a TR up when I get back, but I'm a bit weary about posting any negatives in it, if there are any.

Kinda' off topic, but maybe not....

Trent- I hope you do post a trip report when you got back, but we won't write off any non-posting due to your feeling of being attacked. Here's why:

To date, you have made 28 posts in 5 years, with several merely looking for dive buddies on your upcoming trips, yet- never have you posted a report. :no Not one.

Okay, so in order to get hollered at and be attacked for a trip report- you have to first take the time and write one- if nothing less than to do a "pay back" for the other posts you made looking for info on your upcoming trips.

When I look at trip reports, I first go to the profile of the poster. That sometimes explains more about their perceptions and experience base. If they have links to their own private web page, so much the better. Right away, I liked the pix of your feline housemates! :kittykay: Your self admitted rant at the bottom was enlightening. I see that you link to a global warming website. (I'll bet that might not be such a bad thing for you Minnesotans!) I love Ron White and Lewis Black- but where are those promised reviews? Same for the restaurants- only one posted so far.

I am not attacking you. I am just trying to show how I analyze what someone says on SCUBABoard by what they say elsewhere. I'm just trying to draw logical conclusions.

You have also been on any number of dive trips (maybe 10) since you joined SCUBABoard in 2003.

I looked at the list of the places you have been, and with a careful examination of pictures, I can see what kind of diving you do and what you notice- what catches your eye while diving.

There are all sorts of ways to analyze a trip report for veracity, but it's impossible if you never, ever write one.

I applaud your desire to follow in Sorrow's foot steps and see the cool macro stuff, but you may well be unlikely to find them without the assistance of your local DM. They are expert in finding the stuff that you and I simply cannot see.

As far as "Cattle", I really can't imagine that if there was a cattleboat operation on Utila that it would affect your diving in any way. (There isn't one, anyway. Please see http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ge...ns/224209-cattle-boat-what-does-mean-you.html for a general consensus on the definition of the word)

Many times people see a bleak zone and they believe it is damage from divers with poor skills. Divers, in fact, do huge amounts of damage... but it isn't done while they are diving. The damage they do is caused by their arrival and upkeep while on the land. The amount of soil run-off due to construction is a steel dagger in the heart.

Re-read the above posts from the true experts in the field.

UTLGirl? She is a first rate dive resort manager that anyone would be lucky to have, she has seen it all, been there, done that. She calls 'em as she sees 'em. Her old man is no slouch, either.

It is hard enough to communicate in person, much less while trying to do it by typing on a computer! We're all just divers here. relax, post a trip report- tell us what you saw in Utila on your upcoming trip!

 

[Utila_ecology]

Dear Codman,
I fail to see why you see a contradiction between the word volunteer and paying to cover the costs of being on a "volunteer" project. There are many well respected organisations, Earthwatch would be a good example, who use paying volunteers. Just because the volunteers help fund the science doesn't negate the value of the work being done, nor the volunteer experience.
I applaud the fact that you take volunteers to help in the marine research that you do and and guess that you either do not do extensive dive research or that you have a sufficient financial backing to support your assistants.
However in parts of the world where science funding is limited and the type of reseach they do is expensive (ie extensive tiume undewater or with significant amounts of research equipment) I fail to see another alternative. UCME is a group of scientists that is supporting and implementing research on marine and island ecosystems in association with the regional institute for biodiversity, national universities and relevant Honduran government agencies. The work we do is devised in a way that volunteers can participate actively in data collection for portions of the programme. Yes they are "interested in learning to do science" but why is that a problem..? I think the volunteering is the fact that they are voluntarily giving up their normal vacation to spend their time helping people advance the global knowledge about endangered coastal systems. And yes volunteer revenue does help finance UCME, but since as a not for profit organisation (initiated and based in the country in which it works - ie not an external NGO working overseas) that money is spent within the community it is working with. At the moment UCME revene is supporting the training and education of local students' coastal zone resource management, is funding the set up of a conch aquaculture facility to hatch and grow juvenile conch, is aiding the monitoring of locally landed fish and overseeing the development of community education programmes and "mini-documentaries" for local TV.
I think Codman you are spot on for highlighting the issues with many volunteer organisations. However most of them are based in devloped nations and send people to " do good work" often taking the majority of the cash as "overheads" in the process. Once again, as a local NGO wokring within and with the community on Utila we are an entirely different animal and to tar all organisations with the same brush would seem to be a little premature given you state that you don't know our organisation at all. However I look forward to telling you more about it if you wish. .

 

[itsjustme0770]

Utila Ecology- Let me change the subject just a bit (and maybe this is deserving of a new thread)... What is being done to change things? What is being done to educate, impress and convince the local government of the dangers of current practices and the real risk of losing both of their primary sources of revenue (diving and fishing). I understand that you guys are studying what is being lost, but what is being done with that information? I am seriously interested for both environmental and personal reasons.

 

[Utila_ecology]

Utila Ecology- Let me change the subject just a bit (and maybe this is deserving of a new thread)... What is being done to change things? What is being done to educate, impress and convince the local government of the dangers of current practices and the real risk of losing both of their primary sources of revenue (diving and fishing). I understand that you guys are studying what is being lost, but what is being done with that information? I am seriously interested for both environmental and personal reasons.

I think you are right, and this is deserving of a new thread so this one isn't high- jacked. For the same reason, Codman has started one on 'volunteering' but the questions you are asking are broader and deeper so I will start another one where UCME can explain how its research is being used.