New artificial reef off Phuket soon

[MoonWrasse]

Problem is going to be that is out of the route for the other divesites and not big enough to take some of the pressure of Similans.

I hope I'm wrong, but I think this is not going to attract many divers.

I was thinking this was going to be used for BOW checkout dives. It's close enough to shore to do by longtail boat. So maybe low cost BOW courses in that area? Maybe for Thais?

 

[stevenl]

No, it is too far for nearly all diveshops, except maybe the 3 in the direct vicinity. Plus no diving there 1/2 of the year, so this really won't do any good.

 

[Arizona]

When they sink these sorts of things they clean out obvious hazards (or so you hope), but is this not polluting the ocean? Can you just imagine the newbie divers playing in these, can you say accident waiting to happen! Protecting the reefs and banning or enforcing no dynamite fishing seems wiser.

AZ

 

[Bowmouth]

Protecting the reefs and banning or enforcing no dynamite fishing seems wiser. AZ

The only real way to protect the reefs is no human interaction at all (fishing/diving/yachting/snorkelling etc.) and even then it's still not all that likely that the reefs will survive on the long run. I'm sure you know that global warming, pollution, excessive sediment run-off from land etc. are taking their toll already big time on our worlds coral reefs.

Fortunately there isn't much dynamiting going on in Thailand and Myanmar anymore. I dare say that Thailand is basically "dynamite free" at the moment.

Throwing some old aircraft in the water in an area where there's little or no coral may create a playground for divers and a place for marinelife to settle down and grow a reef in time. Personally I don't see much harm in that. I doubt if a couple of helicopters and fairly small aircraft will pose a danger towards divers but I must agree that (some) divers do stupid things and may get hurt or worse.

This is human nature though; we all just love to do something stupid from time to time. I for one am not all that good with a hammer and nails and hit my thumb over and over again when I am "fixing" something around the house....

 

[Arizona]

You still hear dynamite fishing on Samui. At least that is what is sounded like in the evenings last July to me while staying out in Mae Nam (by Coca Palms). I doubt Thailand is as free from it as one may think. I run the Coral Aware program with my dive club so I understand the other hazards to some degree. I can appreciate diving wrecks, heck I even recently got my wreck speciality. My issue has to do with if these planes and helicopters pollute our oceans? They are being placed there on purpose not by accident. We have other methods of seeding reefs. Are there any long term implications? Do you think the Thai govt. removes all the environmental non friendly elements?

Does anyone else have the scoop on dynamite fishing? I could be wrong, just friendly discussion to become wiser

AZ

 

[Bowmouth]

I can't say too much about Samui; haven't dived that area in more than a year now. Last time I was there divesites like Sail Rock were in good shape and I didn't hear, see or notice anything unusual while diving.

I'm pretty sure the Thais will clean the aircraft before scuttling it. One of the guys in charge of the project (Khun Paitul) has been an active environmentalist for more than 12 years now and is an Instructor himself.

Yes, other ways of creating reefs are possible but do not immediately create an attractive place for divers (or marinelife). I've dived over reefballs, hundreds of car tyres, concrete poles and white star-like structures that supposedly will grow coral on them but have most of the time been disappointed with the lack of scenery and marinelife on them.

Large, metal structures like wrecks and planes seem to thrive with creatures in very little time and are fun to dive on.

 

[stevenl]

Large, metal structures like wrecks and planes seem to thrive with creatures in very little time and are fun to dive on.

Yes, agree with that and agree with the principle. I just think the location is not good for the reasons stated earlier, plus I'm afraid that on that location, without any shelter, the low season winds will destroy this new reef in a few years.

 

[Batfish]

It's on the west coast which gets bashed around by waves and currents, especially in the low season. Reef? No way. Look at the west coast of the Similans... no reef... Racha Yai.. no reef... reefs grow on the east coast of the islands or in sheltered bays, there's going to be no reef growth on an exposed hunk of aluminium lying in the sand on the west coast of Phuket.

 

[Arizona]

So is this just pollution to make profit? Perhaps this was not thought out that well. Just because divers are involved does not mean they are experts in this particular field. I wonder what marine biologists have to stay regarding this plan.

 

[Bowmouth]

It's on the west coast which gets bashed around by waves and currents, especially in the low season. ... there's going to be no reef growth on an exposed hunk of aluminium lying in the sand on the west coast of Phuket.

Yep, I certainly agree that the location isn't all that great. The groundswell in the rainy season may break up the wrecks over time even at 20 meter depth. I don't think current is going to be a problem though.
There is a chance on soft coral growth though and ofcourse a fair amount of fish will inhabit the wrecks soon after scuttling.
It would have been better if they had planned to sink the wreckage either close to Shark Point or around Racha Yai.