"Observations show an average 260 touches per one hour dive for a party of four."

[formernuke]

Ah, thanks for the primary literature. I can track the details down.

"Taking the mean values from both the shore and boat dives, kicking and touching the reef substrate with fins was by far the most common form of contact(81.4%), followed by touching and holding with hands(10.1%). Most contacts (79.8%) caused minor damage(touch or scrape), almost half (49.0%) resulted in there-suspension of sediment, and a small proportion(4.1%) caused major damage, i.e. caused breakage. Fin kicks accounted for the greatest proportion of each type of contact: 95.2% (n¼138) of major damage,78.5% (n¼2228) of minor damage, and 90.8%(n¼1581) of re-suspended sediment. Divers holding onto the substrate with their hands and resting against the substrate with their knees were the next most problematic actions, followed by loose, dangling equipment (gauges and alternative air sources ‘octo-puses’) which brushed against and knocked into the reef."

This is why I learned the frog kick

 

[Kharon]

If you always keep at least 10' from any surface, how do you surface?

Has anyone else observed that many of the people that complain about other peoples diving have no idea the damage their own fins are causing?

Actually my fins are causing no damage @ 10 feet off the reef and bottom. YOur "how do you surface" comment is so ... that it doesn't deserve a response.

If they ever tried to enforce a 10' rule I would simply dive elsewhere. You can take that to the bank.

Great! I see absolutely no problem with this.

 

[ReefHound]

Great! I see absolutely no problem with this.

You'll see a problem with it if enough others join me. The reason that dive sites are being closed off and not beach clubs or cruise ports is because scuba divers are a minority. Wait until they become even more of a minority and what little clout they currently have evaporates.

 

[Kharon]

You'll see a problem with it if enough others join me. The reason that dive sites are being closed off and not beach clubs or cruise ports is because scuba divers are a minority. Wait until they become even more of a minority and what little clout they currently have evaporates.

There is no problem with protecting reefs and bottoms and sealife. If you choose not to participate in that effort I encourage you to stay the eff away. Many destinations are realizing that their lifeblood depends on keeping a$$hat$ from destroying what is critical for their economy. If you aren't willing to do that, I am totally glad that you stay home.

==> Ignore

 

[tursiops]

Here are some more articles about divers and reef damage.
If you are only going to read one, Rouphael and inglis is a classic.
Mostly, the punch lines are:

• Yes, divers damage reefs. Mostly by the fins.
• The damage is worse by obsessed photographers than by non-obsessed photographers.
• The damage is worse by photographers than non-photographers.
• The damage is arguably worse by men than women. (Beware the male photographer!)
• The damage is worse by the environmentally unaware, and those with no buoyancy control.
• An environmental briefing by the dive operator can help.
• Buoyancy training can help.
• HOWEVER, the damage is relatively minor compared to other kinds of reef damaging things, like global warming, pollution, disease, anchoring, bomb-fishing, etc. This doesn't get divers off the hook, of course; "relatively minor" does not mean negligible or unimportant.

Some additional citations (I can't get at the articles themselves, just abstracts) are:

Nola H.L.Barker, Callum M.Roberts
Scuba diver behaviour and the management of diving impacts on coral reefs
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2004.03.021

Junko Toyoshima, Kazuo Nadaoka Importance of environmental briefing and buoyancy control on reducing negative impacts of SCUBA diving on coral reefs
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2015.06.018

D.Medioa, R.F.G.Ormond, M.Pearson
Effect of briefings on rates of damage to corals by scuba divers
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0006-3207(96)00074-2

Julie P. Hawkins, Callum M. Roberts,David Kooistra, Ken Buchan & Susan White
Sustainability of Scuba Diving Tourism on Coral Reefs of Saba
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08920750500217518

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13683500.2011.604407

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13683500.2010.545370

Two more attachments.

 

[ggunn]

First you said with respect to sunscreen...

It's certainly better if everyone uses less impactful ('reef friendly') methods...

And then you said...

What frightens me (and this goes far beyond just this issue) is how readily people will accept something presented in the form of an academic paper as being the final word on a matter without looking at it critically.

What evidence I have seen for divers' sunscreen having deleterious effects on the reef has been very thin.

 

[doctormike]

There is no problem with protecting reefs and bottoms and sealife. If you choose not to participate in that effort I encourage you to stay the eff away. Many destinations are realizing that their lifeblood depends on keeping a$$hat$ from destroying what is critical for their economy. If you aren't willing to do that, I am totally glad that you stay home.

==> Ignore

You may not like the message or the way it was delivered. You might chose to ignore someone. But you should also keep in mind that there is an important concept here.

We like to think of scuba diving as a major contributor to local economies, and in some places, it probably is (Bonaire, Cozumel, Truk Lagoon). But we should also remember that when looking at the travel and recreation industry as a whole, we are a rounding error. Cruise ships, beach resorts, condos, etc.... cater to demographics that are orders of magnitude greater than us, and spend a lot more money than we do. And if it comes down to favoring one vs. another, I wouldn't count on local governments always siding with pristine reefs.

 

[Charred]

There was an impact study done last year I thought - a guy would drop in behind a group of divers and watch from a distance. The lady that did it is on her walkabout, I’m sure she’ll be back to ask.....

Oh man. This is one of those studies that is biased before it even starts. Drop in behind a cattleboat full of once a year divers?

Drop in behind a frog kicking group of bouancy masters?

When you design the study with biased categories like male, female, camera you can tell the study conclusion before you even look at the data. Really bad science.

 

[Mike Walker]

First you said with respect to sunscreen...
...
And then you said...
...
What evidence I have seen for divers' sunscreen having deleterious effects on the reef has been very thin.

And that may be - I haven't even bothered to look.
I just plain don't like sunscreen (supposedly 'reef friendly' or otherwise) so I find alternate methods.

But that's quite distant from the point I'm making...

 

[ChuckP]

Oh man. This is one of those studies that is biased before it even starts. Drop in behind a cattleboat full of once a year divers?

Drop in behind a frog kicking group of bouancy masters?

When you design the study with biased categories like male, female, camera you can tell the study conclusion before you even look at the data. Really bad science.

Just where did I say cattle boat or any of that other BS??

I spoke with the guy after being told what he was doing - there wasn't any bias there. There are men and women that dive, cattle boats and valet boats. You gotta look at it all and be realistic. And you better be looking at waayyy more than 84 divers or whatever that number was that I seen. It's been over a year and I forget all that he was looking at - some others down here may know the study I'm thinking of.

Skill levels are all over the place and all types of divers should be evaluated.

Get some half full in that glass!!