Possible southern reef closure

[DandyDon]

Maybe Dandy Don can dive the mouth of this river where it meets the ocean and collect all of this trash in a dip net? He has posted his pics of his wonderful PVC contraption that houses paper straws for travel and looks like a pipe bomb under TSA x-ray several times. Maybe Dandy would like to deal with this? I don't think so. There is no shortage of good yet totally delusional people in this world.

What is your problem? I gave the PVC tube a try, and once posted my embarrassing story & photo. I still carry the tube of paper straws in my car for my own use, but found that paper straws are catching on in Cozumel so I didn't need to bother there.

Still, I am trying to do better in the world when I can, but you give me crap?

We discussed earlier here how most of the plastic pollution in the ocean comes from third world countries, but that does not excuse anyone anywhere who adds to it. I also mentioned earlier that the pollution on the southern reefs largely comes from the rest of the Caribbean riding the North Atlantic Gyre - Wikipedia

But what? You just wanted to stir trouble?

 

[rmssetc]

According to this video posted a few links back the SCTLD disease is a waterborne pathogen. The terrifying thing about this is that the cruise ships once again may be helping spread this disease by means of the discharge ballast water. It’s interesting to see that the outbreaks of this disease seems to follow the paths of these cruise ships.

View attachment 541851

Maybe...but there is also a high chance of confirmation bias...the oceans are really, really big, and we tend to study things (coral) in places that are accessible and of interest to humans, factors that correlate strongly with, say, cruise ship routes and ports.

 

[robint]

Just thought I would share with you here a website that tracks ALL ships.... it is very enlightening to see that cruise ships are a tiny portion of the ships out there in the ocean. I had no idea until I saw this... look at it, zoom in and out on your favorite areas, and take note.

Cruise Ship Tracker / Live Ship Tracking Map

I do agree that cruise ships may play a part in this problem, but there are many other factors also involved. PDC has a huge problem with the ground water, underground river system, being infiltrated by pollution from resorts. Ocean temps are getting warmer everywhere, and that is for sure affecting coral and fishlife everywhere, too. There are so many factors at work here... not just cruise ships, not just sloppy divers kicking reefs, not just warmer water, not just pollution from resorts... so many factors are at work.
I honestly, IN MY OPINION, do not think closing off the deeper reefs for a period of time is going to solve anything. It just seems to me to be an odd way to study a problem.

 

[knucklebusted]

Just thought I would share with you here a website that tracks ALL ships.... it is very enlightening to see that cruise ships are a tiny portion of the ships out there in the ocean. I had no idea until I saw this... look at it, zoom in and out on your favorite areas, and take note.

Cruise Ship Tracker / Live Ship Tracking Map

I do agree that cruise ships may play a part in this problem, but there are many other factors also involved. PDC has a huge problem with the ground water, underground river system, being infiltrated by pollution from resorts. Ocean temps are getting warmer everywhere, and that is for sure affecting coral and fishlife everywhere, too. There are so many factors at work here... not just cruise ships, not just sloppy divers kicking reefs, not just warmer water, not just pollution from resorts... so many factors are at work.
I honestly, IN MY OPINION, do not think closing off the deeper reefs for a period of time is going to solve anything. It just seems to me to be an odd way to study a problem.

Having taken a cruise or two, I know that the ships regularly cruise both the Pacific Northwest in summer and do a repositioning cruise through the Panama Canal for Carribean cruising during the winter. There are also ships that cruise the Mediterranean/North Atlantic during the summer and do the Atlantic/Carribean during the winter.

I have no doubt there are similar situations around Australia/New Zealand and the South Pacific Islands.

This could easily cross-contaminate the entire planet and evolution takes its course, to our detriment. This illness of the coral could be just another invasive species like the Asian carp that are ruining every waterway that touches the Mississippi and the fact there are no American chestnut trees any more.

I'm not saying we are helpless but things set in motion decades ago do not come to a halt in a year or three.

 

[deepsea21]

How Peru disposes of its trash...


Guatemala...


India...


Indonesia...


Haiti...

 

[deepsea21]

Philippines...


India...


Republic of Congo...


Malaysia...


Kenya...


Need I go on?

 

[ReefHound]

Makes all the hoopla about straws seem silly.

 

[DandyDon]

Need I go on?

I don't recognize any benefit in that.

We discussed earlier here how most of the plastic pollution in the ocean comes from third world countries, but that does not excuse anyone anywhere who adds to it.

As to your personal attack...

What is your problem?

Makes all the hoopla about straws seem silly.

It's certainly a small step in a greater need.

 

[robint]

My point was that its not just cruise ships. There are thousands of cargo ships and tankers sailing the oceans, all over the world. They are a part of the problem, also. In fact, there are more of those ships than cruise ships, if you look on that website I linked, you will see how many.

As far as trash in 3rd world countries...yes, it is a nightmare. There are huge islands of trash floating around in the ocean, all due to plastics in particular. There is another source of your contamination.

 

[likestodive001]

It strikes me that this is roughly the equivalent of banning hikers when dutch elm disease wiped out 70% of the elm trees in the US in the early 1900s. Sure hikers did cause some damage (stepped on saplings, etc), but they weren't the real cause and banning them would have had zero impact on the spread of the disease.

I hope I'm wrong and the 10000 years of coral growth comes back in 3 months but that seems a bit unlikely.