Possible southern reef closure

[Doctor Rig]

The bacteria that is affecting the Cozumel reefs today, has already caused significant reef damages to the SE coast reefs of Florida (as I understand it).

For those in Florida who have already experienced similar reef declines, what business and dive enjoyment impact might you predict for Cozumel in the future? The Florida dive industry hasn’t collapsed or disappeared..... so isn't that at least one positive indicator for the Cozumel dive industry?

 

[DandyDon]

This thread has become irrelevant and has been hijacked by multiple subjects. The reef Southern reef is closed until Dec. Please start a relavant thread to your discusion since the "Possible" is now real.

So, you're bored in this thread.

Might I suggest: Don't read it.

 

[horn34]

Newly discovered underwater PVC pipe dumping sewage in to the Cozumel aquifer

Descubren vertimiento de aguas negras en manto acuífero de Cozumel (Video)

 

[deepsea21]

For those in Florida who have already experienced similar reef declines, what business and dive enjoyment impact might you predict for Cozumel in the future? The Florida dive industry hasn’t collapsed or disappeared..... so isn't that at least one positive indicator for the Cozumel dive industry?

I don't think the dive industry is going to collapse with the widespread death of hard corals, dwindling fish populations and increasing plastic trash floating around... over time there will just be fewer and fewer divers who know what it used to look like and more and more who don't.

 

[deepsea21]

Newly discovered underwater PVC pipe dumping sewage in to the Cozumel aquifer

Descubren vertimiento de aguas negras en manto acuífero de Cozumel (Video)

Well well well, what have we here? A sewage injection well?

 

[lionfish-eater]

Newly discovered underwater PVC pipe dumping sewage in to the Cozumel aquifer

Descubren vertimiento de aguas negras en manto acuífero de Cozumel (Video)

Or a fresh water pickup pipe?

 

[deepsea21]

Or a fresh water pickup pipe?

Perhaps... Too bad they didn't have a hand-crank drill to drill a hole in it and see what comes out because even if it is a sewage pipe it will certainly be claimed to be a fresh water pickup.

 

[ChuckP]

Hi would be great if anyone is currently in Cozumel , or going there soon , and could report back how the diving in the open sites is working out !!! Maybe the less common sites are equal or superior to the usual ??? Diving the North is an interesting subject to me, but , I've read the weather and conditions often prevent this and there's no shortage of stories of missing divers etc ( don't know how accurate these are). I've asked the operation looking after us in November to take us up North if conditions allow and admittedly a tad concerned. Any experience would be helpful , thanks.

Diving in the open sites is no different today than it was before the closure - all diving is fantastic. The sites that are open are slightly different than the ones closed - mostly less large formations but otherwise the water is fine.

Let's clear the "up North" diving stigma up - The statement that "there's no shortage of missing divers stories" is really out there, very misleading in fact. The last two divers missing were fishermen, the ones before that were fishermen - in fact, the only normal scuba diver to go missing recently that I can remember was Cameron, God rest his soul. Fishermen dive differently than you and I, very different - so different that I think those guys are nuts - they also dive in different areas than we dive - I also don't think these guys were lost forever, I believe I hear most are found.

More and more shops will be taking people "North" to Baracuda and San Juan, maybe even farther North than that. Those sites are "expert" sites when the current is humming, separations can happen and that can cause a problem. Some operators have PLB's and I'd highly suggest using one, big SMB's (plural on purpose) and listening very closely to the dive briefing - the next stop Cuba is no joke. They are expert sites when dove by experts lead by experts and picked up by experts that can be a blast, one non listening diver can ruin it for everyone. If you are not comfortable speed drift diving (if the currents are humming and your operator will probably have an idea), just stay down south, you aren't missing anything.

Come here and have fun, dive what you are comfortable diving - they give out Tequila here, not trophies.

 

[ChuckP]

The magic of cataract surgery is they put in the lens you ask for.

No thank you - I think I'm gonna play the cards I was dealt. I'm a firm believer that when they call doctors practicing, it means just that..... I've actually looked at the surgery - too scary for me. Knees replaced, hips replaced, eyes lasered - omg, that ain't for me............

And when did @ChuckP mention cataracts? Yes, I thought so. Maybe you need reading glasses.

and now @DandyDon has turned into an Eyedoc. This is a great thread! Where is @idocsteve when you need him?

I've worn reading glasses for ten years now, can't see crap up close and my long distance needs a very small amount of help. I have two high end custom prescription masks and one with lens inserts or whatever, the custom ones give me great vision and work just fine. Oakly now in fact makes tri focal prescription sunglasses, so I don't even need my glasses on the boat!

I personally like just being underwater - formations, ships, big things and the hunt for the little things too. Gain a friend that's a macro photographer and you'll see it better than your perfect eyes will ever see it.

 

[ChuckP]

View attachment 544304​

apostrophe: a punctuation mark ( ’ ) used to indicate either possession (e.g., Harry's book ; boys' coats ) or the omission of letters or numbers (e.g., can't ; he's ; class of ’99 ).

Some Ops there are furnishing PLBs with dive canisters to divers, really? I think Aldora has furnished some Nautilus units, but I haven't heard of Ops with PLBs?


Yeah, those others scare me, too. I had to have the cataract surgery to keep my driver's license, and I agree that old, blind folks should not be aiming multi-ton self-propelled devices, so I went for it. Life is so much more fun now that I can see more of it, and highly regarded specialists are so good at it.

Maybe I couldn't see it - and yes so sorry and I can't wait for the lecture explaining the difference - Aldora uses Nautilus units - I'm tired