Reef Status?
- Thread starter Cozoholic
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Moodiejeff
Contributor
Obviously if the hurricane was strong enough to sheer of the cruise ship piers I'm not holding out too much hope for Paradise reef.
I'm trying to be optimistic here... I've learned that you can never believe everything you read. It just saddens me that so many people are writing Cozumel off as being "washed away" when we don't even know the full extent of the damage.
I was there after Emily and I saw some of the damage inflicted. It wasn't pretty but did it detract fom my overall enjoyment? NO! Luckily it was scattered damage...
Maybe I'm being gullible here but supposedly a lot of the dead finger corals we saw post-Emily were dead for a long time and were uncovered by Emily's surge. At least that was what I read :07:
I'm trying to be optimistic here... I've learned that you can never believe everything you read. It just saddens me that so many people are writing Cozumel off as being "washed away" when we don't even know the full extent of the damage.
I was there after Emily and I saw some of the damage inflicted. It wasn't pretty but did it detract fom my overall enjoyment? NO! Luckily it was scattered damage...
Maybe I'm being gullible here but supposedly a lot of the dead finger corals we saw post-Emily were dead for a long time and were uncovered by Emily's surge. At least that was what I read :07:
Humuhumunukunukuapua'a
Contributor
Cozoholic:coz will never be the sameVERY SAD...
Enough with the stinking thinking. I for one imagine that the works of mankind, like cruise ship piers, are much more susceptible to damage than the reefs. I bet that the reefs below 40-60 feet or so aren't all that messed up. As for the shallower ones...time will tell. But, hey, there's a lot of rubble from those big cruise ship piers for new coral to grow on and fishies to hide in. Coral reefs come back suprisingly quickly. The pier ruins dive may be a great dive in a couple years.
As for Coz never being the same again, don't you think it has been hit by big storms before? Reefs bounce back. Islands bounce back. Cozumel will come back I'm sure, even though the diving right now is not exactly the same as it was a few weeks ago.
You do realize that this is the area where a meteor hit the Earth and killed almost all life on the planet. If it can bounce back from that, then this is nothing
I fully intend to do some lovely diving there in January. I'll let you know how it is
For now, I hope everyone there is starting to get the food and supplies they need to get through this initial period. Hang in there, folks. It'll get easier soon. Our thoughts are with you
Gregg
Lisa0825
Contributor
Humuhumunukunukuapua'a:Enough with the stinking thinking. I for one imagine that the works of mankind, like cruise ship piers, are much more susceptible to damage than the reefs. I bet that the reefs below 40-60 feet or so aren't all that messed up. As for the shallower ones...time will tell. But, hey, there's a lot of rubble from those big cruise ship piers for new coral to grow on and fishies to hide in. Coral reefs come back suprisingly quickly. The pier ruins dive may be a great dive in a couple years.
As for Coz never being the same again, don't you think it has been hit by big storms before? Reefs bounce back. Islands bounce back. Cozumel will come back I'm sure, even though the diving right now is not exactly the same as it was a few weeks ago.
You do realize that this is the area where a meteor hit the Earth and killed almost all life on the planet. If it can bounce back from that, then this is nothing
I fully intend to do some lovely diving there in January. I'll let you know how it is
For now, I hope everyone there is starting to get the food and supplies they need to get through this initial period. Hang in there, folks. It'll get easier soon. Our thoughts are with you
Gregg
Well said!!!
And I love your user name! I lived in Hawaii as a kid and remember learning how to say humuhumunukunukuapua'a and make my hands like a fish in hula class!LOL! Ah, the memories!
mtnredhed
Registered
Moodiejeff:
Well, actually Dave from Aldora had his crew survey from water and road yesterday. According to the chat last night, "the 'Cuda is badly damaged and in their estimation it would be a very long time, if ever" for it to be repaired. Like the Navy base up the street, the front is still there, but there isn't much on the other side.
You can read the chat transcript for his exact words.
docmartin
Contributor
Humuhumunukunukuapua'a:You do realize that this is the area where a meteor hit the Earth and killed almost all life on the planet. If it can bounce back from that, then this is nothing
that makes me feel much better. anyone have any idea how long it took until they could dive again after that one? probably did not take long, right?
Humuhumunukunukuapua'a
Contributor
docmartin:that makes me feel much better. anyone have any idea how long it took until they could dive again after that one? probably did not take long, right?
I hear it was a week or two before the currents got the viz back to normal.
And they found a Splendid Toadfish in Denver
We did make one short dive yesterday while surveying the southerly hotels, which was the most pressing issue of the day. Palancar Bricks was the dive site and we saw some damage at the coral head tops, and some debris down at the 80 ft level. Interestingly we saw about 6 ft of white/dead coral at the base of the coral heads which we finally figured out was old coral that had previously been below the sand level, and that the sand had been washed away from.
We also noticed some bleaching of all types of coral in the shallow water. We take this to have been the natural reaction of the coral to expell their alge when stressed. We have been told if the stress lasts over 7 days the coral may die, but the water is calm now and visibility is at least 50 feet. I didn't post last night, because I didn't have much to post about...and frankly am a bit tired of the keyboard!
For the person who was worried about debris/toxins in the water, please be aware that the current here almost always washes all the sediment away from the island and on to Cuba within a week.
Today we sent out a boat and two DMs to do a more thorough survey of the reefs including the shallow ones we are most worried about. They are also to check on the C-53.
I will be posting tonigh if they can get through on the telephone.
Regards,
Dave Dillehay
Aldora Divers
We also noticed some bleaching of all types of coral in the shallow water. We take this to have been the natural reaction of the coral to expell their alge when stressed. We have been told if the stress lasts over 7 days the coral may die, but the water is calm now and visibility is at least 50 feet. I didn't post last night, because I didn't have much to post about...and frankly am a bit tired of the keyboard!
For the person who was worried about debris/toxins in the water, please be aware that the current here almost always washes all the sediment away from the island and on to Cuba within a week.
Today we sent out a boat and two DMs to do a more thorough survey of the reefs including the shallow ones we are most worried about. They are also to check on the C-53.
I will be posting tonigh if they can get through on the telephone.
Regards,
Dave Dillehay
Aldora Divers
Dave,
I just wanted to thank you for all of the updates you've given. I just got off the phone with a customer/friend who said that your updates have been the best information around. Thanks for taking the time to do all of this knowing what we've all been through this past week.
I haven't had phone service and obviously no electricity.
Glad your boats and crew are all ok and thanks again.
I'll also look forward to the reef reports since I can't get my boat out there right now.
Best,
Christi
I just wanted to thank you for all of the updates you've given. I just got off the phone with a customer/friend who said that your updates have been the best information around. Thanks for taking the time to do all of this knowing what we've all been through this past week.
I haven't had phone service and obviously no electricity.
Glad your boats and crew are all ok and thanks again.
I'll also look forward to the reef reports since I can't get my boat out there right now.
Best,
Christi
Ok guys, here it is. We sent out one boat today and attempted to survey Santa Rosa Wall northward. We felt that all of the deeper reefs to the south were probably in pretty good shape as we found Palancar Bricks yesterday, and our main worry has been the shallow reefs. Lo and behold, the rumors about Paradise Reef having disappeared are not true. I will go through our list.
Santa Rosa Wall: The coral head tops had damage to finger and lettuce corals and I expect that we are going to see that everywhere--but they are not gone. Also some bleaching was evident. Down deeper we found lots of debris in the swimthoughs, mainly some sponges and big rocks of previously dead coral that had fallen from above, but nothing dramatic. Again. like Palancar the base of the Coral heads, even as deep as 100 feet had white bands where the sand had washed off. I didn't think that wave action reached that deep but it must have. However, it was not so strong to hurt anything, just moved the light sand/sediment that had accumulated over a long time.
Yucab and Tormentos: Much more severe damage to the finger and lettuce coral but the overall coral bluffs are still intact and there are still lots of fish. Both dive sites will still be interesting and once debris is gone we suspect it would take an expert on the reef to recognize a difference. This is good news for the critter freaks.
Wreck of the C-53: It sits in the same place but the tower has fallen over and it has a crack in the side. Actually it now looks like a real wreck instead of something from Disneyland!
Chankanaab Balloons: The big coral heads are still intact but the smaller ones are burried in sand. Those that we looked at had the same problems as Yucab and Tormentos.
Dzul Ha: We check this snorkeling spot to see how snorkeling might be for those that do that sort of thing. It is now barren rock.
Paradise Reef: Contrary to rumors we were delighted to be able to find it where it was, and recognizable. Lots of bleaching, and clearly damaged but will still make a nice dive, and all of the fish were there.
SUMMARY
The deeper reefs seem to be as expected, the only surprise has been the presence of bleaching (which we hope to heal soon since the stressor has been removed) and the newly exposed old coral at depth. Compared to Roxanne in 1995 the effect on the deep reef is pretty much the same.
The shallower reefs seem to be better than I would have expected but still show damage that will take some time to heal. But the fish are still there in normal numbers and as some one else suggested, the rubble from the cruise ship piers may make for new dive sites...we just have to find them.
On that thought, it is entirely possible that the movement of so much bottom may have exposed or created some very interesting new dive sites. We will be looking for them, both on the west side and on the east where we might even find some old Spanish stuff.
By tomorrow surely others will be out and about and can add to this thread. I am getting a little tired of the keyboard (I type like I am using my toes) so unless needed for specific issues am going to retire for a while.
Dave Dillehay
Aldora Divers
Santa Rosa Wall: The coral head tops had damage to finger and lettuce corals and I expect that we are going to see that everywhere--but they are not gone. Also some bleaching was evident. Down deeper we found lots of debris in the swimthoughs, mainly some sponges and big rocks of previously dead coral that had fallen from above, but nothing dramatic. Again. like Palancar the base of the Coral heads, even as deep as 100 feet had white bands where the sand had washed off. I didn't think that wave action reached that deep but it must have. However, it was not so strong to hurt anything, just moved the light sand/sediment that had accumulated over a long time.
Yucab and Tormentos: Much more severe damage to the finger and lettuce coral but the overall coral bluffs are still intact and there are still lots of fish. Both dive sites will still be interesting and once debris is gone we suspect it would take an expert on the reef to recognize a difference. This is good news for the critter freaks.
Wreck of the C-53: It sits in the same place but the tower has fallen over and it has a crack in the side. Actually it now looks like a real wreck instead of something from Disneyland!
Chankanaab Balloons: The big coral heads are still intact but the smaller ones are burried in sand. Those that we looked at had the same problems as Yucab and Tormentos.
Dzul Ha: We check this snorkeling spot to see how snorkeling might be for those that do that sort of thing. It is now barren rock.
Paradise Reef: Contrary to rumors we were delighted to be able to find it where it was, and recognizable. Lots of bleaching, and clearly damaged but will still make a nice dive, and all of the fish were there.
SUMMARY
The deeper reefs seem to be as expected, the only surprise has been the presence of bleaching (which we hope to heal soon since the stressor has been removed) and the newly exposed old coral at depth. Compared to Roxanne in 1995 the effect on the deep reef is pretty much the same.
The shallower reefs seem to be better than I would have expected but still show damage that will take some time to heal. But the fish are still there in normal numbers and as some one else suggested, the rubble from the cruise ship piers may make for new dive sites...we just have to find them.
On that thought, it is entirely possible that the movement of so much bottom may have exposed or created some very interesting new dive sites. We will be looking for them, both on the west side and on the east where we might even find some old Spanish stuff.
By tomorrow surely others will be out and about and can add to this thread. I am getting a little tired of the keyboard (I type like I am using my toes) so unless needed for specific issues am going to retire for a while.
Dave Dillehay
Aldora Divers
