Removing objects from the sea

[TMHeimer]

Lets try again. Sponges and corals release a few million (maybe more) biological bits into the current. Those bits that find a firm footing will start to grow. All others will die. The existence of hard stuff is a limiting factor on sponges and corals, not the number of biological bits. having more hard stuff results in more coral and sponges. At least in our area.

You see the same with oysters. Returning oyster shells to start new beds results in a net increase in the number of oysters.

Increasing the number of ponds in some key areas at key times of the year increases the total numbers of ducks/geese in a flyway.

The population size of many species is limited by many things. Among these are included shelter, food supply, correct habitat, etc. Relaxing a limiting facctor will often increase the total population.

Yes, I follow all you say. Not to belabour my stubborn thoughts, but logic would say that in order to increase populations (especially the depleted fish populations), we should dump anything that's big, solid and no-toxic into the oceans. I'm not just tongue and cheek--maybe we should actually consider that.

 

[Ana]

Yes, I follow all you say. Not to belabour my stubborn thoughts, but logic would say that in order to increase populations (especially the depleted fish populations), we should dump anything that's big, solid and no-toxic into the oceans. I'm not just tongue and cheek--maybe we should actually consider that.

I'm not sure I agree with your line of thought but this last post gave me a bit of understanding of where you're coming from. ....or maybe I'm way off base.
Depleting fish and marine life in general is the result of people removing viable conditions right? Dumping waste of all kinds, dredging wherever they need navigational areas, construction right to the edge on the coastlines, and a few other less than optimal things that humans have been doing because we do.
So facing those facts what's more likely to happen?
1- Stop all golf courses within x miles from a coastline . Or
2-. Clean a boat that is no longer useful and make it an artificial reef?

I think that enough of the million bits from sponges would find a viable location if the oceans weren't as damaged as they currently are. There's obviously enough people out there who don't give a moment of their thoughts to crap in the ocean... Or on land for that matter.
With our reality, providing a chunk of reasonably clean metal or concrete may be one of our few options for some of the million bits of sponges and other creatures to get hold of and do their thing instead of dieing.

On a side note.... What's up with the mylar balloons. Is becoming a routine to get 2-3 floating on every single day of the weekend.

 

[JackOfDiamonds]

I did several liveaboards in the Red Sea and the instructors always said if you see trash of any kind it would be great if you pick it up.

They just said dont touch any thing that is already a part of the reef or might damage the reef when you try to remove it.

 

[kablooey]

I was just looking over surf conditions at a local shore spot before a dive planned for later this morning.

The parking lot overlooking the beach was littered with plastic bags, plastic food containers, assorted eating utensils, and half eaten burgers and freedom fries.
Disgusting... not just the rubbish, but also the selfish behavior of the people who would do this.

A change of wind direction and a lot of this plastic could end up in the water.

Several divers nearby were jocking up for their dive, seemingly unconcerned about the mess.

Well, my dog patiently waited while I picked up all the junk and deposited it one of the several covered trash cans around the parking lot. I left the food bits for the ever vigilant seagulls.
I didn’t enjoy it. Handling other people’s slop makes one feel kinda sick.

So, perhaps our enthusiasm for removing plastic from the ocean could start even before our feet get wet.
It just takes quiet and unseen actions on a personal level. No big speeches, no grand plans...
Just a lot of us doing a little good to solve a big problem.

Please send my medal to the address listed on my profile page.

 

[TMHeimer]

I'm not sure I agree with your line of thought but this last post gave me a bit of understanding of where you're coming from. ....or maybe I'm way off base.
Depleting fish and marine life in general is the result of people removing viable conditions right? Dumping waste of all kinds, dredging wherever they need navigational areas, construction right to the edge on the coastlines, and a few other less than optimal things that humans have been doing because we do.
So facing those facts what's more likely to happen?
1- Stop all golf courses within x miles from a coastline . Or
2-. Clean a boat that is no longer useful and make it an artificial reef?

I think that enough of the million bits from sponges would find a viable location if the oceans weren't as damaged as they currently are. There's obviously enough people out there who don't give a moment of their thoughts to crap in the ocean... Or on land for that matter.
With our reality, providing a chunk of reasonably clean metal or concrete may be one of our few options for some of the million bits of sponges and other creatures to get hold of and do their thing instead of dieing.

On a side note.... What's up with the mylar balloons. Is becoming a routine to get 2-3 floating on every single day of the weekend.

These factors about the causes of fish depletion are really what's important. I see what you are saying and have to say it makes perfect sense. Maybe the artificial reefs are a small way of trying to fix the real problems we have caused.
I've mentioned the coastal construction, farm pesticides runoff, etc. a few times when defending my hobby of shell collecting. Yes, taking even one shell means there is one fewer in all the oceans, but that's tiny compared to commercial shell shops. Same thing with one person fishing with a limit of say 5 Red Snappers while the limit for the commercial fishing boats is like 6,000 pounds.
Not exact analogies, but you get the idea. In the scheme of things, a few intentionally sunk ships may help aquatic populations a little, but compared to the big problems it probably doesn't matter whether they're on the ocean floor or dumped into the Grand Canyon.
I admire divers who go on those trach cleanup dives, but I figure that is pretty much for beautification. Cleaning up off a seashore where people dive or swim means you've removed an amount of trash that may be .00000001 times the size of that gigantic gyre of plastic that moves around in the Pacific.

 

[EireDiver606]

What @kablooey seems to be a good point.

In the end, a few divers picking up plastic aren’t going to make much of a difference but if they share photos or stories of cleaning up their local environment, the ripple effect will spread and people all over the world doing clean ups makes the difference

 

[divinh]

It started with one person...

 

[TMHeimer]

What @kablooey seems to be a good point.

In the end, a few divers picking up plastic aren’t going to make much of a difference but if they share photos or stories of cleaning up their local environment, the ripple effect will spread and people all over the world doing clean ups makes the difference

Possibly. I would imagine photos and stories probably accompany most of these cleanup dives. Our shop just posted theirs
on facebook.
I've heard the phrase "Think globally, act locally". If everyone acts locally that becomes globally. Globally is the important one.