Roatan fish life

[popeb]

Hi there,

For those of you who have been diving in Roatan this year, what was your opinion on the number of fish?

I've recently read an article on the internet from someone who went to Roatan 15 years ago and recently returned. They said that there were no longer the large schools of fish like trevally and barracuda etc. and that its pretty fished out, especially on the west side of the island. They also said that a huge amount of trees have been cut down to make houses and resorts.

 

[okidoki]

Hi popeb,

I've got the same sort of info about Roatan last year, try Utila the island next to Roatan it has counted over 217 different fish and also a variety of walls, drop offs, seamounts and reefs.
take care

 

[Doc]

Hi there,

For those of you who have been diving in Roatan this year, what was your opinion on the number of fish?

I've recently read an article on the internet from someone who went to Roatan 15 years ago and recently returned. They said that there were no longer the large schools of fish like trevally and barracuda etc. and that its pretty fished out, especially on the west side of the island. They also said that a huge amount of trees have been cut down to make houses and resorts.

I think the quantity varied with the hour and lunar phase and temperature and your shoe size. By strict math, there are less reef fish at any given dive location due to tourism. So, absolutely, the populations and varietyies have thinned... everywhere.

I have been diving Roatan for 20+ years and even on this last trip in May I saw two new species (for me). Last August 2003 me and my dive buddy saw a worm of length and size that aint nobody ever has reported before.

Many divers enjoy whining while not diving. It is similar to the mantra "keep exhaling"... they're just trained to do it.

He might have been ragging just to affirm his breadth of experience. Divers do that when they don't have regs in their maws.

He might have been relating his experience as he obseved them. My first week in May, I agreed with him. The second week, it was like somebody called a fish convention. A lot of it depends upon time of year, but even that's no guarantee.

Roatan, as with most Caribbean destinations, has its own schedule. It all begins with the August coral spawn... everything feeds off of that. In April and May, the whale sharks come by on the full moons, but the trick of the Bay Islands is "the small stuff".

Bring a magnifying glass, "Go Slow, Seymour".