Rubber & led

[Soakedlontra]

I have just read on North West Dive News that divers have begun removing tires that were part of a reef at Saltwater State Park. The reef will be replaced with structures of more environmentally safe materials.

Considering how popular these tire reefs are I am now wondering if they are any good for marine life after all.

When these tires are removed after being in the water for ages do the divers bother to remove also the animals that have grown on them?

Led,led,led...When I snorkel I have to carry 24lbs of led in my weight belt, when I dive the weight goes down to about 15lbs (for now). I really hope that I will never have to ditch this led into the marine environment and leave it there for good.

I have read that the pockets full of small led 'pellets' are more environmentally friendly than the solid blocks. I would think that it would be the opposite...


Happy diving!

 

[dpbishop]

Lead blocks have less surface area per pound, so they experience less erosion. The pellets, on the other hand, are better protected from abrasion. If you tend to whack into things while diving, the pellets might be better.

Elementary lead is not soluble in water, but it's compounds can be, but at a very slow rate. I have found weight belts that, judging from the growth on the belt, have been down for years; they do not exhibit any appreciable loss of mass. Lead pollution of sea water is primarily the result of leaded gasoline; since it's ban in the United States, and decrease in European gasoline, the lead content of the ocean has dropped dramatically, although it is still about twice what it was in pre-industrial times.

Bottom line on lead, IMO, is don't worry about it, use whichever you feel more comfortable with.

 

[covediver]

Tires were once thought to be suitable for reef building and it was a way to keep tires out of landfills. Tire disposal is a problem in a lot of places and reef building seemed a good solution. The designers were wrong. Tire reefs seldom stayed in intact being broken up over the years with individual tires being cast up on shore. Hopefully, we know better now.

Years ago I would sail out of Santa Barbara with some yachties who upon consuming beer would open the aluminum can and cast it overboard in the mistaken belief that we were "creating homes for the fishes". I explained that as a diver I was continually finding broken open cans filled with sand but very few marine creatures. My friend seemed generally surprised at the statements that I made. I never saw him throw another can overboard again.

Misconceptions of this type get passed along. For example, for decades scuba instructors would tell students the garibaldi was the state fish and thus it was protected. This myth was passed along until it became accepted as fact. But it wasn't until 1995 that the legislature finally got around to passing protection against commercial take and finally designating what people has said all along.

 

[Soakedlontra]

Years ago I would sail out of Santa Barbara with some yachties who upon consuming beer would open the aluminum can and cast it overboard in the mistaken belief that we were "creating homes for the fishes". I explained that as a diver I was continually finding broken open cans filled with sand but very few marine creatures. My friend seemed generally surprised at the statements that I made. I never saw him throw another can overboard again.

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My experience with discarded cans in the water is a bit different. On the beach that is located down the hill from my home, cans, as well as plastic bottles, get stuck into the sand and become homes for the small hairy shore crab, acorn barnacles and mussels.

It sounds a bit silly but every time I see them I don't know what the best thing to do is: shall I pick them up and kill (mostly) the barnacles and mussels or leave them there?

Lately I have been collecting and throwing them in the recycling bin after pulling off the mussels and tossing those animals back into the water (do they survive?). I have tried to remove the barnacles without killing them but it seems to me that it is impossible. I end up feeling a bit 'sorry' for the barnacles, but then I try to console myself thinking that they seem to reproduce like rabbits...

Happy diving and can collection!

 

[Soakedlontra]

I found another can the other day with crabs trapped inside. I opened it, they were all dead.