The reefs in Bonaire are not dead

[tursiops]

I would have to disagree. We just got back from a 6 week trip diving in the Dutch Caribbean. In general we were shocked at the lack of life in the Dutch Caribbean (vs the other 34 countries we have dived). Bonaire was definitely the worst for coral disease especially the northern sites (1000 steps, kaparta). It was so depressing, that we cut a couple of dives short. Curacao was not in great shape either. We met several Canadian couples who’ve been diving Bonaire for years and now won’t go back.
What astounded us was the lack of people talking about it in the dive shops. If Bonaire is serious about protecting the environment they need to shut down more dive sites. They need to do what Malaysia does with Sipadan and the Philippines did with Boracay. The problem is it seems like the Caribbean just chases $$ (evident with the damage the cruise and oil industry has already done). I wanted to do a trip to the French Caribbean, but to be honest I don’t think it’s worth it, as there are too many other places in the world to explore that aren’t destroyed…yet.

You mean 34 countries all over the world, or in the Caribbean?
What do you mean by "life"? Big animals, fish density, coral, what?
Do you have any pictures to share?

 

[mbs]

I would have to disagree. We just got back from a 6 week trip diving in the Dutch Caribbean. In general we were shocked at the lack of life in the Dutch Caribbean (vs the other 34 countries we have dived). Bonaire was definitely the worst for coral disease especially the northern sites (1000 steps, kaparta). It was so depressing, that we cut a couple of dives short. Curacao was not in great shape either. We met several Canadian couples who’ve been diving Bonaire for years and now won’t go back.
What astounded us was the lack of people talking about it in the dive shops. If Bonaire is serious about protecting the environment they need to shut down more dive sites. They need to do what Malaysia does with Sipadan and the Philippines did with Boracay. The problem is it seems like the Caribbean just chases $$ (evident with the damage the cruise and oil industry has already done). I wanted to do a trip to the French Caribbean, but to be honest I don’t think it’s worth it, as there are too many other places in the world to explore that aren’t destroyed…yet.

Its all about perspective. We had a brand new diver as well as 2 very experienced divers here for the first time last week. The newbie obviously thought it was the best thing ever coming from cold water diving. But what surprised me is the 2 experienced divers thought that it was some of the best diving they had done. I can't imagine that any dive site on this planet is as good as it was years ago. Exactly how would shutting down sites help with SCTLD and bleaching?

 

[shopguy]

Some might point out some dead corals in this video, but it also shows a lot of life, including two nurse sharks that seem happy sleeping in after a long night of partying. I'm only upset I wasn't invited to the party. Video shot this morning.

 

[Diver-6873]

I would have to disagree. We just got back from a 6 week trip diving in the Dutch Caribbean. In general we were shocked at the lack of life in the Dutch Caribbean (vs the other 34 countries we have dived). Bonaire was definitely the worst for coral disease especially the northern sites (1000 steps, kaparta). It was so depressing, that we cut a couple of dives short. Curacao was not in great shape either. We met several Canadian couples who’ve been diving Bonaire for years and now won’t go back.
What astounded us was the lack of people talking about it in the dive shops. If Bonaire is serious about protecting the environment they need to shut down more dive sites. They need to do what Malaysia does with Sipadan and the Philippines did with Boracay. The problem is it seems like the Caribbean just chases $$ (evident with the damage the cruise and oil industry has already done). I wanted to do a trip to the French Caribbean, but to be honest I don’t think it’s worth it, as there are too many other places in the world to explore that aren’t destroyed…yet.

As a new member, I am not sure if you are trolling or not. While coral disease has hit Bonaire and much of the Caribbean hard, closing dive sites does not prevent the spread. This has been shown almost on every island experiencing the problem. It is devastating to see the old hard corals being hit, but the reef restoration organizations are working hard here and elsewhere to grow new specimens. As for other marine life, Bonaire still flourishes with abundant life at all depths, some species even in record numbers.

 

[Sure Squintsalot]

There are simply too many scientific papers and studies that have tracked the gradual disappearance of local fish populations following coral die-offs. Most divers who say "there's plenty of life and still lots of fish" are likely unaware of the relationship of the fish they are seeing to a changing reef. Even in a healthy reef, the fish that are large enough to see likely only makes up a minority of the fish biomass, with the rest of it being too small to note by untrained eyes. These smallest are the first fish to disappear and are also least likely to be noticed by recreational divers.

Additionally, we recreational divers only see "snapshots in time" when noticing fish populations overall, but not fish species specifically. How many divers will notice a growth in algae-eating fishes replacing gobies, for instance? Sure, we'll all look at the sexy and colorful parrotfish because we're focused on the shiny things and not the things that matter.

 

[tursiops]

There are simply too many scientific papers and studies that have tracked the gradual disappearance of local fish populations following coral die-offs. Most divers who say "there's plenty of life and still lots of fish" are likely unaware of the relationship of the fish they are seeing to a changing reef. Even in a healthy reef, the fish that are large enough to see likely only makes up a minority of the fish biomass, with the rest of it being too small to note by untrained eyes. These smallest are the first fish to disappear and are also least likely to be noticed by recreational divers.

Additionally, we recreational divers only see "snapshots in time" when noticing fish populations overall, but not fish species specifically. How many divers will notice a growth in algae-eating fishes replacing gobies, for instance? Sure, we'll all look at the sexy and colorful parrotfish because we're focused on the shiny things and not the things that matter.

On the other hand, the data for Bonaire do not support your hypothesis.
Reef.org has been surveying Bonaire since 1991, with a total of 32212 surveys reported so far, with 526 species seen. Looking at just three years periods, during which fewer species are seen, the most recent 3 years had 3535 surveys with 384 species seen. During the earlier 3 years periods, going backwards, the number of species seen were 412, 388, 370, 376, 414, 412, 394, and 360 (1997-2000). There is a weak correlation between the number of surveys in a 3-year prido and the number of species seen, as to be expected. the number of servesy varies from 1614 to 5706 during those 3-year periods.

 

[Sure Squintsalot]

On the other hand, the data for Bonaire do not support your hypothesis.

Actually it does support my hypothesis: it takes a trained, educated, organized, sustained, and concerted effort (32,212 "counts") over decades (30+ years) for recreational scuba divers, snorklers, and free-divers to accumulate potentially useful survey data.

Processing that data, however, is another matter.

 

[tursiops]

Actually it does support my hypothesis: it takes a trained, educated, organized, sustained, and concerted effort (32,212 "counts") over decades (30+ years) for recreational scuba divers, snorklers, and free-divers to accumulate potentially useful survey data.

Processing that data, however, is another matter.

It seems you may not know much about Reef.org and the quality and utility of the data sets.
That's OK. You apparently think because your hypothesis/assertion is not supported that the data must be bad.

 

[scuba127]

As a new member, I am not sure if you are trolling or not. While coral disease has hit Bonaire and much of the Caribbean hard, closing dive sites does not prevent the spread. This has been shown almost on every island experiencing the problem. It is devastating to see the old hard corals being hit, but the reef restoration organizations are working hard here and elsewhere to grow new specimens. As for other marine life, Bonaire still flourishes with abundant life at all depths, some species even in record numbers

Closing on a rotating basis may not stop the spread of disease but it will allow at least some recovery from sites being over dove. I've been diving Bonaire for over 20 years and, today, when I see 20 plus trucks or so at the Salt Pier I'd define that as being over dove. Never saw that back in the day.

 

[Diver-6873]

Closing on a rotating basis may not stop the spread of disease but it will allow at least some recovery from sites being over dove. I've been diving Bonaire for over 20 years and, today, when I see 20 plus trucks or so at the Salt Pier I'd define that as being over dove. Never saw that back in the day.

. Salt pier, 1000 Steps, Kapata - are always overcrowded by guests. As a local, we tend to avoid those sites other than certain days/times that are travel or pre-travel days for others. Stony Coral diseased corals sadly do not “recover”, they are eventually overgrown with algae. That said, currently some antibiotics are showing very good results in stopping/slowing the spread on infected corals so there is hope.