What's wrong with trash in the oceans??

[Allison Finch]

I keep hearing divers bemoaning trash being thrown in the water. Yeah, I used to hate it too, before I discovered "Muck" diving. With the shortage of hiding habitat, there is a tremendous competition for what is there. You see all kinds of things. Well, even a beer bottle is a marketable habitat, as seen here;

 

[DiveMom1927]

Trash in the Ocean is not natural..... Bottles are one thing.... Cigarette Buts, Candy Wrappers, Plastic Can holders is a completely different thing! I have definately seen some "Cool Trash" In the oceans BUT if humans abuse that then all we are going to see is piles of trash. I definately do not want the ocean to be the "Largest land fill on earth..."

 

[Allison Finch]

Yes, of course. This thread was supposed to be taken a little lighter than you took it. I, obviously, do not promote wholesale dumping of trash.

Let's see other pictures showing unorthodox habitats!

 

[Diver Dennis]

Cool shots Allison!

 

[merxlin]

I keep hearing divers bemoaning trash being thrown in the water. Yeah, I used to hate it too, before I discovered "Muck" diving. With the shortage of hiding habitat, there is a tremendous competition for what is there. You see all kinds of things. Well, even a beer bottle is a marketable habitat, as seen here;


OOOPS!! My picyures are too big. I'll resize and resubmit.

There is nothing wrong with it if you can pick exactly what you submerge and where. However, trash in general has an abundance of chemicals, can cover already viable life, and in most cases is not a suitable habitat (ala tire reefs- what a tremendous disaster those were). Even if you control it properly, you then get the poacher mentality and uncontrolled dumping will occur.

I think most agree that the oceans do quite well when we leave them the hell alone and impact them as little as possible, not more. Do the earth a favor and while you are mucking around, pick up some of that trash and bring it back up with you to be disposed of properly.

Edit- sorry, I type too slow. Posted while you were fixing the pix. Nice shots.
We often get small octo's hiding in bottles out here.

 

[DiveMom1927]

Agreeably so, I would much rather not see the chemicals and toxins in the water. I applaud you for your different optimistic outlook on a very negative situation....

 

[Brandon]

You should see all the schmutz on the bottom of our bay here. Seems our local fishermen can't be bothered to offload their trash at the dock, so they toss it into the ocean. This is somewhat standard practice, but there's laws and regulations that govern what can be dumped where (for example, plastic can't be dumped anywhere)

Anything you'd find in the galley ends up in the ocean. Extratuff boots and dry gloves seem to be the most common... and they'll never degrade.

We dove outside the bay last month on a body recovery - amazing the visibility once you're away from all the processing plants and outfall. The ocean was blue, not murky green.

-B.

 

[drbill]

We have actually told folks NOT to take bottles out of the water since they often serve as homes for critters like teensy, weensy octopuses. Aesthetically I don't like seeing the stuff on the bottom, but some of it probably does little harm. However, it indicates to me the lack of concern by topsiders (including some divers on surface intervals).

I recently visited a Navy contractor ship that was conducting training for divers at a depth of 500 ft. You should have seen the bottles they pulled off the deep ocean floor several miles from land... and that was just within easy reach of their tether.

If its unprocessed organic food, it should be OK.

 

[Diver Dennis]

Allison is not promoting trash in the oceans, this is just a light hearted look at the animals who thrive despite the trash and actually adapt to it. I'm sure none of us want to see garbage when we dive but I've seen some amazing marine life in water you would expect to be devoid of anything.

 

[Jim Ernst]

Cool pictures Allison, And you are right some things do work out well for the marine life!