Hey urban nomads! In this post, we will be talking about one of the growing marine tourism activities – recreational diving.

Diving provides financial benefit for the host communities through the spending from tourists, specifically to marine protected areas. Marine protected areas like the Great Barrier Reef, are known to attract tourists due to higher biodiversity attributes (Giglio, Luiz, & Ferreira, 2020). The abundance and diversity of corals and fishes is attractive to snorkelers and divers and in turn pose a risk to the biodiversity.

During the dive, 88% of divers make damaging contact with the reef at least once and a single dive site has to tolerate more than 200,000 detrimental incidents per year. This range from stepping on the coral, intentionally breaking coral for souvenir and anchoring of boats (UN Environment, 2019).

The higher the visitor numbers, the greater the physical damage of the corals. Coral plays an important role in the marine ecosystem – provides habitat and a source of food for many organisms. It also helps to protect the shorelines from storms and wave action (Razak, Yusu, Salim, & Salleh, 2016).

A colony of Acropora

Coral communities are not all susceptible to damage as it depends on the growth form and species composition. The branched corals (e.g. the genus Acropora) are the most fragile and can break easily (Hannak, Kompatscher, Stachowitsch, & Herler, 2011).

Ecological and social effects of diving tourism on coral reefs

In order to determine the extent of environmental damage caused by humans, we have to understand the different behaviours of the divers. Divers who are underwater photographers cause more damage to benthic organisms (corals, sponges, bryozoans and gorgonians) as they need to stabilise their bodies hence, they hold onto the reef surface (Giglio et al., 2016).

Diver trampling on coral reefs, causing damage

Scuba divers, particularly the amateur ones, may exhibit poor buoyancy control and risk collision with the risk as they are unable to maintain the horizontal position. Also, contact with reefs is increased with the wearing of fin kicks (Giglio et al., 2016).

Having mentioned all of the above, the diving tourism does have its benefits as well – with the tourism income generated, it provides a revenue to the conservation to marine protected areas. The next time when you go snorkeling or diving,  just take note to minimise contact with the coral reefs and leave nothing behind!

References:

Adams, J. (2015). A perfect colony of Acropora cophodactyla in Tulamben, Bali.   Retrieved from https://reefbuilders.com/2015/11/22/perfect-colony-acropora-cophodactyla-tulamben-bali/

Giglio, V. J., Luiz, O. J., & Ferreira, C. E. L. (2020). Ecological impacts and management strategies for recreational diving: A review. Journal of environmental management, 256, 109949. doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2019.109949

Hannak, J. S., Kompatscher, S., Stachowitsch, M., & Herler, J. (2011). Snorkelling and trampling in shallow-water fringing reefs: risk assessment and proposed management strategy. Journal of environmental management, 92(10), 2723-2733. doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2011.06.012

Razak, I. R. A., Yusu, K. N. b., Salim, M. A. F. b. M., & Salleh, N. b. M. (2016). Tourism Sea Activities that Cause Damages Towards Coral Reefs in Sembilan Islands. Tourism, Leisure and Global Change, 1, 120-134.

UN Environment. (2019). Dive professionals on the front line of coral reef protection.   Retrieved from https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/story/dive-professionals-front-line-coral-reef-protection

Giglio, V. J., Luiz, O. J., & Ferreira, C. E. L. (2020). Ecological impacts and management strategies for recreational diving: A review. Journal of environmental management, 256, 109949. doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2019.109949

Hannak, J. S., Kompatscher, S., Stachowitsch, M., & Herler, J. (2011). Snorkelling and trampling in shallow-water fringing reefs: risk assessment and proposed management strategy. Journal of environmental management, 92(10), 2723-2733. doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2011.06.012

Meyer, C., & Holland, K. (2019). Spatial dynamics and substrate impacts of recreational snorkelers and SCUBA divers in Hawaiian Marine Protected Areas.   Retrieved from http://www.himb.hawaii.edu/ReefPredator/MPA%20Human%20Impact.html

Razak, I. R. A., Yusu, K. N. b., Salim, M. A. F. b. M., & Salleh, N. b. M. (2016). Tourism Sea Activities that Cause Damages Towards Coral Reefs in Sembilan Islands. Tourism, Leisure and Global Change, 1, 120-134.

UN Environment. (2019). Dive professionals on the front line of coral reef protection.   Retrieved from https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/story/dive-professionals-front-line-coral-reef-protection