mogurnda October 31, 2009 Share October 31, 2009 We are flying out today, after a week and 20+ hours of bottom time. I love this island, but it makes me sad every time I come. I never saw the huge stands of elkhorn and staghorn at their peak, but things have become visibly worse in the four visits I have made since 2002. Many of the massive stonies on the reef slope look sick, and even the fire coral seems to be taking a beating. There is a lot of construction to support a booming dive tourist industry, and we saw several cruise ships docking, including a Princess Cruises liner that dwarfed the city of Kralendijk. Sewage treatment is inadequate to keep N and P from seeping into the surrounding ocean. It probably doesn't help to have many thousands of divers trampling the shallows. Seems like it's a metaphor for the whole Caribbean. People live here, and need to make a living, and I wonder if there is a way to bring the reefs back to health while allowing them to do so. Some photos, starting with the downers. I don't have decent photo editing software on this computer, so these are as they came out of the camera. Stands of A. cervicornis like this were not common in 2007, but they could still be found at the south end of the island. We only found a few patches, and most of it looks like this. This was the biggest elkhorn we found. One other weird thing was a plague of flamingo tongues on the gorgonians in some places. Some big colonies were reduced to skeletons. Nobody seems to know why. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mogurnda October 31, 2009 Author Share October 31, 2009 There is still a lot of beauty, which is why we come. Lush stands of big gorgonians. Tons of fish. Tons of male sergeant majors guarding eggs. Never seen so many nests. Lots of jawfish on the sand. Many turtles, bith green and hawksbill. Seems like we saw squid on every dive. Overall, it was a fantastic trip. We also got to the windward side, where the big turtles, eagle rays and tarpon were in abundance, but I'll spare you those photos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mogurnda October 31, 2009 Author Share October 31, 2009 I forgot the sponges. Amazing sponges. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flowerseller October 31, 2009 Share October 31, 2009 Nice pics, thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dschflier November 1, 2009 Share November 1, 2009 It is painfull to hear about the damage but thanks for showing the pictures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sikryd November 1, 2009 Share November 1, 2009 It is painfull to hear about the damage but thanks for showing the pictures. +1 Nice trip report and pictures, thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geofloors November 1, 2009 Share November 1, 2009 Very nice pics!! George Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanman November 1, 2009 Share November 1, 2009 I've posted this before - but long ago, and this seems like an appropriate place. I spent a year in the Philippines in 1969 at a Naval station called 'San Miguel'. I learned to dive there, and dove almost every day for that year. The closest and therefore most-frequented dive place was the 'Capones' Islands. I went back to the Philippines in 1980 - and was fortunate enough to dive the same location several times. The difference was staggering. While this is not a developed area, and pollution played only a small part - it is heavily fished, including with dynamite. In 1969, I don't remember a dive without seeing sharks. In 1980 - I saw a shark only once or twice in 50 dives. Off the Capones, the schools of small fish in 1969 were massive; fish numbering in the thousands, all swimming together - schools the size of a living room and larger. I specifically remember a school of tiny barracuda - HUGE! In 1980 - the same schools numbered in the hundreds to a thousand fish; the largest schools maybe the size of a small car. In 1969, we occasionally would catch a rock lobster for lunch. In 1980, I never found a rock lobster. On the other hand - other than 'tumbled' coral from dynamite - the coral was still doing well. Better in some places, because the 'crown of thorns' starfish didn't seem to be there anymore, devastating the reefs. Maybe they over-populated and starved themselves out. So I have seen first-hand what the 'hand of man' can do to the reefs. What a shame. bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mogurnda November 1, 2009 Author Share November 1, 2009 Thanks guys. It gives me a lot of respect for the people, like SECORE, who are trying to save what's left. There is even a ReefBall project going on at the condo where we stay. Not much growing on them yet, but it is providing a place for fish to hide out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilary November 1, 2009 Share November 1, 2009 (edited) Bonaire has also just had bad luck lately. I was there in July and we asked one of our divemasters why we hadn't seen any green morays yet. He said a disease had hit and killed off just about all of the morays - hadn't we noticed that the only ones left were quite small? According to the following link they determined that they'd had an outbreak of vibrio. After Hurricane Omar the mortalities dropped, then stopped, but unfortunately appear to have started up again this year. Moray Mortality CIEE Physis The author of the article also remarked that resorts have been told that they must have their septic systems pumped, rather than letting them overflow to the reefs, and that a full treatment plant is scheduled to be completed by 2012. Who knows, though, if this will be enough, and it certainly doesn't address the damage done by divers. Edited November 1, 2009 by Hilary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OUsnakebyte November 1, 2009 Share November 1, 2009 Great photos Dave - thanks for sharing. Bonaire is one of the few places left in the Caribbean I want to visit, mostly b/c of what you described above. I grow tired of swimming past huge dead stands once-brillant ecosystem building corals. Oh, the other wildlife is great (squids, turtles, etc.). But, I can't help but look past them at the Dictyota and Microdictyon swallowing up the reefs. The Caribbean as a whole is in serious jeopardy, and I sometimes wonder if we haven't already passed the tipping point. It's no big surprise that the farther away reefs are located from the things of humans the healthier they tend to be. And with the fringing reefs like Bonaire has... well, it's difficult to watch them diminish. Do you usually go this time of year? I only ask b/c we just passed the "typical" (if that ever exists for corals) peak bleaching/disease season (August/September), and as you know, if the corals will recover it usually takes them a while. Cheers Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mogurnda November 2, 2009 Author Share November 2, 2009 Great photos Dave - thanks for sharing. Bonaire is one of the few places left in the Caribbean I want to visit, mostly b/c of what you described above. I grow tired of swimming past huge dead stands once-brillant ecosystem building corals. Oh, the other wildlife is great (squids, turtles, etc.). But, I can't help but look past them at the Dictyota and Microdictyon swallowing up the reefs. The Caribbean as a whole is in serious jeopardy, and I sometimes wonder if we haven't already passed the tipping point. It's no big surprise that the farther away reefs are located from the things of humans the healthier they tend to be. And with the fringing reefs like Bonaire has... well, it's difficult to watch them diminish. Do you usually go this time of year? I only ask b/c we just passed the "typical" (if that ever exists for corals) peak bleaching/disease season (August/September), and as you know, if the corals will recover it usually takes them a while. Cheers Mike I come the same time every year, so things should be pretty comparable. It's weird that the cervicornis I see tends to look healthy, with growing tips and often re-encrusting the dead branches below. There is just less every time I am here. Based on my unscientific sample, it looks like all Acropora will be extinct here in 10 years. I guess I shouldn't say "here" since I am now in Curacao, but it's close. I wonder if SECORE shouild throw purity to the winds and throw some of the larvae into established reef tanks (no, not mine) to cover themselves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilary November 2, 2009 Share November 2, 2009 So how is Curacao looking now? They have so much more industry than Bonaire..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smoothtriqueter November 2, 2009 Share November 2, 2009 I got certified at buddy dive about a year and a half now, and am lucky enough to be going back for a week for X-mass. I will be able to see some changes myself I'm sure. Pics are great, the fish are def the main attraction, but I can not recall much stags myself. Klein seems to be a bit better off than the main island. Thanks for sharing the pics, and thanks to everyone for chiming in and helping to bring forth the devastating facts. Keegan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason the filter freak November 2, 2009 Share November 2, 2009 very sweet pictures Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OUsnakebyte November 2, 2009 Share November 2, 2009 Based on my unscientific sample, it looks like all Acropora will be extinct here in 10 years. Some predict that for Caribbean acroporids throughout the entire Caribbean and western Atlantic... I wonder if SECORE shouild throw purity to the winds and throw some of the larvae into established reef tanks (no, not mine) to cover themselves. Several institutions do keep them with Indo corals. Others have established Caribbean-dedicated tanks they go into. Regardless, those brought into captivity will not be reintroduction candidates unless something extremely serious has happened (i.e. extinct in the wild). So, for right now, keeping them separate from their I/P cousins is not a real concern. These are the exact issues and ideas we will be discussion at the panel discussed in the other thread. I do hope to see many of you there. Cheers Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mogurnda November 3, 2009 Author Share November 3, 2009 So how is Curacao looking now? They have so much more industry than Bonaire..... No idea. We spent the whole time on land. It is truly a different place, with a huge refinery and a large population, but there are remote areas that are supposed to have decent reefs. These are the exact issues and ideas we will be discussion at the panel discussed in the other thread. I do hope to see many of you there. It's on my calendar. May be hard to get there on that night, but I'll try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aquariareview January 5, 2010 Share January 5, 2010 I have been blessed to be able to dive all over the world and the damage from sewage is bad most places that are near tourist areas. One of the best cared for sites is in Israel, on the red sea. They take all sewage and process it to recover all of the water for argri use. then most of the solid waste is used for fuel in power plants or as fertilizer in non food crops, ie sawgrass used for fuel. They get no pollution in the reefs and they use all waste for profit. we could help many of the third world countries with the same tech but in the past most on the leaders just take our money and put it in personal swiss accounts. In order to help we would have to build the plants then support it with benchmarks that money only keeps coming if the plant keeps working. I don't know if we have that kind of political will now days Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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