Today the Monkeys began their adventure into SCUBA (hence the short post – I am tired!). We completed the classroom portion of the class and did some of our confined work in the swimming pool at Scubaland Adventures here in Austin, Texas. Our instructor, Dave McBee, was excellent! It feels very unnatural the first time you go down underwater and breathe through a regulator. Dave made sure that we were all comfortable and led us through each skill with calming competence, ensuring that we each understood what was going on. I highly recommend him to any of you who may be considering undertaking SCUBA lessons here in Austin.
While Hans, Tasha, and I went through the course, our fellow monkey Josh, who is already Open Water Certified, took some great video of us maneuvering around. Be sure to look for it sometime in the future at www.rushmonkeys.com. Next Sunday we are headed to Aquarena Springs in San Marcos to continue our training!
As part of the classroom experience, I asked Dave what the environmental impacts of scuba diving were and he enlightened me on the following issues:
1. Divers vs. The Coral Reef
The simple act of touching a peice of coral can have a devastating effect. Oils in human skin destroys the thin membrane that protects the animals of a coral reef colony. Also, using the reef as a steadying device while you adjust equipment or take pictures can break off pieces of the reef itself – pieces which take hundreds of years to form in the first place! So, best advice – look, but don’t touch! I found a nice article discussing the Hawaiian coral reefs in particular and Coral Reef Etiquette.
2. Dropping Your Weights
All divers carry weights of some sort to help control their buoyancy. The weights are attached to the scuba gear in such a way that they can be quickly released in an emergency. I suddenly had this image of hundreds of weights cluttering the bottom of the ocean floor and proposed this scenario to our instructor. Dave informed me that weights are only released as a final option and so it doesn’t occur very often. He also said that if there is a recovery team with the group, then the weights are generally retrieved. I looked around the internet a bit to see if I could find more information on this, but didn’t really come up with anything. If anybody else has more information, please let me know!
3. Sunscreen
In our discussion of the environmental impact of scuba diving, one thing Dave mentioned that I had not previously considered was the use of sunscreen. He said that there are reports that the toxicity of some sunscreens has proven to be environmentally hazardous to certain types of aquatic life and that many places now require the use of non-toxic sunscreens. Good to know! Here is an article from the New York Times Blog, Lede, if you are interested in more information on that topic: Suncreen in Sea Water May Harm Coral
Environmental Scuba Opportunities Around the Austin Area:
Lake Travis Underwater (&Shoreline) Cleanup – Part of Keep Austin Beautiful and our friends at Scubaland Adventures helped organize the divers for this event!
TrashFest – Cleaning the Comal River
Also, just because Josh and I were laughing about building a scuba diving bubble for my dog, Chloe, here is a little video of a scuba diving cat and dog:
September 20th, 2009 at 7:32 pm
You failed to mention one hugh impact. Because divers frequently spend insane amounts of money to dive in some places, eco-tourism is a thriving business in some costal regions and the people there have learned to preserve the reefs and fish to gain more tourist dollars. So, because divers are diving the reefs, people protect resources. No divers, no protection.
Your other points are valid, divers need to lessen their impact when they visit reefs under the sea. I’ve seen all manner of people touching or kicking the reef and damaging it. Buoyancy control seems to be a topic that is not being taught well in dive courses. Its an important skill everywhere as you don’t want to be bouncing all over the place stirring up silt or damaging coral or your self. Since you’re in Austin, you should consider doing the “Diving for Science” course at Aquarena Springs in San Marcos. Pass that course and you’ll have good buoyancy control.
So, lets not forget the large impact of eco-tourism in protecting some habitats that otherwise would be overfished. I’ll be diving in Maui this christmas and will be diving from a 100% bio-fueled boat while I’m there.
September 20th, 2009 at 7:47 pm
Oooh yay! Thank you so much for pointing out a positive impact – I admit, I was more concerned about the negative side of things. I am glad to hear that aside from trash clean-up and such, eco-tourism is a mechanism that is protecting aquatic habitats. I have heard of the Diving for Science course and will look into it after completing the Open Water classes. Thank you again!
September 22nd, 2009 at 4:59 pm
Good luck with the open water cert. Remember, relax and breathe naturally. This will help with perfecting your buoyancy control and managing your air supply.
Thanks for the site. I never knew there was a zipline company here in Texas until I saw it on your site. Planning on checking it out in the near future.