Killing the reef

These three guys were standing on the reef next to the entrance to Blue Hole. When I swam up and politely (yes, really politely) asked them not to stand on the reef because it's a living creature, the pale face on the left flipped me the bird!!!





These people were sitting on the reef right at the entrance to Blue Hole. They were talking to a diver who was standing on the reef in full dive gear. Not only were they killing the reef, they blocked the entrance so no one could get in or out of Blue Hole. They seemed totally nonchalant about the fact that people were waiting on both sides and couldn't get through.

I am appalled by the ignorance about the reef. I know it's not just here but so many people here don't seem to care that they are destroying a huge resource. I know part of it is truly ignorance. Many people really think it's just rock and so it's okay to stand on it. They don't know it's a colony of living creatures and that every time they touch it, they kill a piece of it. But what really galls me is the attitude of the three guys above: even when they are told (politely) about the reef, they still don't care. They flip me off because somehow I've interfered with their fun.

It's illegal here to fish with a speargun while SCUBA diving. A dive instructor friend confronted a spearfishing diver a couple of weeks ago. Our friend asked, "Do you know it's illegal to have speargun while SCUBA diving?" The guys response? A shrug of his shoulders and "I don't care." And the Dept. of Natural Resources doesn't do anything about it. I talked to them once about the spearfishing issue and they said "We have to see it. We have to catch them in the act." These are the same guys who won't even get out of their cars to enforce the no-camping-on-the-beach laws on holiday weekends. Fat chance they're ever going to catch a spearfishing diver.

It irks me. It makes me mad. And it makes me sad. But I'm glad I'm here now to see this the way it now. We can't turn back the clock to what was, but we can enjoy and do our best to protect what is.

Enough rant for now.