the Adventure Lifestyle magazine

DIVING THE CORAL DUSTBOWL effects on reefs. Sediment flowing from rivers into the ocean contains many nutrients essential for coastal ecosystems. But nutrient increase, such as nitrogen, can throw the coral food chain into chaos. An influx in nitrogen spurs explosions in algal population , which feast on coral and plants. Coastal cities, especial ly in developing tropical nations, are bursting at the seams and developing their coastlines to meet the demand. Donald Hinrichsen, in his book, A Requiem for Reefs, estimates that in parts of tropical Asia and the Caribbean, population densities exceed 1,300 people per square mile, about 10 times more than China, the world's most populous country. And tropical islands comprise the bulk of the world's most populous countries. As developers chop down trees and build roads and parking lots, more sediment washes into inland waterways and flows out to sea. The sediment not only feeds the algae, but also reduces underwater visibility and in severe cases, blankets the reefs and obscures sunlight, which coral needs to grow. In Florida, development pushing as north to the Everglades supplies a steady stream of sediment that flows into the Keys. Looe Key has been one of the hardest hit. In less than a decade, ravenous algae that thrive off the nutrients, have devoured much of the coral. Where schools of orange and yellow and violet tropical fish used to flutter through forests of staghorn and brain coral, but little of that life remains today. But there are signs of hope. Dozens of sanctuaries, reserves and marine parks like the one in Bonaire have been set up around the world; there are 13 in the United States. The key to their effectiveness, says Ellen Horn of the Coral Reef Alliance, is enforcement on and off the water, and divers are a large part of that. In Bonaire, the government controls coastal development, as well as pollution and wastewater flowing into the park, but divers pol ice the reserves and report violations to authorities. "They have become ambassadors of the Marine Park and its staunchest defenders," Horn said. Studying and mapping reefs is the first step. Cleaning up the dirtiest reefs is another. Although divers can 't pull toxins and sediment from the ocean , they can pick trash off the reefs. Divers in Belize organize a yearly battery roundup. There, carelessly disposed of car batteries degrade and leak toxins into the ocean and reefs. On an even larger scale, the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI), through its Project AWARE, en li sts divers to clean up reefs . In 2001, more than 200,000 divers turned out for its International Cleanup Day to collect trash. Since the project began in 1986, cleanups have taken place in every US state and 118 countries, col lecting more than 70 million tons of trash and debris. Perhaps the most important work being done by divers, however, is sharing their underwater world with others. The plight of reefs has gone unnoticed for so long because few people other than divers and marine biologists see the wonders that are reefs and the damage being done to them. "If more people knew how beautiful and special reefs are, and how quickly we are destroying them, we wouldn't be in this mess," said diver and scuba instructor Rod Watkins. • SUBSCRIBE TODAY ~BLUE.COM SURFING IN THE SHADOW OF THE GLOBAL WATER CRISIS US, leaves a legacy that is becoming increasingly difficult to live with. Not on ly has it placed the southern steel head trout on the endangered species list, but it has also deprived our beaches of precious sand. This lack has led us to build more jetties and sea walls, which in turn create more problems as these large-scale projects typically add sand to one beach whi le taking from another. We spend billions on fixing the mess that we spent billions to create. Surfers in Ventura, California , believe that they have come up with a solution to all this. The city of Ventura has been continually rebu i Id i ng a bi ke path and parki ng lot at Surfer's Poi nt, that every few years washes away in a storm. The city now wants to build a sea wall. Members of the Ventura Surfrider chapter have come up with a better proposal: Dismantle the Matilija Dam. The dam, just up the river from the Point, has been obsolete for years, choked with potential beach sand. It's a radical idea in the field of environmental restoration, but when placed against the costs of building more sea walls, it starts to look like a better long-term solution. If surfers are an indicator species, then the world's oceans and shorelines are in trouble . With water pollution on the rise and sand flow declining, the health of your local surf spot depends on a new way of thinking. Crowds are bad enough as it is. If we lose more surf spots or days in the water, it may be ti me for some of us surf rats to start taking up bowling. • 79

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