[Coral-List] [SPAM] More on interesting interactions between divers and reefs
Michael Risk
riskmj at univmail.cis.mcmaster.ca
Wed Dec 12 11:07:10 EST 2007
Hi John.
My wife says that life's minor decisions are sometimes debated
endlessly, because (like academic disputes) the stakes are so small. In
life's big decisions (get married/divorced), debate is usually minimal,
because opinions have already been formed.
In the same way, this debate (if I may dignify it by that term) has
occupied a lot of high-priced time, harmlessly...while these exchanges
have gone on, the world has probably lost another 1,000 hectares of
reef...
Lead weights will almost instantly form an insoluble coating of lead
oxide, which is not very bioavailable. This is pretty tenacious stuff,
but if you really want to be anal about it, don't wash this off.
Lead encased in a plastic coating, on the other hand, immediately
enters a reducing environment. Any water leakage, any moisture, will
cause formation of (likely) Lead Sulfate, maybe Lead Chloride-these
species are highly toxic and bioavailable.
So if there ever was a message here, it was-don't use plastic -covered
weights-or at least, buy new ones every year to avoid cracked
casings...and that would be a whole nother story.
Mike
On Wed, 12 Dec 2007 08:38:26 -0500
John Ware <jware at erols.com> wrote:
> Gee Guys,
>
> Me mentioning the divers' lead was a sort of joke. I didn't think it
>
> would go on like this.
>
> John
>
> Joe Schittone wrote:
>
> >Guys come on...though I respect what my friends Skip (Martin) & Dave
>
> >have said, is this really something we need to be fretting about? My
>
> >copy of the CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, in one of the
> tables
> >in Section 4 "Properties of the Elements and Inorganic Compounds,"
> lists
> >lead as insoluble, though it is soluble in "concentrated acid." But
> the
> >ocean is everywhere basic (except under very localized influence).
> >There are still lead pipes installed in Roman times in service
> today.
> >OK, so maybe there can be something in the marine environment that
> >causes degradation. Can a marine chemist help us out here?
> >
> >Meanwhile, given everything else happening with coral, I repeat--Is
> this
> >truly something we need to spend time worrying about, or should it
> more
> >properly be categorized in the realm of urban myth?
> >Joe
> >
> >Martin Moe wrote:
> >
> >
> >>On lead.
> >>I have a friend down here in the Florida Keys who, as a youth,
> collected in one summer enough lead sinkers lost by fisherman off the
> Channel 2 bridge to cast a keel weight for a sailboat (don't know the
> quantitative details) and also in those years he and several friends
> collected and sold lead sinkers from below these bridge areas in
> quantities large enough to nicely sustain themselves during the
> summer months. The sinkers would accumulate in depressions and by
> rocks and were easy to find and collect. They don't collect these
> sinkers any more, I don't know if anyone does so these days, I
> haven't seen such activity, but there are still very many fishermen
> that use these bridges and also fish from boats in these channels so
> it may still be a lucrative part time endeavor. It is also not at all
> unusual to find lead sinkers in coral reef areas (usually attached to
> a substantial length of monofilament fishing line), And of course
> there is the poisoning of
> >> water fowl from the lead shot that accumulates in wet lands. And
> in marine aquariums I have noticed that lead weights used to anchor
> artificial plants seem to waste away over time. So lead in the
> aquatic environment seems to be an issue, maybe biochemically, but
> certainly in particulate form, especially with attached fishing line
> in coral reef areas.
> >>
> >>
> >>Martin
> >>
> >>----- Original Message ----
> >>From: "David.A.Gulko at hawaii.gov" <David.A.Gulko at hawaii.gov>
> >>To: Charles Delbeek <delbeek at waquarium.org>
> >>Cc: "coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov"
> <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>;
> coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> >>Sent: Friday, December 7, 2007 3:25:34 PM
> >>Subject: Re: [Coral-List] [SPAM] More on interesting interactions
> between divers and reefs
> >>
> >>
> >>Aloha folks,
> >>
> >>A number of us out here have raised concerns where large pieces of
> >>uncoated lead are used as anchor blocks for boat moorings and
> >> scientific
> >>equipment because of concerns related to algal over-growth and
> grazing
> >> by
> >>herbivores serving as a pathway for movement of lead up through the
> >> food
> >>chain. We've recommended coating of large lead anchor structures
> prior
> >> to
> >>deployment underwater.
> >>
> >>- Dave
> >>
> >>Dave Gulko, Aquatic Biologist IV - Coral Reefs
> >>Division of Aquatic Resources
> >>Hawai?i Department of Land & Natural Resources
> >>1151 Punchbowl Street, room 330
> >>Honolulu, HI 96813
> >>
> >>(808) 587-0318 (o), (808) 587-0115 (fax)
> >>david.a.gulko at hawaii.gov
> >>
> >>NOTE: The opinions and/or information presented in this email do
> not
> >>necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Land & Natural
> >>Resources or the State of Hawai?i. Unless otherwise stated, this
> email
> >> is
> >>for use only by the individual(s) listed above.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>Charles Delbeek <delbeek at waquarium.org>
> >>Sent by: coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> >>12/05/07 12:17 PM
> >>
> >>To
> >>John Ware <jware at erols.com>
> >>cc
> >>"coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov" <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
> >>Subject
> >>Re: [Coral-List] [SPAM] More on interesting interactions between
> divers
> >>
> >>and reefs
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>John Ware wrote:
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>>Dear List,
> >>>
> >>>True there has been quite a number of studies on the interaction
> of
> >>>divers with reefs. The one that I have not seen is the effect of
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >> diver
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>>lead. (Yes, I know that lead and lead salts are generally
> considered
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>>insoluble).
> >>>
> >>>However, a year or two ago I was told that the Island of Bonaire
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >> Marine
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>>Park Authority was considering a ban on uncoated lead weights.
> All
> >>>divers would be required to use coated weights.
> >>>
> >>>This might be one of those 'urban myths'. Perhaps someone from
> the
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >> MPA
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>>could respond.
> >>>
> >>>Where does it end??
> >>>
> >>>John
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>Actually, I would think looking at the amount of lead weight from
> >>abandoned fishing lines would have a more significant potential
> impact
> >>than diver's weights. For example, one of our divers recently took
> part
> >>
> >>in a lead fishing weight recovery effort with 10 other divers. With
> 11
> >>people doing two dives each, they recovered over 220 pounds of lead
>
> >>fishing weights at one dive site on Oahu.
> >>
> >>Aloha!
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >_______________________________________________
> >Coral-List mailing list
> >Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> >http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
> >
> >
> >
>
> --
> *************************************************************
> * *
> * John R. Ware, PhD *
> * President *
> * SeaServices, Inc. *
> * 19572 Club House Road *
> * Montgomery Village, MD, 20886, USA *
> * 301 987-8507 *
> * jware at erols.com *
> * http://www.seaservices.org *
> * fax: 301 987-8531 *
> * Treasurer and Member of the Council: *
> * International Society for Reef Studies *
> * _ *
> * | *
> * ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ *
> * _|_ *
> * | _ | *
> * _______________________________| |________ *
> * |\/__ Untainted by Technology \ *
> * |/\____________________________________________/ *
> *************************************************************
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Coral-List mailing list
> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
Mike Risk
Marine Ecologist
PO Box 1195
Durham Ontario
N0G 1R0
More information about the Coral-List
mailing list