[Coral-List] Reassessing Coral Reefs
Eugene Shinn
eugeneshinn at mail.usf.edu
Tue Mar 31 11:26:59 EDT 2015
Julian, Your detailed description of attitudes of people on coral reefs
struck a chord with me. I spent 2 months in the Florida Keys last
summer. I have been doing research and diving there since the mid 1950s
and have seen and documented the changes since those early days. You may
have heard that most of the once flourishing coral reefs there are
essentially dead. However there still are colorful tropical fish to
entertain divers. On a beautiful day last summer I visited Looe Key
reef.There were 50 boats (I counted them) on the reef (2 to 3 on each
mooring buoy). It was clear people were having the time of their life.
There was even a boy’s chorus on one boat singing for the entertainment
of all. At least once a year a radio station puts loudspeakers under
water at this reef and plays music for the divers. It was clear that the
health of the reef is immaterial. If the water is clear, the waves
small, and abundant Sargent majors around the boat everyone is happy and
people are making money. That’s the Florida Keys today. Gene
--
No Rocks, No Water, No Ecosystem (EAS)
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E. A. Shinn, Courtesy Professor
University of South Florida
College of Marine Science Room 221A
140 Seventh Avenue South
St. Petersburg, FL 33701
<eugeneshinn at mail.usf.edu>
Tel 727 553-1158
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