[Coral-List] ECOBIOBALL??

andrew ross andyroo_of72 at yahoo.com
Fri Jun 22 03:17:30 EDT 2012


Abbie, Alastair and all, 
It's worth noting that golfballs are relatively expensive and lost ball collecting can be an important earner. 
In all my time in Jamaica I've seen maybe 2 or 3 golfballs in the sea, even right off the course. 
Andrew


________________________________
 From: "Harborne, Alastair" <A.R.Harborne at exeter.ac.uk>
To: "info at wiseoceans.com" <info at wiseoceans.com>; "coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov" <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> 
Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2012 7:40 PM
Subject: Re: [Coral-List] ECOBIOBALL??
 
Hi all,
I just wanted to point out that not all golf shots are hit on a golf course - much of this discussion has focused on the problems of building courses close to reefs (which are clear). However, the Albus website shows people hitting from astroturf to artificial greens moored out to sea (a fun, marine driving range). There is an argument that if people want to hit balls while at a resort on holiday, it is better for them to hit biodegradeable balls into the ocean than the resort feeling like they need to build a course to match competing destinations.. There is the potential for local nutrient enrichment and effects on fish behaviour, but this is likely to be better than the on-going maintenance of a course.
Cheers,
Alastair (keen golfer, but away from reefs...)

__

Dr Alastair Harborne

ARC DECRA Fellow
School of Biological Sciences
Goddard Building, University of Queensland, St Lucia Campus
Brisbane, Qld 4072, Australia
Tel: +61 (0)7 336 51671 | Fax: +61 (0)7 336 51655
email: a.harborne at uq.edu.au

Skype name: al_harborne
Website pages: http://www.marinespatialecologylab.org/people/alastair-harborne/

Also: Honorary Fellow, University of Exeter, UK
a.r.harborne at ex.ac.uk
-----Original Message-----
From: coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov [mailto:coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov] On Behalf Of info at wiseoceans.com
Sent: 19 June 2012 02:33
To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
Subject: [Coral-List] ECOBIOBALL??

Dear Coral-list,

I run a marine awareness and conservation company called WiseOceans and we (along with other things) provide Marine Educators at resorts.  One of the luxury resorts we work at is planning on introducing ECOBIOBALL by Albus Golf.  www.albusgolf.com

I have not had any experience of these before and am keen to gather scientific opinion on the environmental and ethical pros and cons of these golf balls.

According to their website ECOBIOBALL is the first ever ecological and biodegradable golf ball to contain fish food in its core.  It is 100% safe for marine flora and fauna, is manufactured using non-contaminating materials, and is certified as a biodegradable and non-toxic product.
Once the golf ball has been hit into the water, its external layer biodegrades in less than 48 hours, releasing the fish food contained in its core into the surrounding water.

One concern is that the same type of ball and therefore fish food is used for fresh and salt water, would that be an issue?  I also have reservations on fish feeding as a whole as it can often change behaviour.

I would appreciate some thoughts.  Thanks so much

Kind regards
Abbie


--
Abbie Hine
www.WiseOceans.com


"In the end we will conserve only what we love, we will love only what we
understand and we will understand only what we are taught"  Baba Dioum

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