[Coral-List] Struggling with ocean optimism

[Paul Muir]

In terms of reef optimism the joke:  'don't worry it will all be ok in 50000 years!' works for me. I use this quite a a bit on the dive deck after seeing yet another heavily bleached reef or revisiting a once perfect reef that has been heavily degraded. It sounds a bit trite but it does put things into some sort of perspective. 

Sent from my iPhone

> On 27 Feb 2018, at 4:49 am, "Steve Mussman" <sealab at earthlink.net> wrote:
> 
> Dear Listers,
> Coming from the perspective of someone involved for many years in the diving industry, I am struggling with the concept of ocean optimism and would like some feedback from you, the experts on coral reef ecology. I understand that tourism is an important economic driver in many tropical regions around the world and that too much doom and gloom is bad for business, but it seems to me that for far too long the major threats to coral reefs have been downplayed industry-wide and that this approach has therefore unwittingly contributed to decades of inaction. How can we hope to work towards real-world solutions if we can’t bring ourselves to openly discuss policy positions that could effectively address the fundamental problems involved?            Most recently, I have come across two excellent, thoughtful and well written articles that reflect the position of the diving industry on the current state of our oceans and coral reefs in particular.          Please consider reading these articles and providing any commentary you consider appropriate.
> 
> http://www.alertdiver.com/Northern_GBR
> 
> http://www.alertdiver.com/Ocean_Optimism
> 
> Regards,
> Steve Mussman
> 
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad 
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