[Coral-List] Hawaii bans sunscreens deemed harmful to coral reefs

Peter Sale sale at uwindsor.ca
Tue May 15 12:30:41 EDT 2018


Hi,
I've been silently reading the various threads on coral-list the last couple of months.  Discussions of reef restoration and now of Hawaii's new law re sunscreen are similar - support by some for evidence that someone, somewhere is doing something positive to conserve corals and reefs, and concern by others that all this effort is a waste of time because of the growing threat of climate change and/or ocean acidification.  Along the way, we criticize the dive industry for not being sufficiently out front on reef conservation.  (We could also be criticizing the cruise ship industry, and indeed all forms of 'tropical sunset' tourism for the ways in which they use the natural resources in mostly developing countries without concern for the well-being of those countries or the conservation and sustainability of those resources.)

Interaction with humanity frequently (not always) leads to degradation of coral reefs.  They are enriched with nutrients, turbidity increases, coral diseases appear more prevalent, litter and debris foul them, sizes and abundance of fish decline, other 'valuable' species also become less abundant, physical destruction - justified as a normal cost of economic development - becomes routine, bleaching happens, coral populations crash, topographic complexity is lost, ecological resilience is diminished, and so on until we have algae-covered limestone benches where once there was flourishing reef.  Usually these interactions with humanity also include underfunded, weakly integrated, sometimes demoralized efforts by volunteers or by agencies established for the purpose that achieve, or fail to achieve some mitigation of the degradation.  In a few small places of hopefulness, these efforts succeed to at least a modest degree because of the commitment and dedication of those making the effort, and perhaps also by a considerable dollop of luck..

Rationally, those few small places of hopefulness are far too little and far too few given the global pressure of humanity's impacts on reefs.  Rationally, reefs are on the way out because of what we are doing to them and because we seem very unlikely to change our behavior sufficiently, and in sufficient time to make a real difference.  Ethically, we collectively have blood on our hands.

But, tell me, does the imminent disappearance of healthy, resilient coral reef systems, likely as it appears to be, justify any of us criticizing those efforts being made to sustain coral reefs?  Rather than point out that evidence is very limited that sunscreens play a significant role in any degradation taking place on Hawaiian reefs, should we not be congratulating those who pushed for, and put the law in place?  Congratulating them not because their efforts will sustain coral reefs, but because their efforts demonstrate they are making ethical decisions in favor of coral reefs!  The world needs more people concerned enough for coral reefs that they will make ethical decisions - on sunscreens, on reef restoration, on breeding super-corals, on overfishing, on all forms of pollution, and especially on GHG emissions.  Let's be rational about just how big the task of conserving/restoring reefs has become, let's be rational about how limited some of our proposed solutions to reef decline really are, but let's also find a way to embrace those who are trying to make a difference.  Because there are far too many who are not trying at all.

Peter Sale
sale at uwindsor.ca



More information about the Coral-List mailing list