[Coral-List] Cruise ships

[Eugene Shinn]

Peter and Steve, I share your concern regarding cruise ships. They are 
like a double edge sword. Last month I was on a 10-day family trip to 
the Windward Islands. We stopped at 6 different Islands all of which 
have large facilities for giant cruise ships. There were as many at 3 
such ships at one stop and ours was not the largest. We only had about 
3,000 people in addition to another 800 crew. Eating and drinking along 
with shopping and shore trips to beaches and coal reefs appeared to be 
the most common activity. Everyone was friendly and courteous and I saw 
no garbage, sewage or other trash going overboard such as was common in 
the past. What struck me was the number of overweight people (some >100 
lbs.) at the three swimming pools slathering on sunscreens. The pools 
were salt water that I assume is recirculated to the ocean. Thanks to 
Steven Miller a computer search revealed 28 million people took cruises 
in 2018. Nevertheless it is also obvious this industry provides 
incredible numbers of jobs including the manufacture of the multitudes 
of components that go into these giant ships not to mention food liquor 
and toilet paper. The industry is clearly a boon to our economy 
including the islands and ports they visit. A list of their economic 
benefits would likely fill several books. That’s the double edge sword. Gene

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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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