Scubaism

Rick Mcpherson relates a personal anecdote of how the Florida coastline has changed since he began diving it.

As a former east coast boy who learned his tropical and subtropical ecology in Florida and the Eastern Caribbean, I’ve witnessed dramatic changes and shifts (mostly not for the better) in once favorite dive destinations of Jamaica and Florida. Yet it never fails that I’ll surface after a disappointing dive–where I documented anchor damaged coral heads, huge fields of dead and broken elkhorn coral, algae dominated reefs, and nary a big fish–only to hear squeals of delight from other (generally younger) divers proclaiming, “What a great dive!”

Having been familiar with it’s former condition, it’s difficult for me to dive the South Florida reef tract today. In fact, I have conservation colleagues who feel so defeated that they refuse to dive there any longer. Elkhorn and staghorn corals, once so common to Caribbean reefs that texbooks labeled sections of coral reef as the “Elkhorn or Staghorn Zones” are all but gone. Many of the sea fans now show lesions from fungal infection. Anchor damage still continues to be a problem.