DOCT ENVIRONMENTAL NEWSLETTER April 2003

Dear all,

A few more weeks to go and the 2002 - 2003 Liveaboard high season will be over.
Looking back at the last 5 months I dare to say that we’ve had overall some very good diving in the Similans, Surin Islands and at Richelieu Rock. Most dive sites seem to be in fairly good shape (considering the amount of dive-traffic they get) and boast plenty of healthy soft and hard corals and a good variety of other marine life as well.
Manta rays were seen throughout the season and nearly a guarantee while diving at Ko Bon. Consistent leopard shark sightings, a large school of resident chevron barracudas and many tall fin bat fishes in cleaning stations at Ko Tachai. Some very persisting harlequin shrimps at Richelieu Rock feeding on sea stars for months in a row. Frogfishes, ribbon eels, mantis shrimps, porcelain crabs, seahorses, spindle cowries, cuttle fishes, turtles, octopi, Malabar groupers, harlequin ghost pipe fishes, zebra moray eels and the odd bowmouth guitar fish and shovelnose ray gave our dive customers a memorable dive trip and filled lots of frames!

The big disappointment this season was definitely the lack of whale sharks and although a few animals were seen it was by far what we all had hoped for. We, on Ocean Rover, only had 1 whale shark (female, 6 meter) encounter at Western Rocky on April 21st this year. If any of you has any information about whale shark sightings this season, please send it to me so I can update my files and send it to the Phuket Marine Biological Centre for their research team.

Park officials collected park fees on the dive boats as promised and were overall very friendly and professional. Still, very little reef patrolling has taken place this season in the National Park and I hope that for the next season we can see at least one patrol boat checking Park waters on a daily routine. Also, the ever growing number of dive boats and divers visiting the Marine National Parks and the limited number of dive sites is becoming more and more a safety and environmental issue.

Some disturbing activities were unfortunately also taking place this season. Some evidence of illegal fishing at Ko Bon with pieces of net on deeper parts of “The Ridge” causing coral damage.
At Richelieu Rock in some of the deeper parts on the Eastern side a dragging anchor damaged some of the green tubastrae coral trees and dislodged some soft corals and gorgonians too.
Also at all dive sites some diver related reef damage either due to lack of diving skills or way too determined underwater photographers trying to get that shot and in the meantime trashing the reef.

Very frustrating and hazardous to many divers is the still ongoing practice of large vessels dropping and picking up their divers while maneuvering right on top of crowded dive sites. I find it unbelievable that 8 out of 10 Liveaboard dive boats are either not equipped with proper tenders or just do not bother to use them. It is unprofessional, unsafe and very disturbing to divers who are still underwater trying to enjoy their dive to “park” large boats (with large propellers!) right above them. Besides diver safety, is the amount of noise pollution and vibrations a big scare for marine life as well. I truly hope that boat owners in the near future will educate their crew on safe and proper diver pick ups/drop offs and invest in one or two good tenders. Even if there’s only one other dive boat at any given site we all should use our inflatables and respect other diver’s safety and comfort.

The unrestricted use of underwater horns, rattlers, bangers and other noise polluters by dive guides and divers is another sore point in my opinion. Use of such devices should be restricted for emergency situations or creating attention when something very special shows up (e.g. whale shark). I’ve seen divers rattling, banging and blowing their rattlers, bangers and horns to other divers only a few meters away trying to get their attention for absolutely no reason. It’s no benefit to divers or marine life alike to make so much noise and takes a big piece of the fun of a peaceful dive away for many fellow divers.

By the end of this month, my position as DOCT Environmental Committee Member will be taken over by somebody else. I hope that this person will be able to fulfill an active role in the preservation and conservation of our dive sites. I wish this person well and good luck with his/her new position.

Personally, I will continue with my small contributions to our diving environment and work as Dive Crew on the Ocean Rover. I also hope to be able to actively help with any environmental programs that the DOCT may come up with. I’d like to thank the current DOCT Committee for putting up with me this last year and especially Alistair for his efforts in releasing captive sharks from private enterprises in Phuket. I’d also like to thank those few individuals who send me their supportive words and/or advise this last year. It’s good to know that there is at least a small group of dive professionals in and around Phuket who truly seem to care about our dive sites and try to make a difference.

Best regards,
Safe diving,

Hans Tibboel,
DOCT Environmental Committee Member,
hans@doct-phuket.org