ECO PRO continued
that gives us every second breath we take. A Call to Action: Beyond the Selfie
The Myth of the Monster Understanding the Code: Non-divers often ask if I am afraid of the "monsters" in the dark specifically the sharks. I have to explain that I feel safer with a dozen sharks than I do in many city centers. Sharks operate on a code I understand and respect. They are not the monolithic, mindless killers portrayed in cinema; they are a diverse and essential family of over 500 species, the vast majority of which pose absolutely no threat to a human being. The reality of sharks is far more nuanced than the myth. You have the Nurse shark, a bottom-dweller that doesn't even have traditional teeth, but rather crushing plates designed for shellfish. You have species that never grow larger than a housecat, and many others that are merely inquisitive ap- proaching a diver with a curious, gentle intelligence rather than aggression.
The beauty of the ocean is a gift, but it is a gift that carries a heavy responsibility. For too long, the dive industry has focused on the "scenery", encouraging divers to go down, take a picture of themselves, and come back up. But the ocean doesn't need more photographers; it needs more guardians. To the Certification Agencies It is time to fundamentally change the approach to how we mint new divers. We must move away from "certification for certification’s sake" and pivot toward a mission-driven cur- riculum. When we certify an Ocean Guardian rather than just a "diver," we provide a purpose that outlasts the novelty of the first few underwater photos.
If we train students to enter the water with an eye toward understanding the coral reef ecosystem to identify deficiencies and recognize the need for restoration – we solve the in- dustry’s retention problem. Divers won't get bored after 1,000 selfies because they will have a mission. When the major agencies finally realize that the future of a healthy dive industry is dependent on
Outplanting Corals
The true "monster" in this story is not the animal in the water, but the one on the boat. The scale of the trauma we are inflicting on the ocean is difficult to wrap the human mind around. We have moved from catching and removing sharks for sport or by-catch to a much more sin- ister and inhumane practice: finning. Because the meat of the
shark is often seen as low-value, but the fins are highly prized, fishers will haul these animals up, slice off their dorsal and pectoral fins while they are still alive, and toss the writhing body back into the deep. They do this to save room on the boat – discarding the life to make space for the commodity. A shark cannot swim without its fins; it cannot pass oxygen over its gills. These apex predators are left to sink to the bottom and suffocate in the dark, all to satisfy the demand for shark fin soup. The tragedy is compounded by the fact that this slaughter is fueled by a lie, the myth that it acts as an aphrodisiac or a symbol of sexual potency. We are trading the stability of our oceans for a placebo. Imagine if a foreign force entered our cities and systematically removed every doctor, every waste management worker, and every first responder. Imagine if they did this by the millions, every single year, leaving our society to rot from the inside out because the "cleanup crew" was gone. That is what we are doing to the world’s lungs. We are traumatizing a system
creating this next generation of advocates, we will see a shift: dive shops may stop closing, lifetime divers will return to the water with renewed vigor, and the infinite pool of new divers will become an infinite pool of hope. The Power of the Outplant There isn’t a person who has engaged in a coral outplanting dive who doesn’t come away feeling better about themselves. There is a spiritual weight to giving back to the ocean. Planting a coral is, in many ways, like giving birth. Once you have placed that life into the reef, you are emotionally invested. You want to return to see how the "baby" is growing and developing. This is what keeps a diver coming back decade after decade. We are all connected. The ocean is the lungs of this planet, and it is gasping for air. By shifting our industry from
tourism to stewardship, the ocean may finally begin exhaling with greater ease. Let us stop being anchored to the ground and start flying for a cause.
email Kramer
FORTY-FOUR | SCUBA DIVING INDUSTRY
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