Earth Day Under the Sea!
Coral reefs are the most biodiverse ecosystem on Earth, with more species calling them home than the rainforest! Earth Day was the perfect day to set out and explore these fantastic rainforests of the sea. We had a great variety of divers and courses on the boat this afternoon. Winds were light and seas were relatively flat,making for excellent underwater conditions. Heath, Conner, and Colby tried diving for the very first time and did wonderfully! Meanwhile, Silvia finished up her Advanced Open Water and Justin and Lauren joined the wonderful world of SCUBA and became Open Water certified! Congratulations!
Our first dive today was at Koko Craters (max depth of 40ft). There was a slight current and a bit of a surge underwater. Right off the bat, we found an octopus hanging out right by the mooring, setting us up for a fantastic dive! Many Hawaiian Honu (green sea turtles) were lounging under the craters’ ledges, while others were getting cleaned as they hovered in the water. We saw several small eels slithering along the edges of the craters and one large moray hanging out in his hole in the side of the crater. As we made our way back to the boat, we watched a large octopus change both color and texture (a beautiful display of camouflage) to try to hide from us. We also saw a small nudibranch hidden on a rock in the middle of a school of blue striped and yellow long-nosed butterfly fish; orange saddle wrasses; and sergeant majors.
The second location we visited was Turtle Canyons (max depth of 40ft). We found more octopus, a few more nudibranchs, and a large school of gold-ring surgeonfish. Eels were nestled in the reef and a turtle was dozing under a ledge. Silvia found a helmet conch munching on a sea urchin for lunch. The coral was very bright and colorful as explored the inner reef.
While being so amazing and diverse, coral reefs are also one of the most threatened ecosystems on our planet. Despite looking like rock, corals are actually living organisms and are very fragile. They face a multitude of threats with the most serious stemming from climate change (ocean acidification, warming oceans, and coral bleaching) and humans (overfishing and pollution). As divers, we’re in the unique position of being able to help combat these issues and being able to be part of the solution, not part of the problem. Please don’t touch the reef, even if you’re wearing gloves. Corals are very sensitive and die extremely easily. Master your buoyancy and learn more about the marine environment with us. Don’t leave any debris at the bottom of the ocean and participate in clean-ups when you’re able to. A lot of trash goes unseen because it’s on the ocean floor. We want to keep enjoying these amazing reefs.
Take only photographs and leave only bubbles! The Earth will thank you! Happy Earth Day!! 🙂
Amazing divers: Heath, Conner, Colby, Justin, Lauren, Silvia, Ylenia, Esmeralyn, and divemaster candidate Dave!
Amazing Staff: Capt. Joe; Instructors Chelsea, Tommy, and Sarah!
