16/05/2021
We all love Sea, at least this is what we declare, but is this true?
What exactly is that you love about the ocean? The gigantic oceanic waves? Waters turning Green from oceanic algae or brown dark waters in a river delta? The currents? What?
Even if all the conditions above are absolutely natural and part of the nature of the ocean, NO. This is not what we love in the sea.
We became divers and snorkelers to see Fish and other marine creatures.
This is what we are seeking in our dives, this is what we are crazy about.
Big Schools of Fish swimming around us, following us throughout the dive, mammals appearing out of nowhere and playing with us, Whale Sharks and Manta Rays coming face to face with us.. We all love it. But is it normal? Is this the way that it should Naturally happen?
Of course no and we all know it but we don’t talk about it too much because of our Guilt.
It is like a Drug. You know that its bad but you like it…
Why should a fish abandon the safety of its nest and swim close to a creature (you) that under normal circumstances would hide from? How is it statistically possible to meet daily, right under your boat with a creature that lives and moves in an area of thousands of square kilometers in the ocean?
FOOD MOTIVATION – FISH FEEDING.
It is true that a very big percentage of Dive Professionals, Snorkeling Boats, Marine Parks, Glass Bottoms etc. are feeding the fish for the sake of the show because YOU ASK FOR IT.
Feeding the fish is an ecological crime and you are a conniver because you like it when it happens.
Consequences:
1. First of all, you are turning a wild creature into a bagger. The fish learns on the easy meal and turns away from its natural skills to seek and find food on the Reef. On a long term feeding, young individuals imitate the older fish on their bagging and they miss the vital skills of finding food totally. When the tourists go, the fish have to survive on their built fat or die of starvation.
2. You are adding elements (trans fat, sugar etc) that are not matching the natural diet of the fish and under circumstances will have impact on the health of the fish. Most of this food can not digest easily or even create harmful bacteria to the digestive system of the fish driving it slowly to its death.
3. The food chain of a fish is vital for the whole eco system. Some fish are controlling the population of other fish, some eat the algae from the reef and some others are cleaning fish by eating the parasites from bigger creatures. If that fish turns into easy offered food all this balance will be disturbed with very bad consequences.
4. The natural area, that most of the reef fish are living is on, or inside the reef. When a fish comes to beg for food, it abandons its territory, its nest, eggs (that usually get attacked immediately) etc. and gets exposed to the open sea becoming an easy target.
5. The food that we give to fish is usually waste/trash from our table. In such a waste, normal trash such as plastic is not rare. Pieces of napkins (chlorine paper), Fractions of plastic forks, Pieces of plastic bags of whole plastic bags, cigarette butts, toothpicks. They too end up in the sea, lying on the bottom or drift on the blue until they also will be finally consumed by some marine creature (for example a turtle, the same turtle that we love to have in our diving pics).
Stop Feeding the Fish, and stop encouraging those who feed the fish to continue.
It is time to think the portion of our negligence in this enormous problem.
Start yelling at people who do this instead of thanking them for the nice dive/show.
Dislike and not like this attitude everywhere, in Social media, in the TV at the diving Schools everywhere.
Leave the Sea to function as Nature decides.
And if you really like the sea, go and observe the creatures in their real life with their real habits.
There’s nothing wrong if you don’t see a whale shark in your dive because its probably hunting hundredths of miles away on the open sea.
Nothing wrong if you don’t encounter an enormous school of fish. Perhaps its not the right day or time.
Look closer on the reef, be patient and I am sure that you will be surprised!
The nature always surprises us!
What do you think?
