Protecting habitats with good diving: MS006 Marine Conservation & Responsible Diving

01 Introduction

The most direct thing a diver can do for a reef is to stop touching it. Good diving skills and conservation are the same thing. This lesson looks at the habits that protect habitats, and why they also make you a safer diver.

Objectives

Explain how buoyancy, trim and finning protect reefs and the sea floor
Describe how to organise equipment, entries and photography to avoid damage
Explain why moorings and not anchors should be used on reefs

02 Watch

Hover, do not touch

4 min · Video in production

1
A diver hovering horizontally above a reef, with fins well clear of the coral and a calm stream of bubbles.
2
A contrasting diver, vertical and kicking, with silt rising and a console dragging across the reef.
3
A close-up of a coral polyp field, and a slow-motion fin tip brushing it.
4
A boat on a mooring buoy over a reef, and a chain with an anchor dragging sand nearby.

03 Learn

Buoyancy is conservation

A diver who can hover in neutral buoyancy, in a horizontal position, stays off the reef without effort. A diver who is negatively buoyant or head-up sinks onto the reef and kicks it. Most damage by divers is not deliberate. It is the result of poor control, and it is avoidable.

Get your weighting right and check it so that you can hover at the end of a dive with a near-empty cylinder.
Use your breathing to make fine adjustments rather than constant inflation and deflation.
Keep a horizontal position so that your fins are behind you, not under you.
Stay a safe distance from the reef and look ahead, so that you see obstacles before you reach them.

Fins, hands and the sea floor

A fin kick can break coral, but it also stirs up silt. Silt settles on corals and sponges and can smother them. In places with fine sand or mud, a vertical, kicking diver can stir up a cloud in seconds.

1.Stay horizontal and keep fins high, away from the bottom.
2.Where there is silt, use frog-kick or modified kicks that push water backwards and not downwards.
3.Do not push off, stand on or hold on to the reef. If you must hold something, use dead rock or sand with a single finger, and only when it is safe and permitted.
4.Keep your hands tucked in or clasped, and use your fingertips only for signals.
5.Look, do not touch, even with gloves, and be aware that many places ban gloves for this reason.

Predict first

You are over a shallow reef and you start to sink towards the coral. What is the best response?

Streamline your kit

Loose hoses, dangling gauges and open clips drag over coral and catch on it. Clip off your gauge, alternate regulator and any accessories so that nothing hangs below you. Check your kit before you enter the water and again on the surface.

Entries, exits and photography

Choose entry and exit points over sand or deep enough water, not over live reef. Wait for a lull and walk or swim in, instead of stumbling over coral.
Put your fins on in deep enough water, not standing on the reef.
Do not kneel or lie on the sea floor to take a photograph. Take it from a hover, and accept a slightly different angle.
Do not move or hold animals to improve a shot, and do not use a stick to pose them.
Be careful with flash close to animals, and follow any local rules.

Boats, anchors and moorings

A single anchor and chain can destroy a large area of coral in one tide. Many popular sites have fixed moorings so that boats can tie up without anchoring on the reef. Good operators use them, and they report damaged moorings.

Predict first

Two boats visit the same reef every day. One ties up to a fixed mooring buoy. The other drops an anchor in a different place each time. Over a season, which is likely to damage more of the reef?

04 Explore

Try it yourself

Put these habits in the order you would apply them on a typical reef dive.

Put these habits in order.

1Clip off all dangling equipment
2Enter over sand or deep water
3Hover horizontally, fins high, and keep clear of the reef
4Photograph from a hover without touching
5Exit away from live coral
6Check weighting and trim before the dive

05 Apply

Scenario

You want a close-up of a small nudibranch on a coral head. You are a little negatively buoyant, and the nudibranch is just below you on the edge of the coral. Another diver suggests, "Put one finger on the coral to steady yourself."

What is the best choice?

06 Check

0 of 5 answered

Question 1

Why is good buoyancy a conservation skill?

Question 2

How should a diver hold their position to avoid damage?

Question 3

Why should hoses and gauges be clipped off?

Question 4

Why use a mooring buoy and not an anchor on a reef?

Question 5

Where is the best place to enter the water from the shore?

07 Summary

Key points

Good buoyancy, trim and finning keep divers off the reef. They are also safety skills.
Silt smothers corals and sponges, so use kicks that push water backwards, and stay off the bottom.
Streamline equipment, enter over sand or deep water, and take photographs from a hover.
Use moorings and not anchors, and report damaged ones.

Before you apply this in the water

Have I been trained by a qualified instructor for this?
Am I medically fit to dive?
Do I have a buddy and a plan?
Am I diving within my training and limits?

Answer every question in the Check section to mark this lesson complete.

Next lesson: Wildlife interaction rules