Let’s be honest with ourselves: SCUBA diving is crazy. You strap on a tank filled with pressurized air, put on a mask, and sink to depths of 60-80 feet (if you’re a beginning like me) under water. Meanwhile, fish skirt by, a forest of coral passes underneath; you float over a thirty foot drop as if you were made of air.

But you’re not—fortunately. You’re mostly made of liquid, which is why you can dive. Otherwise the pressure would cause you to burst (implode, actually)—a fact you have to remember as you plug your nose and breathe into it to equalize the pressure in your ears, a fact you must remember as you breathe continuously, in and out, like some cheesy Darth Vader imitation so your lungs don’t burst as you ascend.

Maria, one of my dive buddies, and me

I spent a large portion of last weekend (February 10th and 11th) underwater. I joined two Americans—both working at the embassy—in a dive course in Manila, and then we drove two hours down to Batangas to get checked off on open water dives. I’ve always wanted to get certified, and the Philippines has some of the best diving in the world. The region’s coral reef areas are part of what’s known as the “Coral Triangle,” which includes Malaysia and Indonesia and is considered the center of the most diverse marine habitats.

I had a great time doing the check-offs—it was incredible to breath underwater. Our first time down, the three of us were so awkward—we had a hard time descending and finding neutral buoyancy and occasionally one of the other students would float to the top and not be able to come back down. At first, there are so many things to think about that it’s hard to remember to relax and just enjoy the view. We had to swim underwater for 60 feet without a mask on (with our eyes open), practice using our buddy’s regulator in case we ran out of air—but the most important thing to remember is to always breathe continuously. Otherwise you can suffer from DCS—decompression sickness—which is potentially fatal.

I was kind of bummed about the dive spot—I’ve snorkeled in Thailand and seen more diversity. I think the biggest problem was that the visibility was really low—when the water’s clear, everything seems much more magical. In Bohol, where I’ll dive with Matt, the water is usually clear up to 100 feet, but here it was only about 15 for comparison.

Robby, our dive instructor, Jeff, Maria, and me--the students

But more than anything, it seemed to me like the coral wasn’t as healthy as I hoped it would be. Coral reefs are really sensitive ecosystems and they’ve suffered a lot of recent damage. They’re usually near developing countries, which is a challenge because often times they don’t have the same environmental standards and resources that more wealthy countries do.

For example, dynamite and cyanide fishing are huge problems in reefs. Fisherman use both methods to kill large batches of fish, and both cause irreparable damage to the reefs. Unfortunately, poor fisherman do most of the dynamite fishing—they face a desperate choice: feed themselves and their family, or save the coral reefs. I think the answer is obvious.

Logging causes problems as well. When forests are logged excessively, the rain washes the loose topsoil and silt down the rivers and into the ocean. The silt clouds the water builds and prevents essential sunlight from reaching the lower regions of the coral reefs. Sunlight is essential for reef health—without it reefs die. Silt falling on the coral smothers it as well.

Geared up...

Tourism—like my SCUBA diving adventure—is both a blessing and curse. Irresponsible boats anchor onto the coral and break it off—killing decades of growth (how fast to coral reefs grow?). Also, people touching the coral, with their hands or fins, can destroy it. The good news is that educating people about the reefs, inspiring them and connecting them with it, is a great way to raise public awareness and stewardship—but developing countries with corrupted governments have a hard time implementing any serious measures. It’s up to the tourists and the guide companies to be responsible.

Ready to dive

Lastly, climate changes found during El Nino and with global warming have a devastating affect. Temperature changes of a few degrees can cause coral bleaching—which kills it off. According to The Nature Conservancy, if coral reef destruction continues at its current rate, 70% of the world’s reefs will be gone within the next 50 years. Not only does this affect biodiversity on an unfathomable scale (think of the food chain that depends on this reef community) but the loss would also be an economic disaster for people living in the tropics. At any rate—I had a tough time seeing how damaged some of the reefs were, but it also inspired me to remember how connected the rice terraces are to the reefs—deforestation up there has an affect on the reefs as well.

I had two really wonderful moments. One was seeing this fantastic nudibranch:

Picture by Henry Boer

I’m a big fan of nudibranchs, which are essentially highly decorated sea slugs.

Another was seeing my favorite, the clown fish, tucked away in its anemone. Yes, it’s Nemo, I know. I’m a cheese ball. However, the clown fish has a really interesting symbiotic relationship with the anemone. Like in Finding Nemo, the clown fish use the anemone for protection from predators. Without it, the clown fish would most likely die (or get scooped up and taken to an aquarium in Australia). But the anemone gets a benefit too: it gets protection from a polyps-eating fish called the Butterfly fish, and it also gets fertilized by Clown Fish feces.

One thing to keep in mind if you’re crazy for aquariums—don’t get Clown Fish or anemones! Huge numbers of anemones have been torn out of the ocean for aquariums by Nemo loving kids. It’s ironic that so many people who rooted for Nemo’s escape from the aquarium caused the real Nemo to suffer the same fate. The fact is, very few people can keep either species alive for long and their removal from their native habitat is really destructive. In fact, all coral aquariums are devastating to coral reefs—so, if you know anyone contemplating getting one, maybe you can inspire them to SCUBA in the tropics or watch Finding Nemo instead. 

One of the other great parts of the weekend was just relaxing on the beach. I got a wicked sunburn (it’s still sore five days later), but it was so wonderful to have delicious food and wonderful weather down in Batangas. I’m really looking forward to diving in Bohol at the end of March—the diving is supposed to be fantastic. Getting my certification was certainly a wonderful gift to myself—and I’m looking forward to the adventures ahead.

Clownfish pic found on this website: http://www.diversionoz.com/Steve/images/tclown1.jpg
Nudibranch photo found on: http://www.topshot4you.com/