It was a fine day, and even the brief rain squall did not dampen our fun.
The sad note however was in talking to the owner of the tour, Steve about the state of the reef. He has been doing the tours for over 15 years, and the changes in the reef disturb him. There has been a gradual decline in the size and type of fish on the reef. The delicate balance of ecology has been tipped, and he thinks it is past the point of no return. The changes had been gradual until the introduction of Lionfish in the area. They are a predatory spieces who prey upon the young of virtual all the other types. The lack of diversification will mean the death of the ecology of the reef. The difference in the vibrance of the reef, the startling demarcations between living and dead coral show how this is a very dire situation for the reef.
The other disappointing thing I noted was the amount of plastic trash found in the area. It is so sad we humans callously discard so much of it into the environment, with not enough of us caring about the long term effects on the place we all live.
The number of tourists visiting the area is also rising, and the north side of the island has recently received power which will accelerate the development of the tourism, and I do not fault the tourists for wanting to see and visit the area, but a part of me gets down on large scale tourism, wanting the rustic out of the way places to stay waiting for the dedicated wanderer to find.
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