Coral bleaching is something you've probably heard quite a bit about in the past few years, and, unfortunately, are likely to hear more about in the future. The Caribbean had a major bleaching event back in 2005, then later again in 2010, and then just recently experienced another bleaching event in September 2023. Australia's great barrier reef has suffered six mass bleaching events since 2016, all of which make the headlines as it's the largest coral reef system in the world, and arguably the most famous. Common Questions Aside from corals losing their various colors and turning a bright white, what exactly is coral bleaching, and what causes it? Does a bleached coral mean a dead coral? All the corals on the reef were shades of brown and had white tips, does that mean they are dead or about to be bleached? These are just a few of the questions we regularly get as snorkeling guides. So, to set the record straight here are some cold hard facts, as well as some anecdotal encounters. Coral Anatomy Before we get into coral bleaching, we need to know a bit about the anatomy of the corals. Corals are often equated to terrestrial plants, trees, and flowers. However, one table coral, for example, is not just a single living thing, like a fern or a pine tree. A table coral, or any hard coral for that matter, is actually a colony of a bunch of identical coral polyps all living together in a symbiotic relationship. These coral polyps are all hosted together on the calcium carbonate structure that they have created through their own secretions. Each coral polyp has a set of tentacles that are used to capture food, ward off predators, and clean themselves. The tentacles also host zooxanthellae, a type of
Coral bleaching is something you’ve probably heard quite a bit about in the past few years, and, unfortunately, are likely to hear more about in the future. The Caribbean had a major bleaching event back in 2005, then later again in 2010, and then just recently experienced another bleaching event in September 2023. Australia’s great
Even if you are not an ocean enthusiast and prefer the terrestrial world for your recreational endeavors, you will surely have had encounters with the lionfish, either through beautiful underwater photos or videos featuring this lavishly decorated fish. Or, maybe you've had some lionfish ceviche & tacos while on holiday in the Caribbean. Lionfish are always a popular topic of conversation on our tours. Their extravagant plumage makes them a stunningly beautiful fish to encounter on snorkels, and their amenable demeanor makes them quite easy to photograph, particularly compared to other shy reef fish. All that being said, lionfish oftentimes get a bad reputation as a lot of fear is built up around them on account of their poisonous barbs. Also, in certain parts of the world, they are an invasive species and have played a very significant role in the population decline of many different species of fish on account of them being proficient hunters of juvenile fish. So, to dispel any misguided fears of the lionfish and to correct some misunderstood facts about the lionfish's natural habitat, here are some quick notes about the lionfish. Lionfish originate from the Indo-Pacific region, which includes all of Australia, east Africa up into the Red Sea, and all the way out to the South Pacific Islands. Lionfish can be found in a vast array of marine ecosystems ranging from depths of 0-1,000 feet, mangroves, sea grass, mucky areas, coral reefs, and artificial structures. Basically, if it's in warmer tropical waters, it's a potential home for lionfish. You won't see lionfish as frequently in their native habitat as their population is in balance. Many guests come to Indonesia or other parts of Asia where the lionfish originate from and are surprised to see so few lionfish. On average, we find a couple
Even if you are not an ocean enthusiast and prefer the terrestrial world for your recreational endeavors, you will surely have had encounters with the lionfish, either through beautiful underwater photos or videos featuring this lavishly decorated fish. Or, maybe you’ve had some lionfish ceviche & tacos while on holiday in the Caribbean. Lionfish are
Snorkeling and or traveling with a group may not be for everyone. We totally understand that being in the water with strangers is not what many people want. However, we also know, just as many of you do I'm sure, that snorkelers booking a stay with a dive resort or liveaboard as individuals are routinely treated as second-class guests when it comes to the sites that are chosen for snorkeling. It is precisely this reason that the founders of Snorkel Venture, Ben & Sarah, created Snorkel Venture. They understood that snorkelers share the same interest in the ocean as divers do, only they want to experience it from a different perspective. So, for our snorkeling safaris, what we do to ensure that all of our guests are catered to as snorkelers and not accessories, is we charter the entire resort or liveaboard so that the whole thing is ours. For the larger resorts where it's not practical to book the whole thing, we have an agreement with the resort so that we have several snorkeling-specific boats with local guides just for us. As you can probably understand by now, all of these resort takeovers and charters mean we need to run the tours as group tours. With that in mind, if you booked a trip to any one of these resorts or liveaboards, you'd still be around the same number of people, only those people would most likely be bubble-blowing divers. For quite a few of our guests, this is the first time they've ever snorkeled in a group setting, and, as a result, we get a lot of questions about how it works with the groups in the water. Here are a few questions we frequently get, along with the responses, of course. How do we snorkel comfortably and
Snorkeling and or traveling with a group may not be for everyone. We totally understand that being in the water with strangers is not what many people want. However, we also know, just as many of you do I’m sure, that snorkelers booking a stay with a dive resort or liveaboard as individuals are routinely
I wrote a blog recently, twenty minutes ago to be specific, about the various threats to sharks and how these threats are having a very serious impact on their global population. At this point, with threats like shark finning, shark fishing derbies, illegal fishing, and by-catch, not to mention a number of television series continuing to perpetuate an unjustified fear of sharks, sharks need all the help they can get. I listed a number of ways in which everyone, no matter where you live, can help in the protection of sharks. One of those things was to go snorkeling with sharks so as to provide a financial incentive to keep them alive. Now, if you've ever seen sharks while snorkeling you've most likely noticed that they are very shy and will often swim away from you leaving you with only a fleeting glance of their backside. Something that has become popular—and slightly controversial at the same time—in diving and snorkeling destinations worldwide is the introduction of bait into the water as a means to bring these lovely and highly intelligent animals in closer for longer. I know what you're thinking, why would you ever put dead fish in the water with sharks!? Well, it's not exactly what it seems. Sharks have an excellent sense of smell, and one of their favorite smells is blood, and not just any blood, fish blood specifically. Shark's sensory thingies (clearly I'm not a scientist) are so advanced that they can tell the difference between fish blood and other types of blood, such as human or mammal blood. There have been a number of tests on this exact topic where scientists have built a device that would dribble mammal blood into a sharkie area, while at the same time just a few meters away an
I wrote a blog recently, twenty minutes ago to be specific, about the various threats to sharks and how these threats are having a very serious impact on their global population. At this point, with threats like shark finning, shark fishing derbies, illegal fishing, and by-catch, not to mention a number of television series continuing
If you are not in the loop on sharks and their global well-being, they are not in a great way. Here are some quick facts to get you up to speed. Approximately 100 million sharks are killed each year Since the 1970s, 70% of the oceanic shark and ray population has been wiped out Sharks are killed as a result of overfishing, and bycatch, but mostly it's due to the demand for shark fin soup, a delicacy in China The top five shark fishing countries are: Indonesia Spain India Mexico USA So, as you can see, there is just an overwhelming amount of threats against them, especially when you also consider the fact that their food supply is decreasing and breeding grounds—mangroves and lagoons—are being destroyed. While it's not necessarily too far gone, there is some urgency needed when it comes to shark conservation. There are a lot of conservation groups out there, like Thrive Conservation, Bite-Back Shark & Marine Conservation, and the Misool Foundation—all of which we make annual donations to via our Every Trip Program, who are actively advocating for sharks on a daily basis and have achieved some landmark victories with projects like as the StaR project. So, aside from contributing funds to shark conservation groups like the ones above, what can you do as a regular citizen passionate about shark conservation? Here are a couple of things you can do. Stop Watching Shark Week (asking politely) Shark Week has become an annual event on the Discovery Channel that apparently originated as a way of helping correct the misconceptions about sharks with shark-based episodes. While that may have been the case, the episode lineup for 2023 involved titles like “Cocaine Shark”, “Mega Sharks of Dangerous Reef”, “Serial Killer: Red Sea Attacks”, and “Monsters of the Bermuda Triangle”.
If you are not in the loop on sharks and their global well-being, they are not in a great way. Here are some quick facts to get you up to speed. Approximately 100 million sharks are killed each year Since the 1970s, 70% of the oceanic shark and ray population has been wiped out Sharks
