On Tuesday Underwater adventures are in jeopardy
SCUBA: I didn’t realise before I had done my research for this column (it’s not always off the top of my head) that this word is an acronym.
It means ‘self-contained underwater breathing apparatus’ and was invented by two French engineers in the winter of 1942 – meaning this year is its 80th anniversary.
Around this time, 80 years ago, Emile Gagnan and Jacques Cousteau were working on the first ‘aqua lung’ which would make it possible for the ordinary person to dive under the water for an extended period, and simply float back to the surface when their time was up.
I am very fortunate to have had the chance to scuba dive in a number of locations, from Italy to Thailand and Fiji.
If you’ve never tried it, then please add it to your bucket list. Strapping an air cylinder to your back and a pair of flippers to your feet and going deep underwater might not sound like your idea of fun, but it is like stepping into a whole new world.
It is the aquatic version of going on safari instead of going to the zoo, where you can spot wildlife in the habitat in which they exist, because you are immersed in it.
Controlling your descent through lowering yourself down an anchor rope while bubbles float up past you to the surface, which becomes like a wavering mirror above you, is an image you could never forget, and would never want to.
That’s before you have seen schools of colourful fish that seem to change direction together at the same time, or the wafting tentacles of anemones on the ocean floor.
Having done my course in one of the Thai islands, one place I wanted to dive was the Great Barrier Reef – considered one of the wonders of the world, visible from space.
I was lucky enough to get the chance during an extended spell in Australia, now more than 12 years ago, yet I hesitate to say I was slightly disappointed.
Much of the coral I saw was white or a dull grey, and looked more like a brittle skeletal structure instead of the vibrant rainbow of colours and life which I had hoped for.
That change is known as ‘coral bleaching’ and is, sadly, common to huge swathes of the Great Barrier Reef due to ocean acidity and higher water temperatures.
Fast forward to 2022, and the issue is only getting worse.
A 10-day mission by the United Nations in March this year has now officially concluded that climate change is putting the world’s biggest coral reef system in danger, and that it should be added to a list of World Heritage sites at serious risk.
Among the contributors to the degradation of the GBR is pollution via run-off from farming and grazing as well as poor fishing practices.
The problems are not dissimilar to the issues of run-off from our own coasts which have led to widespread protests from organisations like Surfers Against Sewage, and reports of sea swimmers falling ill due to the poor quality of bathing waters – even when it was deemed officially fine.
I’ve not dived off our own coastline, and I am not feeling any more inclined to do so by reports of all the discharges from water firms who are now facing questions over a lack of investment into infrastructure.
There are far more important things at stake besides the health of divers, such as the actual health of our marine environment.
Polluting it with sewage cannot be something which is tolerated or waved away, just as we don’t allow dumping of waste on land.
I would dearly love to take my own daughters, and maybe even grandchildren, on an adventure under the water, but we, collectively, are going to have to clean up our act first.
‘Much of the coral I saw was white or a dull grey, and looked more like a brittle skeletal structure’