DIVE LOG AUSTRALASIA ISSUE 413 AUGUST 25

WAKATOBI is the WAY of the FUTURE O ne of the biggest dangers for a dive resort that I have encountered, is when poachers watch where the dive sites from a distance. When the divers depart, they move in and fish the dive site and even remove target creatures for the aquaria trade. It’s despicable but it happens. There is nothing worse than spending a huge amount of your hard earned dosh to visit a remote exotic dive spot to find that their reefs are stripped of fish or the biggest fish is the size of your hand. Imagine being promised that there are Blue Ribbon Eels in a dive site only to find that they could not be found; they have been poached! This exactly what happened at one resort in the South Pacific. It is a real bummer.

Longnose Butterflyfish plucking at coral polyps.

Wakatobi has had management plans in place for decades to ensure that their prime dive sites remain at their best. In fact, left alone, Mother Nature will keep rebuilding the reef until it gets closer to that pristine state where it should be. Recently, I came across a quote from Albert Einstein. He says imagination is the greatest force in the universe. Let’s put it to the test.

Imagine the overfishing and absolute exploitation of the world’s oceans stopped Immediately! Every marine ecosystem in the world would begin to recover and return to the abundant living paradise that it should be. The current state of the ocean around Sydney is that many fish species are maintained at 2 to 10 per cent by fisheries management, I believe. Imagine what would happen if they allowed fish stocks to climb

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Dive Log Australasia #413 August‘25

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