The Importance of Mangroves

The Roatan Marine Park shared a great video on their Facebook page about the importance of mangroves, which we thought was a great foray to discuss the importance of mangroves, both to Roatan and to anywhere they exist, to all of you.

Mangroves are very important because they are both a source of protection and nurturing. Mangroves protect the coastline from erosion and storms, and are a haven for juvenile fish to spend their lives in before they go out to sea. Mangroves are cut down all over the world to pave the way for beachfront properties and sandy beaches without thought to the long term consequences, and even just on Roatan, we’ve seen the damaging effects of losing our mangrove forests.

Furthermore, mangroves may be the key to battle climate change. Mangroves store carbon dioxide under their roots and pump out a massive amount of oxygen, making them a vital part of the planet’s future.

The Roatan Marine Park’s work is not limited to just under the sea. They have taken over mangrove protection and re-plantation for the island of Roatan, and we’re looking forward to seeing more and more mangroves make their way back to where they belong. Mangroves are beautiful and necessary, and for our island to thrive, they must be allowed to protect our coasts, coral and marine life.

Remember to support the Roatan Marine Park so that they can continue the important work that they do. You can get daily tickets for $3 or yearly bracelets for $10, with all proceeds going towards the good work that the Roatan Marine Park does.

PSA: Before You Watch "Finding Dory"

Well, the day that everyone has been waiting for, for literally years has arrived - Disney Pixar's Finding Dory will soon hit theaters!

Now, based on the trailers, it looks like Finding Dory has a pretty strong anti-captivity message, which we are grateful for. As dive instructors and conservationists (the two should really go hand in hand), it pains us to see animals that don't do well in captivity, like whalesharks and dolphins, held in a confined space. While some aquariums work hard to educate the public and are picky about the animals that they keep in captivity, a great deal are not and will capture anything that brings in customers and money.

So before you watch Finding Dory and get caught up in the Blue Tang hullabaloo, please remember that Blue Tangs belong in the ocean, not in your personal aquarium. Just like Clownfish sales spiked after Finding Nemo came out, the animals featured in Finding Dory, especially the Blue Tang, will be in higher demand. The biggest difference between Clownfish and Blue Tangs is that they still haven't figured out a way to breed Blue Tangs in captivity, so any Blue Tangs that you get for your aquarium will be taken off the reef somewhere, away from where they belong. Blue Tangs have a bigger travel radius than Clownfish do so they don't do well in captivity, and they are incredibly important for coral health because they eat the algae that risks suffocating the coral if left to grow unchecked, so it will be devastating to any reef system to lose them.

So please, if you watch the movie and feel inclined to see more Blue Tangs, go see them in the wild. They're actually very quirky and funny, just like Dory, although hopefully not as forgetful! We love watching the big schools of Blue Tangs descending on the reef and eating up a storm, without a care in the world if anyone else is around. If you love Dory (or Nemo, or Hank, or Destiny, or Bailey), let them just keep swimming!

Always dive with a buddy!

Just because you don't want to see Dory in captivity doesn't mean you can't have fun with it, either! For those of you more inclined to give in to Disney magic, you can also bring Dory diving with you! Nemo and Dory have been our dive buddies for five years now, following us as we dive all around the world. Just keep swimming, indeed.

5 Really Good Reasons To Protect Sharks

We love sharks. Sharks are amazing. And despite the irrational fear that people have of sharks (damn you, Jaws!), sharks would honestly rather do their own thing and are actually afraid of people. I've been on many dives where a shark comes gliding along, minding its own business, then sees me and goes "nope, nope" and jets off in the other direction.

But even if sharks weren't wary of us and even if they weren't misunderstood, who are we to cull them? Who are we to go on a massacre when there's a shark attack somewhere? Aren't we in their territory? Aren't we imposing on them? As scuba divers, snorkelers, surfers and spearfishermen, we make the active choice to enter their territory and therefore (should) accept the consequences of what happens to us.

So without further ado, here are 5 really good reasons why we should protect sharks.

Reason 1. Sharks help maintain the reef

Sharks are an incredibly important part of the ecosystem. They keep the reef eating fish populations in check, which prevent the reef eating fish from overeating the reef. If the sharks go, then the fish populations will run rampant and the reef will get eaten away pretty quickly. The reef actually produces a huge amount of the oxygen in the air that we breathe, so without the reef, on-land populations will die as well. Grim.

Reason 2. Sharks are worth more alive than dead

Studies have shown that the worth of a shark is far more when its alive than when it's dead. While the numbers vary for each location, on average, you get roughly $100 for a dead shark (they normally just take the fins), while a living shark will bring in over 1.5 million dollars over the average lifetime. Sharks are not only good for the reef, they're good for tourism. They're good for local communities. This theory doesn't just apply to sharks, it also applies to pretty much every other animal, both on land and under the sea, like elephants, rhinos, gorillas, whales, turtles, lions...the list goes on.

Reason 3. Shark finning is incredibly cruel

Imagine you're walking down the street, minding your own business, when someone drags you onto a dinghy, cuts your limbs off and leaves you face down in shallow water, shallow enough that you can sort of lift your head out of the water so you don't drown immediately, but still enough water that you will eventually bleed out and drown at the same time. That is the closest thing I can relate to a shark's experience when it gets finned.

With the exception of nurse sharks, all sharks need to be constantly moving forward so that they can push water through their gills and breathe. When sharks are finned, their bodies are pulled up onto the boat, their fins are hacked off and then their bodies are thrown back into the water to leave more space on the boat. The sharks then slowly drown. All of this cruelty for a substance that has no flavor and no nutritional value. Shark fin is cruel and useless.

Reason 4. They're more afraid of you than you are of them

There were 12 fatal shark attacks in 2015. Do you want to know how many sharks we killed that year? Over 100 million. One hundred million sharks. 100,000,000. Versus 12 humans. Are you getting it? And every time there is a shark attack somewhere, we go on a rampage and kill every shark in the area. Why?

Sharks are misunderstood. They genuinely want nothing to do with us. The reason that shark attacks are increasing is because humans have taken a large part of their food supply because of our unsustainable fishing techniques and consumption, and so sharks are now moving closer to land to find food. We are the reason that they are moving closer to shore, and then we get upset when we see them close to shore. Does that make any sense at all?

Reason 5. Sharks are just amazing

Sharks are exquisite animals. They are the best. Hundreds of thousands of years of evolution to create the perfect marine predator, moving effortless through the water. Honestly, watching sharks cruise through the current is an incredibly life affirming event. Sharks are extraordinary, and deserve to be seen as such.

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So there you have it, 5 really good reasons why we should protect sharks. I apologize for getting a little heated on this one, but shark conservation is one of the topics I'm most passionate about when it comes to the marine conservation realm. Save our sharks!

Should I buy a Roatan Marine Park yearly bracelet?

Short answer: Yes. Yes you should.

Long answer: Why wouldn't you buy a Roatan Marine Park yearly bracelet? They're only $10 and all the proceeds go towards the running of the park. The Roatan Marine Park is a non-profit organization that installs all the dive moorings, runs patrols to patrol the local wildlife and works with the local community to move us towards a conservation oriented island.

So if your boat ties up to a mooring, or you see a turtle or lobster or conch, or notice how the mangroves are starting to grow back...then of course you should support the Roatan Marine Park. The bracelets are only $10 and all the proceeds go directly into helping the park continue its good work. The park is one of the best run that we've seen, and we believe it has a lot to do with the fact that it's run by a non-profit, non-governmental organization full of passionate people, and we'd like to keep supporting it.

Do your part, support the park!