Reef Check

Reef Check is an organization that seeks to document the health conditions of the world’s coral reefs. Towards this end, the diving community regularly chips in to that data bank in Los Angeles, California.

What we do is simple enough: Three groups of divers (for fish, invertebrates and substrates) will write (in an underwater slate) what they see a meter on either side, up and below a transect line, which is usually 200-feet long. The data will then be analyzed after the dive by a group of marine biologists before sending it to California. Today, Tropical Island Adventures (TIA) and Coastal Dynamics Foundation (CDF) in Cebu will check a coral reef off the northern coast of Olango Island. I am one amongst 12 diver-volunteers with Underwater Naturalist PADI certifications for this dive.

My dive buddy was doing invertebrates (crabs, shrimps, etc.) while I record the fish. As he scrutinized cracks and crevices of a coral covered rock formation, he accidentally brushed his finger on a lionfish. The lionfish has a unique appearance. It moves slow and looks harmless. It has elaborate feather-like pectoral, caudal and anal fins that are lovely to look, but beware: they are full of poisonous stings! The moment my dive buddy was stung, he twisted and thrashed around in panic. I would have to hold him down from surfacing faster than is safe. When underwater, the dissolved nitrogen in blood form bubbles in your bloodstream during rapid decompression causing Nitrogen Narcosis, a condition leading to death. Hence, a foot a second should be the surfacing rate, and in certain cases, safety stop is required for a few minutes at a certain depth above your deepest dive. If you don’t, you will be sick. Sometimes you will be sick enough to warrant a trip to the decompression chamber, or the hospital, and in worst situations, a trip 6-feet under! In only a few minutes back at the dive boat, my dive buddy grimaced in pain. He was inhaling pure oxygen while his now reddish whole arm was bloated like a plastic balloon. The tip of his forefinger had a red dot on, that’s where the lion’s poison came through.

I had to come back for the second dive, now in charge with securing the transect line. The area has a modest undercurrent, which is not only good for drift dive, but more importantly, a good indication of a faster growing reef because of the nutrients it brought to the water around as the current stirs bottom and those brought from farther reefs. These nutrients draw in marine life starting with the microscopic to the visible and more popular reef inhabitants like tuna, rays and sharks. Substrates include huge table corals, gorgonian fans and barrel sponges, but a great majority are bleached corals, rocks and dynamited acroporas. However, within a few years of fishing ban (if established as a sanctuary) the reef will recover and the juvenile food fish can have a chance to grow big and spawn. That’s the objective of this dive: to educate fishermen, the community and local government that yes, the future is good, if we join hands now to conserve and protect what we have. If you’re a diver, join Reef Check, assemble your dive buddies and send data of your favorite dive spot to that data bank in California. Act now!