RESOURCES | ECO DIVER LINKS

Ecological Links & Information for the Eco Friendly Diver

Approximately 70% of our planet is covered by water. Not long ago, people considered the oceans’ resources to be limitless. Today we increasingly hear about depleted fish stocks, endangered marine mammal species and coral reef bleaching. It took millions of years to create large coral reef systems but they can be destroyed all too quickly by dynamite or cyanide fishing, pesticide runoff from a golf course, or other forms of pollution or ill-conceived development. We are still learning about the complex inter-relationships which cause fish stocks to decline drastically when we impede natural water flows into and through ecosystem like the Everglades or we clear a mangrove forest to create a commercial shrimp farm.

As divers, we are privileged to be able to enjoy the beauty of the underwater world.

Eco Dive Center believes that it is important for each of us to try to help educate people about the marine environment and to help conserve it for future generations. This help can be as simple as taking a child to an aquarium to expose them to beauty that lies underwater and instilling in them the idea that this is a resource to be treasured.
You may find it interesting to explore the following links to non-profit organizations that are involved in marine conservation and education. These are not specific recommendations but they are organizations to which individual divers like yourself have chosen to contribute.

• Santa Monica Baykeeper
• Heal the Bay
• CORAL Reef Alliance
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• NOAA
• Ocean Conservancy
• A.W.A.R.E. Eco-Diver Tips (PDF) Aquatic World Awareness Restoration & Education
• Oceana
• Natural Resource Defense Council
• EcoDiveClub.com
• ReefCheck.org