However the devastation of the marine environment is obvious to anyone who has had the privilege of diving with our amazing Thresher Sharks. Huge swathes of the plateau have been pulverized into sand and looks more like a barren beach then a healthy ecosystem.
The real problem is that the habitat of the cleaner wrasse is being steadily destroyed and eroded by careless and inconsiderate divers. If the cleaner wrasse have no where to live then they will die or move away. No cleaner wrasse means no Thresher Sharks. No Thresher Sharks means . . .
In order to combat this, Evolution introduced our Do’s and Don’ts board – a simple visual guide on how best to dive Monad and make a minimal environmental impact. Our radical philosophy is that ALL divers should remain neutrally buoyant during the shark dive. OK, so some divers are not able to hover motionless for 3o minutes. In this case divers should remain neutral but let their fin tips rest gently on the bottom. This is called a fin pivot and is taught in the PADI Open Waterb Course so every PADI diver has completed this to their instructor’s satisfaction while still a novice. Or should have!Divers with Evolution took up the challenge and we saw an immediate improvement in our divers’ behavior People became more aware and an element of self policing and encouragement featured on many dives.
Over time other dive shops accepted our offer to use the Do’s and Don’ts board and the idea has spread down the beach, although many dive centres still include kneeling on the bottom as a Do instead of a Don’t.
In 2012 Malapascua was visited by Green Fins who are a United Nations funded NGO and their mission statement is ‘To protect and preserve Coral Reefs by establishing and implementing environmentally friendly guidelines to promote a sustainable diving and snorkeling tourism industry.’
Evolution was very enthusiastic to get involved and help Green Fins spread the message of responsible diver behavior. Green Fins assessed Evolution and spoke to our dive staff about how to continue to implement best practice and conscientious diving under water. Happily Green Fins got a very warm welcome on Malapascua and almost all the dive centres took part. Green Fins adopted our original Do’s and Don’t board from 2010 and reproduced it as the standard for the island so now it can be seen in various locations.
We certainly hope this evolution of awareness will challenge divers to think twice before emptying a BCD and lying down on coral at Monad Shoal. All divers should want to protect and preserve Coral Reefs by establishing and implementing environmentally friendly guidelines to promote a sustainable diving and snorkeling tourism industry.
Right?