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What’s New on
AlertDiver.com
Tantalizing Tentacles
Can’t make it to Monterey Bay
Aquarium to see your favorite
cephalopods? Read about
“Tentacles” on Page 20, and
then take a few moments to
watch the video playlist fea-
turing some of the stars of the
exhibit.
Marine Majesty
After you’ve seen the inspiring
images from the 2014 Ocean
Views Photo Contest (Page 92),
check out the bonus galleries.
Enjoy the incredible collection of
aquatic perspectives captured by
these talented shooters.
Sensational Socorro
Explore this protected archi-
pelago and the giants that
live there on Page 68. Then
take a moment to observe
the islands’ wildlife in the
bonus photo gallery.
Explore the Cenotes
Dive onto the resplendent reefs
of Cozumel’s famed drift-diving
sites on Page 76. This year-
round destination is brimming
with adventures both above and
below the surface. Then go to
AlertDiver.com to read Brandon
Cole’s online-exclusive story about
Mexico’s treasured cenotes, “In
the Maya Underworld.”
All this and much more await at
.
160 commercial sea-cucumber harvesters working
the waters between Palm Beach County and the
Florida Keys. Unsurprisingly, the harvested animals
are destined for the Asian market, where they are
used for food and pseudo medicinal applications.
Sea cucumbers are sedentary creatures that live
in nearshore seagrass beds and patch reefs, which
makes them easy to locate and collect. The great
concern with this harvest is that these animals are
broadcast spawners that release sperm and eggs
into the water column. It takes a critical mass of
creatures in proximity to procreate, and the fear
is that once the populations are depleted then
recovery may take decades, if it happens at all.
Truthfully, I don’t know what sea cucumbers do,
aside from providing habitat for the fish that live in
their anuses, but I have no doubt that losing them
would have ramifications for our interconnected
marine environment. I hope these proposed catch
limits will prevent the collapse of the species, at least in
the Florida Keys. Sea cucumbers are being harvested
elsewhere in the world in unsustainable quantities;
they will be extracted from the ocean for the benefit of
a few until it is no longer commercially viable.
These environmental tales are not isolated or rare
stories of pressure on the reefs. I’m sure most DAN
members know about overfishing, shark finning
and all the other challenges that face Mother Ocean
and are ardent supporters of a healthy sea.
One has only to look at the images in this
issue’s Ocean Views photo contest gallery to
realize how much time, energy, expense and
serious talent our readers invest in the pursuit
of their underwater passions. These photos
also demonstrate how much nature there is to
continue to preserve and protect. This is the
great value in contests such as this: They collate
a vision of the sea — a discrete moment in time
— distilled from thousands of images submitted
by hundreds of scuba divers armed with digital
cameras. They see the sea, and a beautiful vision
it is. For those who dive as well as for those
who have no idea how diverse and fantastically
alluring the underwater world is, pictures such
as these are poignant reminders of how vitally
important it is to be respectful guardians of our
marine environment.
AD
COURTESY MONTEReY BAY AQUARIUM
STEPHEN FRINK
EDUARDO Acevedo
BRANDON COLE
