Observations of Recreational Divers on Coral Reefs in the Florida Keys

Talge, Helen

Recreational divers were systematically observed in the Florida Keys between May 10 and August 13, 1989. A total of 206 divers were observed during 66.6 hours of diving with scuba divers averaging 7 incidents and snorkelers averaging 1 incident per 30 minutes of diving time. Of the 1164 interactions witnessed, 65 percent were interactions with scleractinian corals and 34 percent were with octocorals. Out of the 135 scuba divers, 26 percent had one or less interactions with corals; 10 percent had 11 to 20 interactions; and 4 percent had 30 or more interactions per 30 minutes of diving time. Of the 71 snorkelers, 61 percent ha one or less interactions with coral and none had more than 5 incidents. However, snorkelers treading water stir up large clouds of sediments and are more apt to stand on corals than scuba divers. Non-parametric tests show that divers with gloves have significantly higher numbers of interactions with corals than divers without gloves, that men have more interactions than women, and that scuba divers have more interactions than snorkelers. Abstract provided by author.