A Guide to Ecofriendly Diving in Palau

Western Pacific Ocean

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Pristine Palau

The amazing island country of Palau which lies far away from any other nation in the great deep blue of the Western Pacific Ocean encompasses approximately 340 different islands having a total area of 466 square kilometers.

Exploring Palau will leave you immersing yourself in an array of activities from sea kayaking, flying over the islands, camping under the stars to discovering the Palauan culture and history. With its underwater wonders: pristine waters and thriving marine ecosystems this small group of islands has rapidly become a diver utopia. With over 25 different dive sites with hundreds of different coral and fish species including the world-famous dive site: Blue Corner which is one of the most action-packed sites with over 13 different species of sharks circulating just beyond the reef wall there is a dive to suit everyone.

But there are constant human treats to these beautiful reefs that are home to such spectacularly diverse marine life. As diver’s it is extremely important to conserve this unique sanctuary so that it is here for years to come.

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Becoming an ecofriendly diver tip 1: use reef safe sunscreen

Over the last three years, one-fifth of the worlds coral reefs have died. Through research it has become clear that sunscreens are playing a role in this. Most sunscreens contain non-biodegradable ingredients and harmful chemicals and it is estimated that roughly 6,000 to 14,000 tons of sunscreen slides off humans into our coral reefs each year, exposing the coral reefs to harmful chemicals that kill them.

Harmful chemicals such as any nanoparticles like zinc oxide or titanium dioxide and the biggest culprits- oxybenzone and octinoxate which are extremely damaging to the reefs. The chemicals can cause damage to the DNA, leading to developmental abnormalities, cancer, damage to the endocrine distributor, deformation in juvenile corals as well as a leading cause of bleaching. Other harmful chemicals include:

- 4-methylbenzylidene camphor

- Octocrylene

- Para-aminobenzoic acid (PABA)

- Methylparaben

- Ethylparaben

- Propylparaben

- Butylparaben

- Benzylparaben

- Triclosan

(Schneider et al 2019).

In order to prevent the shocking effects on marine ecosystems the government of Palau have signed a law that restricts the sale and use of sunscreen and skincare that have any ingredients that are highly toxic to marine life and have an impact on coral bleaching.

There are plenty of places in Palau to buy reef safe sunscreen. In Koror it is sold in most convenient stores, the surf shop on the main road and the dive shop fish n’ fins. Two common sunscreens are the PURA VIDA PALAU and the Biodegradable Reef Save by Tropical Seas.

Buying reef safe sunscreen in Australia take a little more looking. These can be found in small independent surf shops, local surf life saving club and health food stores such as GoVita.

Some great reef safe sunscreen that can be brought in Australia are linked below:

Surlifesaving Sunscreen (any of the sunscreen products):

https://www.surflifesavingsunscreen.com.au/

Little Urchin:

https://www.littleurchin.com.au/

Sun Earth Zinc:

http://sunearthzinc.com/

Cancercouncil sunscreen (any of the sunscreen products):

https://www.cancercouncilshop.org.au/

Even though the corals are already being effected they are incredibly resilient. If we give them a little help through education and awareness which has already proven to have an impact, life can significantly improve on the reefs (Victor 2018).

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Becoming an ecofriendly diver tip 2: minimise your waste

In order to help preserve this pristine marine environment it is important to minimise your waste. Plastic has become a huge focus recently and for good reason. Plastic is very cheap and has many uses however, we have become so accustomed to using it that we don’t even stop to look at the environmental consequences that it is having. 

Researches estimate that there has been more the 8.3 billion tonnes of plastic produced since the 1950′s. This is the fastest growing production of any other material. Of this 8.3 billion tonnes, 60% of it has either landed up in a landfill or the environment. Over the last 20 years there has been a huge shift from the production of durable plastics towards single use plastics. Today, with both durable and single use plastics we produce roughly 300 million tonnes of plastic waste every year (Our planet is drowning in plastic 2018).

But where does this plastic go?

Most plastics are produced using oil, natural gas and coal which are all non-renewable sources. From all the plastics ever made only 9% have ever been recycled, 12% has been incinerated with the remaining 79% having made its way into landfill and the environment (Our planet is drowning in plastic 2018).

How does this effect me as a diver?

Plastic bottles, plastic cutlery, lunch packaging, cigarette butts are just some of the items that can be blown off a dive boat. Swap out these single use items for a more sustainable option.

- Use a reusable drink bottle. The dive company Fish ‘n Fins hand out reusable drinking bottles for each diver to have on deck. Make sure that this is tucked away before diving to avoid it falling off. This will make a great reusable option (throughout your whole stay in Palau. 

- Bring your own cutlery on deck for lunch. Instead of buying plastic cutlery simply ask to borrow one from your dive centre to return at the end of the day. 

- Put your lunch in a reusable container instead of single use plastic. The diving company Fish ‘n Fins are a great example of this. Everyday they have everyones lunches in durable reusable plastic that gets stored under the seats in the boats to avoid anything getting lose whilst traveling to the dive sites. If you didn’t bring a container you could invest in one as glassware is available in most of the supermarkets in Palau. 

- If you need to smoke, make sure there is an ash tray and bin on board. If not ask your diver company if they are able to provide one or wait until you return from your dive to smoke. 

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Becoming an ecofriendly diver tip 3: Practise good buoyancy

Palau has such a diverse coral reef unlike anywhere else in the world. Consisting of a number of different corals: finger, branching, encrusting, foliate, mushroom, and soft.  

In among the rock islands coral is abundant as it is isolated from coastal erosion, agriculture, development, pollution and over fishing which all at some stage effect reefs elsewhere.

Plaua’s reefs have shown to be very resilient. They have previously recovered from most disturbances, including the coral bleaching events in 1998, 2007 and 2010. However, as divers it is extremely important to not add to these impacts. One way in which we can significantly help out the corals in Palau is to practise good buoyancy techniques. Practising good buoyancy techniques means reducing the risk of bumping into corals and having to hold onto things under water. It may seem insignificant if you accidentally bump the corals a few times throughout a dive but there can be hundreds of divers on a site per day. This means if everyone was to accidentally bump into three corals per dive thats at least 300 times people have disturbed a natural environment and a working ecosystem.

In a study ‘Impacts of Recreational Divers on Palauan Coral Reefs and Options for Management’ that was taken in 2003, three popular dive sites were observed in Palau to monitor divers contact points in water. This study showed that divers contact rates with corals ranged from 0.87 to 2.98 times per dive. At all three sites, almost all divers at some point made contact with hard corals by either holding onto them or kicking them with fins. At some stage it was also noted that all divers knelt or rested fins on the sea floor. As well as this it was observed that gauges and octopus regulators were left to drag along the ground. This most commonly occurred when divers were caught up in taking photographs (Poonian et al 2010).

Contact with corals and the sea floor can be very easily prevented. Awareness around the issue and understanding the damage that it can cause to corals can help make for environmentally conscious diver now and into the future.

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Become an ecofriendly diver tip 4: don’t use gloves

Where you aware that dive company’s in Palau don’t allow divers to dive with gloves?

But why?

Diving with gloves gives divers that extra layer of neoprene on their hands in which they then automatically think that they can not get injured when touching things. Without even thinking divers grab on to unnecessary items that they do not need to touch. 

There are no reason to use gloves in Paula as the water temperatures range from 27˚C-29˚C. Leave them behind and you will avoid that temptation of underwater contact and become a more environmentally conscious diver.

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Become an ecofriendly diver tip 5: Choose not to touch or handle anything underwater

We as humans don’t feel the need to go up to strangers in the street and touch them so why do we feel the need to touch marine life? Maybe it’s just curiosity, after all it is in our natural instinct to touch things that we want to know more about. 

But does this make it okay? Put simply, no, it does not. A huge amount of fish species and corals are actually protected under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) which makes it illegal to touch them (NOAA FISHERIES- National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration 2019).

Most animals reply on sight, touch, sound, taste and smell as do we. Making contact with a species can not only be seen as harassment but it will also heighten a creature’s sensors causing an animal to stress which may put a diver in unnecessary harm by provoking aggressive behaviour. 

Animals and corals both have defence mechanisms. Therefore, it is not uncommon for divers to find they may be a target if they reach out to a particular animal. All species are different in the way they protect themselves. A number of fishes protect themselves with their spines. They will raise their hard spines to make them look bigger so that it becomes harder for predatory fish to eat them. Within Palau triggerfish are a great example of this. They will also charge towards predators, so lookout and make sure you’re not their next target. 

Surgeonfish are also another family with defence mechanisms. Surgeonfish have sharp blades where the tail fin meets the body. If they feel they are threatened they will raise the blade and make it visible to predators. To humans this could quite easily cut skin and be very painful.  

A lot of species of fish can also unload poisonous chemicals if threatened. Some of the most common species around Palau include the lionfish, stonefish and the scorpionfish. Any sort of sting/bite will be tremendously painful and can take a very long time to heal. 

Is touching marine life hurting them?

Corals and fish are covered with a layer of anti-bacterial mucous which protects them by killing off parasites and helping them fight against infection. Therefore, by touching a marine species with this layer you are removing the mucous that is protecting them. 

Take the time to understand marine life, capture images from a distance and make sure that all laws and regulations are followed. 

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Reference List