Happy Blue Year

You know it. I know it. More than ever, our oceans need our help to survive the daily onslaught of plastics, pollution, global warming, coral bleaching, and much more. But if you think you can’t possibly make a difference, please think again. Here are nine New Year’s Resolutions than you can follow:

1) Only Use Reef-Safe Sunscreen

I’ve been wearing reef-safe products with high SPF (Sun Protection Factors) and long-lasting water resistance (up to 80 minutes) for a few years now. Some even have “mineral” ingredients such as zinc oxide to provide you with a “white face” as an extra layer of sunburn protection.
Whereas traditional sunscreens contain oxybenzone and octinoxate that cause coral bleaching. RSS products don’t include nanoparticles and microplastics like exfoliating beads, or other detrimental ingredients.

Best of all, they’re easily available in dive shops, grocery stores and pharmacies, and preferred in popular tourist destinations where they’ve enacted sunscreen bans. These currently include Palau; Hawaii; the U.S. Virgin Islands; Key West, Florida; Aruba, Bonaire, and parts of Mexico. But if you’ll be traveling soon, check with the local authorities as this list is in flux. You can find a list of Reef-Safe Sunscreens here.

2) Only Dive With Operators Who Moor at Dive Site Buoys

Why get on a dive boat that drops an anchor and destroys coral and critters’ homes when they can just attach a rope to a moored buoy? This could happen at the start of a drift dive, in sheltered coves, or areas not known for swift currents. When I dove in Kosrae, Micronesia years ago, all of their dive sites had buoys.
So when you have a choice of dive operators, ask them if they’re concerned with protecting the reef when they drop anchor –– or tie up to a buoy.

3) Practice Neutral Buoyancy

Besides your dive boat being careful about where it moors, all divers ––and snorkelers –– should be in control of their buoyancy when underwater.
We’ve all gone to popular sites along the Bay of Islands, the Great Barrier Reef, at Molokini Crater near Maui, Hawaii, or in countless other destinations where we’ve seen dozens of snorkelers jump off their “cattle-maran” and just destroy a reef with their kicking and flailing. Or you may have witnessed newbies on their check-out dives who are accidentally kicking coral and stirring up silty bottoms.

Either way, the more education they have up-front about neutral buoyancy, the better.

4) Be Knowledgeable About Global Warming

Between 2014 and 2017, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, “approximately 75% of the world’s tropical reefs experienced heat-stress severe enough to cause coral bleaching. For 30% of the world’s reefs, that heat-stress was enough to kill coral.”
But that’s not all. Last year was one of the worst in history for widespread coral bleaching because of the hottest sea temperatures ever. Fortunately, corals can recover if the heat subsides, especially during the winter months. Across most of the Great Barrier Reef, for example, its reefs underwent little change vs. 2022 when there was a mass bleaching event, as well as a cyclone, coral disease, and rising crown-of-thorns starfish populations.

What can you do? Walk, bike, or take public transportation to reduce greenhouse gases. Eat more vegetables, fruits, and whole grains vs. meat and dairy to lower your environmental impact. Use less energy at home by switching to LED light bulbs and buying energy-efficient appliances. Carry a reusable bag to the grocery store. Reduce, reuse, and recycle.

5) Become a Coral Conservationist

Many resort areas now offer PADI and PADI AWARE’s Blueprint for Ocean Conservation to “engage and activate the Ocean Torchbearer community, which consists of millions of divers, ocean advocates, and PADI’s global network of dive centers and resorts, to create meaningful ocean change with clear actions they can take at both the local and global level.”
In the Gulf of Thailand on the island of Koh Phangan in the Sumi archipelago, you can join a marine and coral reef conservation project by learning to dive and do scientific research. You can also become a Coral Reef Ambassador at Sun Divers in Roatan, Honduras, where you can grow coral in nurseries, then outplant them on the reef.

Closer to home, you can be part of RRAP (Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program), centralised on Australia’s GBR –– and the world’s largest effort to help a significant ecosystem to survive climate change. Also, check out the Great Barrier Reef Foundation.

But right here in New Zealand, the deep-sea coral conservation in Aotearoa, a biodiversity hotspot for deepwater coral, is where approximately 1/6 of the world’s coral species have been recorded and researched.

6) Eat Only Sustainable Seafood

Most of us love to eat healthy seafood, the top-traded commodity globally, with 40% of fish and shellfish traded internationally. But how do you know what you’re eating isn’t an endangered species?
The Global Seafood Ratings Alliance, established in 2016, is a coalition of Earth’s leading seafood rating 13 organisations that span North and South America, Asia, Europe, and Oceania. Its long-term goal is seafood sustainability.

The world-famous Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch covers everything from fish to sushi to bivalves.

7) Go Diving or Snorkeling

1)   Whenever I get into the ocean, I start smiling so broadly that I swallow some seawater through the edges of my regulator or snorkel. Call it an occupational hazard for being in a state of bliss. So make a plan to get wet in an ocean or lake near you, as soon as possible, to enjoy all they offer while you can.

8) Donate to Environmental Causes

What better way to give back then to give cash or other valued gifts to worthy environmental causes? Just a few of them include Ocean Conservancy, Oceana, The Hydros, and Shark Stewards.

9) Become a Volunteer

Help out with beach clean-ups in your area like my dive club does annually or join one of the organisations listed in #5 above.