@ managee, thanks for that post. I have the impression you were holding back a blast of shit for me (I would certainly understand being given an earful) but you kept it polite and made some good points and was educational - so thanks.
I should say I am a conservationist too, though I'll admit there is a lot I don't know. For me touching the coral, I was in a weird coral formation off of Samana. I only touched the underside which looked inactive to me and only used fingertips to minimize contact. I'll be sure to not touch in the future! I had no idea infection could be passed so easily. I would have thought anything I have on me would not be compatible with a marine species, and having a hand exposed to the salt water for so long I would think anything I did have is long gone and would only have local bacteria on me. The things you don't know.
When traveling south I've found they are much more concerned with the welfare of the local species than the typical north american attitude. I passed by and eventually ended up at a dolphin sanctuary IIRC on the causeway out to Cayo Santa Maria in Cuba. They (not just the tour company) explained to us that they were all rescues and couldn't be re-released to the wild. They used the money from the tours doing the swimming with the dolphins thing to fund their venture. To me it sounded something like the SPCA charging money to come pet dogs... kind of a win-win for both. The sharks I saw were in a pen in Mexico, their english was almost as bad as my spanish so I couldn't get an explanation as to why they were there. I assumed this was the same sort of scenario offering time with them to offset the costs of feeding and caring for them. Admittedly just a guess on my part.
Thanks again for the educational post!
I said we are going to Negril but I think we are going to be a bit away from there, as far as I know the resort is in Bloody Bay. I don't need a lot of coral to keep me happy when snorkeling. Even the man made wave breaks have enough life on them to keep me entertained for hours. There looks like there is a lot of coral there bet there are some rocky cliffs that will surely have something going on around them.
No problem. If you didn’t know, not much we can do about that stuff now.
I was obsessed with Sea World and Marine Land as a kid... hindsight is 20/20.
I’ve always been a bit suspicious of the “dolphin rescue” or “shark rescue” type pens. I’ve paid to go to enough aquariums to not be able to say much about this stuff without sounding like a hypocrite, but I don’t tend to financially support the captivity of marine mammals. Places like Stingray Cove on Cayman don’t bother me as much, as the critters aren’t penned and only hang out because they’ve been being fed there by local fishermen for hundreds of years.
Rescue centres are incredibly important, I worked for a turtle rescue centre a lifetime ago, but it’s rare that a wild dolphin could have sustained an injury that simultaneously makes the ocean impossibly dangerous, and a dolphin pen filled with tourists less-so in-terms of their long-range health and well-being.
That’s usually the line in the sand for me. If the rescue centre stays open entirely because of “swim with the dolphins” type schemes, it’s probably not much of a rescue centre.
When I was doing work in Jardines de la Reina a few years ago, I was told by a group of Cuban marine biologists that there are only a couple aquatic rescue operations in Cuba, and none are open to the public. Their purpose is to rehabilitate and are usually associated with the marine biology program at the University of Havana, so I’m sure they use the centres for research. They said without exception, the ones tourists go to might have injured or sick dolphins, but they aren’t rehabilitating them. Sad
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Whatever though.
Back to the first topic though. Does your hotel / resort have a dive centre? It’d be easier and cheaper to borrow that equipment. Flying with lead is like flying with lead. Can’t say I’ve ever done that except if I was diving a place without a dive centre. There are a few dive shops in Negril, and they may let you rent a weight belt and weights.
If you’re just looking to snorkel but plan to do the odd duck dive, I wouldn’t bother with weights unless they’re easily obtained. They just tire you out if you’re just floating about in the bay. Both bays are ridiculously busy, so I wouldn’t want to venture too far without a dive flag or other marker. I just tie myself to my 6ft safety sausage if I’m in places with traffic.
Personally, my recollection is hazy (shock) on how accessible the reefs are if you’re not going out on a dive boat. I’d certainly be a bit concerned for anyone who goes outside of the swimming boundaries because of the traffic.
