Abstract:
Recent research has shown that recreational SCUBA divers have the potential to
negatively affect the benthic communities of coral reefs. This study was carried out in
order to estimate the amounts and types of damages caused by divers on reefs of Redang
Island Marine Park. SCUBA divers from two resorts operating in Redang Island were
accompanied and observed for duration of 10 minutes. During the observations, the
number of times each diver makes contact with the benthic substrate, part of the body that
contacted, and the resulting damage caused by each contact were recorded. Observation
of 95 divers revealed that more than half, 56%, made at least one contact with the reef
where 48.76% of all contacts occurred on living surfaces. On average, 1.7 contacts per
diver per 10 min were recorded with 57.5% of the contacts from the fins of the diver. Fin
contacts were also responsible for causing eight out of the nine breaking incidents
recorded. It was also found that a higher number of male divers, 66%, compared to
females, 39%, and divers who practiced photography, 77%, compared to those who did
not, 47%, made benthic contacts during the observation period. The activity of
photography was seen as the single most cause leading to benthic contacts.
Recommendations to limit the detrimental impacts of recreational divers on the reefs
around Redang Island are proposed in this report.
