Environmental activist Billy Adam
has been warning of the potential threat of pollution-spawned algae for many
years. Virtually no one listened.
Divers have reported the
degeneration occurring on Cayman’s reefs. Virtually no one cared.
Now we hear the reefs are dying.
Does it matter to anyone? It should.
Part of the reason the reefs are
dying isn’t Cayman’s fault. Whether you
believe the increasing sea surface temperatures are caused by global warming or
by a cyclical weather pattern, Cayman is powerless to stop it.
However, the other part of the
problem – excessive algae – is caused by the people living on Grand
Cayman.
Pollution, including human waste
and phosphates, is leaching into the water. It provides nutrients that, when
combined with the warmer water, leads to an overgrowth of algae, which will
kill the coral.
Coral reef expert Thomas Goreau
says that everywhere he has dived in Grand Cayman
there is an algae overgrowth. He believes the Cayman government, like
governments in most places, is in denial about that fact.
A reader commented on
caycompass.com that he saw the same thing happening in the Red
Sea in the mid-1990s. Fifteen years later, the water is clearer
there after the pollution problem was addressed, but the reefs are all dead;
the government acted too late.
This is what will happen here. One day we’ll realise that a vital part of Grand Cayman’s existence, coral reefs, are all dead. The
fish will be gone; the diving tourism will be gone; the beauty of our
surrounding sea will be diminished. Fingers will be pointed and measures put in
place to correct the travesty. But it
will be too late.
In the meantime, pollutants from
the George Town Landfill continue to leach into the sea; inadequate septic
systems continue to leak into the ground; and the sewerage system, where it
exists, has ruptures everywhere.
One day, when our beautiful reefs
are dead, we’ll ask, how did this happen’.
And the answer will be, we did it to ourselves.
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