The State of the Oceans and You
Posted By Vladimir Soto on 25 June 2007
Besides the training and "the shack", a couple of us in the team came up with the idea of building an underwater memorial that would pay respect to the lost souls of the tsunami. We envisioned this memorial to become an artificial reef as well, nurturing life where there is now none. The gesture of giving a flower carries with it very positive connotations in all cultures, so we decided to build a giant lotus flower under the sea. When built to the proposed 60mts in diameter, this giant underwater lotus and artificial reef made out of trademarked reefballs will be able to support a fish biomass of hundreds of tons a year in an area that now is barren! If you're a diver and have never heard of reefballs definitely check them out at reefball.org.
There are a few conflicting opinions about the harm done to the oceans in the process of collecting ornamental fish. All of us at paavima.org have indeed struggled with this issue. However, we've also come to believe that you cannot tell a community to stop doing something they've relied on for generations as a source of livelihood without offering a viable alternative. Thus, we're hoping that by nurturing the community's interest in the environment, by creating a gorgeous artificial reef that will help regenerate fish stocks and create a unique dive site that would in turn stimulate tourism to the area and by helping the divers in the community gain the awareness to keep themselves safer, the paavima.org project is taking steps in the right direction.
So, got any plans to spend some time in Sri Lanka next fall? Why not consider volunteering a couple of days during your next vacation? Whether you take a diving course at "the shack", come teach a dive course, an English class one afternoon, or even take a Sri Lankan cooking class right at the beach, the community of Madiha will be touched. We're pretty sure you'll be too, just as we have been. If you're interested, or want to know more shoot us an email at info@paavima.org.
However, even if you don't make it to Sri Lanka or are able to lend a hand to projects like paavima.org, you could at least consider learning more about the topic. Just that is indeed a very positive contribution to the ocean's cause.
A friend of mine, a biologist, answered the question "why really, should anyone care about the oceans?" in quite a succinct manner. Oceans, he said, equal life. Not fish life, not marine life, but life on Earth. There are many reasons why one might not be able to volunteer their time and effort in a place like Madiha, but one could contribute with much less commitment by learning about the topic and talking about it. If you haven't yet seen it, 'An inconvenient truth' is an important film to watch.
It's good to be ocean minded. And it's even better to be open about it.
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