Most scuba divers believed they rarely touched reefs; underwater observers found more...

A researcher following scuba divers for this project Most scuba divers believe they rarely touch fragile seabed ecosystems, yet underwater observers tracking hundreds of tourists found that more than 40 per cent of their physical contacts caused visible damage to living coral structures.Research published in The Conversation by marine scientists and dive professionals revealed that recreational divers make physical contact with the reef an average of once every four minutes. When surveyed immediately after returning to the boat, those same divers underestimated their actual contact frequency by almost fivefold, with many remaining completely unaware of the collisions they had caused.The researchers spent hundreds of hours following, observing, and surveying 732 recreational scuba divers across world-famous marine destinations in Indonesia and the Philippines. The investigation aimed to measure the direct environmental impact of marine ecotourism at a time when global coral systems face unprecedented stress from climate change, coastal development, and human activity.Each year, millions of people dive beneath the surface to experience coral reefs first-hand, generating vital income ...