Instructors (see also best shipwreck diving at my site)

Interviews with dive instructors were carried out to understand the condition of marine ecosystems in Mauritius from the dive professional's perspective, as well as to quantify diver numbers in a top-down assessment. There was consensus that many reefs are degraded and that fish have become less abundant. Most dive instructors believed that the condition of the marine environment had been better in the past: ' inside the lagoon we had lots of corals. It has gone so fast. Now there are only algae. Another dive instructor reported that the number of animals on the reef had decreased, although species diversity had remained much the same. Nevertheless, a decade ago more species were sighted to dive, and the dive instructor concluded: ' I cannot promise any encounter with a particular species [anymore]. (best shipwreck diving) However, there was also a notion that the quality of the reefs had been improving as the main factors responsible for the present, less favourable conditions had become less problematic.

This included the leaching of nutrients from settlements, hotels and sugar plantations; effluents from the textile industry; and pesticides from agriculture. Nevertheless, dive instructors still perceived a number of threats to the marine ecosystem, including spear fishing, net fishing and (over) fishing in general; locals walking on reefs in order to hunt octopus or collect shells; and the large and increasing number of boats, which might spill fuel or anchor causes damage. (see also best shipwreck diving at my site)Global environmental threats were not seen as particularly problematic for Mauritius, and there was consensus among dive instructors that the 1998 El Nino had little impact on the reefs. Tropical cyclones may be an exception. One dive instructor on the east coast reported that there had been many storms, which can be a substantial problem as they damage the reefs: ' instead of two storms per year, now we get 20. Fortunately, not all of them pass over the island. Dina, the last serious cyclone passing Mauritius in 2002, did substantial damage to the reefs.

The dive instructor also observed patterns of large-scale environmental change, stating that ' a few years ago, I could predict the currents, now I canยฌnot any longer '.However, even though coral cover might have decreased by 25% over the past 10 years in his opinion, re-growth could be seen. He considered that measures taken to protect the environment, such as moorings to reduce anchor damage, were starting to pay off. Provided that the island was not hit by another cyclone, corals would be back to normal by next year. He also thought that damage and re-growth are part of a regular cycle. Similar statements could be heard from a number of dive instructors. In the northยฌwest, dive instructors reported that the lagoon at Grand Baie had been damaged, but was slowly recovering. This might have been the result of putting a stop to problematic human activities, such as sand mining or collecting corals. (learn also best shipwreck diving at my site).

Despite their often serious accounts of environmental change, most dive instructors did not think that there were consequences for dive tourism: ' as long as the water is clear, people will continue to dive '. Another dive operator added that 20 fish is enough to make people happy. Wherever you take them, it's beautiful. He believed that tourists would not be disยฌappointed as long as they see something--and often they might not know what they could have seen: ' When I was a kid, this lagoon was full of shells. Today you'll see nothing. However, the tourists don't see that. Obviously, in order to evaluate or rank their diving experience, divers will need reference points in time (e.g. to compare the same dive site over several years) and space (e.g. to compare Mauritius dive sites with dive sites elseยฌwhere). If these do not exist, the state of the reef is--within a certain range of environยฌmental parameters--irrelevant. (best shipwreck diving) Accordingly, divers commenting on their diving experiences are usually the more experienced ones, who have reference points in space.

For example, as one dive instructor reported, some divers compare their diving experiences in Mauritius with other sites they have seen: ' they tell me that the reefs do not have the colours of the Red Sea or the richness of fish of the Maldives '. Such comparisons also indiยฌcate that many dive tourists actually have little knowledge of Mauritius and its reefs--indicating a low degree of pre-booking information influencing the destination choice--as the island, according to the dive instructor, is ' not a 5-star diving destination 6. As for refยฌerence points in time, even fewer visitors might be able to make statements on the quality of the reefs in Mauritius some 5, 10 or even 20 years ago. However, some dive instructors report that there are a number of returning visitors, with divers taking their Open Water certified in Mauritius coming back after 2 or 3 years. Overall, dive instructors thus observed changes in the marine environment, but in their perception, these changes were not having "detrimental consequences for the dive industry. (explore also best shipwreck diving at my site)Only a few dive instructors were willing and/or able to provide statistics on numbers of dive tourists in Mauritius.

As a general estimate, one veteran dive instructor with over 20 years of experience in the island estimated that 10% of all tourists come to dive. His estiยฌmate was based on the number of licenses sold by the Mauritius Diving School Association (MDSA), of which most dive centres in Mauritius are members. For this study, ten dive centres provided data on the number of divers, varying between 400 and 2200 divers to dive center per year. In total, 15.000 divers per year were registered, or roughly 1500 to dive centre. Note, however, that some large dive centres were included in this sample, and the island-wide average might thus be lower. Even less reliable were estimates of the numยฌber of dives, which varied between three and ten dives per guest over the holiday period. (see also best shipwreck diving at my site)