TY - JOUR
T1 - Can a small artificial reef reduce diving pressure from a natural coral reef? Lessons learned from Eilat, Red Sea
AU - Polak, Omer
AU - Shashar, Nadav
N1 - Funding Information: We would like to thank the many volunteers that helped to build, monitor, and collaborate the dives and the snorkeling surveys. Especially, N. Rahmani, A. Schwartz, T. Idan, M. Ohevya, I. Lerer and many more colleagues and members of the IUI. Special thanks to Y. Shani and T. Polak for statistical consultation and M. Ron and P. Martin for English editing. The manuscript was significantly improved following comments from A. Zvuloni and two anonymous reviewers. Much of the volunteer work was facilitated by the Toronto-Eilat foundation. The study was conducted under NPA permit 30329 and was funded by the US-AID MERC program under grant # TA-MOU-05-M25-069 .
PY - 2012/1/1
Y1 - 2012/1/1
N2 - Part of the decline of coral reefs is attributed to the physical damage caused by divers. Consequently, active efforts are being invested to mitigate the diving pressure on and around natural reefs. We measured the effect of artificial reef (AR) placement on the diving behaviors of divers in training in the Red Sea's Gulf of Eilat on the southern tip of Israel. Dive groups were followed, and their diving times in an adjacent marine protected area (MPA) and surrounding natural coral outcrops were recorded. Time spent inside the MPA did not change. However, in-training divers reduced their times in the MPA and at two adjacent coral outcrops following AR deployment, but they did not alter other elements of their dives; coral transplantation did not affect diving behavior. A dive entry point located at least 90-m from the border of the MPA was sufficient to reduce dive time in the MPA. The AR had only a partial impact on diver behavior. Accordingly, future projects should take into account location, size, aesthetics, and the target visitors of the ARs.
AB - Part of the decline of coral reefs is attributed to the physical damage caused by divers. Consequently, active efforts are being invested to mitigate the diving pressure on and around natural reefs. We measured the effect of artificial reef (AR) placement on the diving behaviors of divers in training in the Red Sea's Gulf of Eilat on the southern tip of Israel. Dive groups were followed, and their diving times in an adjacent marine protected area (MPA) and surrounding natural coral outcrops were recorded. Time spent inside the MPA did not change. However, in-training divers reduced their times in the MPA and at two adjacent coral outcrops following AR deployment, but they did not alter other elements of their dives; coral transplantation did not affect diving behavior. A dive entry point located at least 90-m from the border of the MPA was sufficient to reduce dive time in the MPA. The AR had only a partial impact on diver behavior. Accordingly, future projects should take into account location, size, aesthetics, and the target visitors of the ARs.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=82155199440&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2011.10.006
DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2011.10.006
M3 - Article
SN - 0964-5691
VL - 55
SP - 94
EP - 100
JO - Ocean and Coastal Management
JF - Ocean and Coastal Management
ER -
