LETTER - SCUBA MAGAZINE

Letter published in Scuba Magazine on a subject that aggravates me.

While on a family holiday in St Abbs I managed to get a couple of dives. Black Carr was its usual excellent self with the Plumose Anemones in full bloom. I was also lucky to see the first of the season’s lumpsuckers stuck to a rock and refusing to acknowledge she had been seen. When diving Cathedral rock I noticed an unusually large amount of sea urchin debris. Naively I thought it was just natural wastage caused by this year’s storms, however, I was dismayed to see the reason for it when I passed by a couple of divers (I am glad to say) from another boat. They were knelt on the sea bed hacking a sea urchin open to attract and feed fish. I find this a disturbing practice not only because killing a creature for the simple pleasure of seeing others feed seems rather odd, but because of the implications of such an act. We, as divers, publicly voice our concerns about wanting to protect the oceans with beach cleans, underwater litter picks, project AWARE, anti-finning and more but it seems that people take the idea of a marine reserve seriously until they want something out of it. Urchin bashing is a practice that divers should be frowning upon. The question is why should we frown upon urchin bashing? Urchins are simple creatures yet are important. They provide a food source for other marine animals and keep kelp from out-competing other species for light and space. If divers are urchin bashing then we are unbalancing a fragile ecosystem. It is estimated that 25000 divers visit St Abbs and if only a few people are urchin hacking it still adds up to a great deal of damage done. I urge new and old divers to remember that we are guests and are lucky enough to have found a hobby that enables us to see fantastic sites, keep diving sustainable and treat every creature with respect. Remember what we are told in training ‘Take only pictures, leave only bubbles.