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There has been a lot of noise on Techdiver lately about ship wrecks, mothballs, cost of sinking them, waste of metals, etc. So much so, that I felt maybe this might be of some interest to someone. I'm cc'ing it to ecodiver as well. This is a crosspost from rec.scuba, and is not an original post by me. Ken Sallot ------------------------------------------------------------------ From: Deb Fugitt <ddfugitt@da*.mo*.co*> Newsgroups: rec.scuba Subject: !!! LET'S BUY PARADISE REEF !!! Date: 2 Feb 1995 17:07:38 GMT Lines: 70 Message-ID: <3gr3gq$ga@dl*.da*.mo*.co*> At the divemaster's meeting last night, I learned of a new effort that is underway to save Cozumel's Paradise Reef. The idea came up at DEMA and seems to really be taking off. Many well known and influential people in the dive industry are behind this idea and the details are being worked out with great enthusiasm. The following article was printed in Underwater USA's Saturday DEMA edition. More information will be posted as the battle progresses. "Paradise Battle Continues Despite recent announcements heralding a halt to the project, construction has begun on the cruise ship pier that will mean the end of Paradise Reef in Cozumel, Mexico. While the industry is railing at the prospect of the demise of one of Cozumel's most popular sites, a Texas dive shop has devised a novel idea to prevent it. Mark Walker and Jeff Simpson of Ocean's Window Scuba Center, Plano, Tex., have offered to pay $1 million to buy the reef, then turn it over to Mexico as a national park. It's an ambitious idea. Now all they have to do is raise the money. "So far, everyone has been talking," says Simpson, "but no one is really doing anything about it." Walker says several manufacturers, as well as PADI's Project A.W.A.R.E, have agreed to support the concept. "I don't know if it's a viable idea to buy the reef," says Al Hornsby ,PADI vice president for Legal, Environmental & Public Affairs, "but it might represent a way to focus attention on the situation." Rita Sheese, Of Distribuciones, a Cozumel distributor, says "Currently, Cozumel operators are concentrating their fight towards getting the I.N.E., the government ecological organization, to reverse the authorization of the construction permits." The terms of PADI's support is not yet defined since the proposal is still in the early stages. "Our support may include publicity, andy maybe helping with fundraising efforts," says Hornsby. The Parkway Group has also pledged support. "The deterioration we see in all the world's reef ecosystems is distressing", says Michael Callahan, president, The Parkway Group. "We hope (our) efforts on behalf of the Cozumel reef will act as an example and more importantly, a challenge to other diving organizations to embrace protection programs world-wide." Preliminary plans include a public awareness campaign via dealers and consumers and possibly fundraising through a matching program. Cozumel dive operators are handing out pre-written letters at the DEMA show petitioning the Mexican government to halt the project. They are urging show attendees to pick one up and sign it. Operator plan to collect the letters and forward them to the government. "Our objective is to get the reef system declared a national park", says Ocean's Window's Walker. That will protect it." " Deb Fugitt (dfugitt@me*.co*) -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Ken Sallot "The faster you drive, CIRCA the more lovebugs you're (904) 392-2007 going to splatter on your kens@uf*.ed* windshield!" http://grove.ufl.edu/~ken "There's no problem so large it can't be solved by killing the user off, deleting their files, closing their account and reporting their REAL earnings to the IRS." - BOFH -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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