What Can You Do To Help Protect Our Coral Reefs

Codes:

Boat owners, never anchor on corals

They are easily broken or damaged by anchors. You may break off centuries old corals! Tie up to a mooring buoy or anchor carefully in sand or rubble patches.

Do not touch corals, do not rest on them, do not kick them

Corals are living animals and are easily damaged by even the gentlest handling. Do not wear gloves.

Avoid kicking up sand

It spoils the visibility for you and other visitors and damages corals and other reef organisms when it settles.

Do not spearfish

The Curaçao reefs are already badly depleted of medium to large sized fishes. Spear fishing, which gives reef fishes no chance, will rapidly, further rid the reefs. Besides, law forbids fishing with harpoons or spear guns! Reef Care Curacao makes an appeal to the population to report any offender on the Reef Alarm Phone (569-2099) or on the Coast Guard Phone (113).

Divers, make sure you are properly weighted

Enlist in a buoyancy control course and keep practicing what you learn. Always be aware of the fragility of the reef.

Leave all corals and reef animals where they are

Corals are the ‘building blocks’ of the reef and grow slowly. Even small pieces are already a number of years old. Lobsters and shells have become rare because too many people are taking them. Do not kill sea urchins to feed the fishes. Sea urchins too, have become scarce, due to a disease, and are only just becoming to recover.

Positive actions:

Learn more about reefs and other marine life

Your visits will be all the more enjoyable.

Help keep the reef clean

Always take your own litter away and also please, pick up other rubbish from the beach or reef.

Support groups such as Reef Care Curacao

Groups that are involved in the protection and in the conservation of coral reefs and other marine life deserve your sympathy.

Take care of the reefs

Not just for yourself, but so your children too, will be able to enjoy them.

Reef Alarm Phone: 569-2099

Through this telephone anyone who notices anything harmful happening on the reef, or something rare or special, can immediately report this. In some cases Reef Care Curacao can do something immediately with the help of its volunteers, e.g. keeping watch over a nesting turtle or hatching turtle nest. In all cases however, it is a good thing to have a record of events in order to line them all up and notice any trends or spot recidivism.