The Indies Trader arrived into the tiny little bay, like a scene from a travel brochure. White sand, palm tree-lined shores, bordered by a turquoise coral reef with luxury yachts complementing the view. We dropped anchor and took the tin boat scoping out a sight for todays reef Check survey. Sight selected, a reef wall dropping into deep water off the point of the bay, Capt. Frank and I slipped over the side of the tinny and descended through the water to the reef.

It was instantly obvious that the idyllic, scene on land was not mirrored underwater. The water was green with algae, the textbook sign nutrient polluter water, and as the reef came into view below us it was a sad site. Gone were the large coral heads, anemones and sweeping fan corals that once thrived in this area, and replacing them was an expanse of dead coral rock, pockmarked by small bleached coral heads and all covered in a fine layer of greenish brown algae. What was once a reef teeming with all sorts of coral fish was now home to only a few parrotfish (that live on the algae), butterfly fish trying to feed on what was left of the coral and goat fish groveling around in the sand that results from the dead coral being eroded away. So often in these areas this has been the case. The reefs are generally in a sorry state due to over-fishing, sedimentation and a general lack of care and conservation. The reef in this case was on an uninhabited island and on the survey we found lots of trash that had simply been dumped over the sides of the boats. In one place we even found a great pile of concrete blocks that had been thrown onto the reef. A scar was visible where they had landed and rolled to a standstill, crushing all the coral as they did so. Presumably they were cargo on a large boat and on realizing the blocks were surplus to requirements the crew simply dumped them over the side onto the reef in total disregard for what was below.

With the help of Reef Check raising awareness for coral reefs in local communities, this sort of situation will not be repeated. Although the reef was ruined by chain of events on a much larger scale (over development in the area, excess nutrient input, sedimentation, and over fishing), addressing even the seemingly smallest cases such as this goes a long way toward helping maintain the world's coral reefs. Reef Check and the Quiksilver Crossing is working in unison all over the world to bring this message frankly to the communities that are directly concerned.