Is it hopeless?

Because we are both in the environmental field, we are particularly aware of and curious about the conditions of the places we are visiting. I am, of course, most interested in what's happening in the ocean and Tyson is curious about the sources of energy and fresh water. Seeing all the cars, buses, tuk tuks, and motorbikes in Bangkok made us feel like it is going to be impossible to wean the world off of fossil fuels and to get global warming under control. How can we get developing nations to transition to clean energy when it is cheaper and more convenient to have business as usual? In Ko Tao, the long-tail boats with two-stroke engines belch nasty black carbon pollution into the air causes worse problems then engines from cars.

As far as the ocean goes over here, the island of Ko Tao is actually a marine park where no fishing is allowed within a certain distance from shore. They have recognized that tourism (and a healthy reef ecosystem) is more financially beneficial than pulling all the fish out of the water. There are currently 52 dive schools on Ko Tao and all of them are churning divers out daily. At first, I was disturbed by this, concerned about all these novice divers landing on the fragile reef. However, I am now hopeful that these divers will learn and appreciate the beauty that lies underwater and that an ocean conservation ethic will follow them home from Ko Tao.

All is not perfect in the oceans here. On our first advanced certification dive, at a beautiful offshore site called Chumphon Pinnacle, we saw a lost fishing net that had continued "ghost fishing" for who knows how long. We've heard about the effects of lost fishing gear and have seen the impacts on tv, but I can't tell you how devastating it was for us to see this abandoned net firsthand, with at least 20 dead fish that been trapped and died. It was a horrible sight. The only positive of that experience was that our dive instructor tried to extract the net and actually freed several fish that were still alive, including a rabbitfish and a bannerfish.

To add to my concern, there is fresh fish on the menu everywhere, every night. While I'm sure it's delicious, I worry about the sustainability of these fishing activities and am disheartened by the lack of care and attention we see our fellow travelers giving the environment around them. We saw a guy on the ferry platform spill his plastic cup and just watch as it was about to blow into the ocean. Tyson rescued it and the guy who had dropped it acted as if it wasn't his to begin with. WTF?

Sorry for the depressing post but I suppose this is the truth of our time. We hope that the environmental situation is not hopeless, but over here, it certainly feels like it at times.

Now go get on your bicycles and eat some veggie burgers!