Visitors to Lifou

[Oz_Steve]

I have just revisited Lifou after 8 years. I was very excited to be visiting their as when I stayed there last time I went to the most incredible coral snorkelling area i had ever seen. It was amazing colour and bright fish everywhere.

For those that have been to lifou i a referring to what they now call snorkel beach but was unmarked 8 years ago. It is quite close (easy walking distance) to where the ships anchor.

99% of the reef is now dead and fish numbers are probably 10% of what they were. I have no idea what has caused this but the ignorance of the passengers snorkelling there was incredible. One of them broke off a large piece of stag horn coral. There is a faded sign that asks swimmers to not wear sunscreen but not sure of that is causing the issues. WOuld be interested if anyone knew what has caused the problem.

[Cruise ship fan]

I noticed the same thing has happened to the coral at Isle of Pines. Just in 2007 the coral was bright and amazing, but on the cruise on the Radiance before yours the whole reef was a brown colour with just little bits of colour and limited fish. Sad to see this happening. Although it could just be something to do with the weather as well.

 

Also with the Lifou coral they were having largish swells on my cruise which lead to the tenders stopping ship to shore service and they quickly got everyone on shore to get back onboard and we left 2 hours early. The wave were causing the tenders to lean almost 45 degrees and people sitting on the top deck of the tenders needed to hold on. So those wave may of damaged the coral.

[bobhsv]

I have just revisited Lifou after 8 years. I was very excited to be visiting their as when I stayed there last time I went to the most incredible coral snorkelling area i had ever seen. It was amazing colour and bright fish everywhere.

For those that have been to lifou i a referring to what they now call snorkel beach but was unmarked 8 years ago. It is quite close (easy walking distance) to where the ships anchor.

99% of the reef is now dead and fish numbers are probably 10% of what they were. I have no idea what has caused this but the ignorance of the passengers snorkelling there was incredible. One of them broke off a large piece of stag horn coral. There is a faded sign that asks swimmers to not wear sunscreen but not sure of that is causing the issues. WOuld be interested if anyone knew what has caused the problem.

 

Perhaps it could have something to do with Cyclone Vania, which was a direct hit on Lifou. I think that was early 2011. I remember that the jetty was washed away, and cruise ships could not tender for a while. Others will correct me if I am wrong:D

Jen

 

btw...what was the cruise like? Calm waters? My brother was on it...his first ever cruise, but prob won't get to speak to him for a few days. Just wonderin'.

[Oz_Steve]

Thanks for the info about the hurricane that may be part of the issue but the formations are mostly intact but the coral is dead. There is a national geographic study on the effects of sunscreen on coral.

[Oz_Steve]

The cruise was calm as and very enjoyable. I would be pretty certain he had a good time.

[DT1304]

Thats upsetting to hear about the damage of the coral.

 

Unfortunately, as well as the weather and natural conditions, the lack of thought or care of many snorkellers, divers etc leads to major damage of coral and reefs.

 

It frustrates me to no end when I go do a dive and see other divers hitting the reef with their fins, or breaking pieces of coral off, or even just touching the reef to balance themselves.

 

Just touching the reef can in some cases kill the coral for a relatively large radius around where it is touched.

 

In fact when I did my dive course many years ago, the first thing the instructor told us, was that we are not to wear gloves when we dive, because that encourages us to touch the reef.

[cjm66]

I did notice the changes at Isle of Pines - admitedly I was only snorkeling near the Sacred Rock and not further around towards the resort. I did snorkel on Lifou and the coral was much better from Jinek Bay than at Isle of Pines but not a lot of fish. It was hardly a beach. Loved the sign and the total lack of attention paid by anyone to the prohibition. One man did take a bad tumble down the hill and needed first aid. If you do venture down, I avise using the RHS (near the sign) where there is a rail (of sorts). You do need to push down the orange webbing to climb over AND wear your reef shoes for the climb down. The steps into the water are very secure now and easy to manage.

 

[Oz_Steve]

They were repairing that last Sunday. It should be fixed in the near future.