Just some impressions from here: I'm living in the centre of one of
the best coral reef areas in the world, they start at 30 m from where
I live and I made a couple of thousand dives here in the last 20
years, about 400 in the last 3 years (see http://www.poppe-images.com).

While most of the reefs (95 %) look truly healthy, it is evident that
something is going on there which is wrong.

The shells have declined as well in the Caribbean as here by 70 % at
least.

This IS NOT due to COLLECTING.

But it is an alarm that we should collect the maximum as apparently
things went very bad especially since 10 years.

While the area where I live (the Camotes Sea) is rather heavily
explored for food, some areas are untouched. A month ago I went to
Sogod Bay, southern Leyte. People don't look for shells there, even
not for eating, surely not for collection and the only predation on
the sea is a swarm of nightly fishermen specialized in squids.

But there also: no shells any more as they used to be there ten years
ago.

What we should do in first instance: know the causes of this
phenomenon. The heating of the planet is a much too easy explanation.
Many species can stand these small variations in temperature.  Here
there is at least 6 degrees difference of water temperature between
november and december and again between end of march and first week
of april.

There is no reason to be too much alarmed: weather changes are normal
on this planet and movements from warm to cold and vice-versa areas:
the living things on earth are very adapted to this. Life even
survived several mass-extinctions !

In second instance we should collect the maximum before all things
get too difficult and too rare. If this trend is going on for 30 more
years, even a tiger cowry will be a rarity.

About http://www.Poppe-Images.com : the new hobby of me and Philippe.

Authors on the subjects are invited to use the photographs (we can
mail the raw images), as long as we are referred to and get a copy of
the published work for our library.

Best regards,

Guido
http://www.conchology.be
http://www.poppe-images.com

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