Diving Artificial Reefs

Contributed by PJ

When you dive on a shipwreck, jetty or pier do you consider it a nature-based experience? This is one of the major questions I am seeking to address in my PhD thesis at the University of Newcastle, which looks at the use of artificial reefs as resources for recreational scuba diving.

The deliberate creation and management of artificial reefs in Australia is now a major marine tourism issue. Just think about the level of political debate and investment of time and money that has gone into the sinking of the ex-HMAS Swan and Perth in WA, the ex-HMAS Hobart in SA and the soon-to-be scuttled ex-HMAS Brisbane in Queensland. These are big projects capable of generating revenue and jobs for regional economies and supporting the formation of new marine ecosystems. Will these wrecks/reefs one day be valued by the Australian community as highly as natural reef systems such as the Great Barrier Reef or Ningaloo?

I've been researching now for about 18 months and part of my data collection involves a diver questionnaire for distribution amongst the Australian diving population. I'm trying to finalise the questionnaire but am still short of my target number of responses. If you haven't already done so, please take a moment and visit my project's website, at www.newcastle.edu.au/artificialreefs/. You can launch the electronic version of the questionnaire through this
site by clicking on the face of the diver at the bottom of the home page. If you haven't filled out a questionnaire, please allow yourself 15 minutes to do so - you're helping to inform Australian-based research and Australia's dive experiences. For further information don't hesitate to contact me:

Paul Stolk
Ph. 02 49215694
paul.stolk@newcastle.edu.au

Image courtesy of Mark Kennedy.