Effects of sun cream on corals

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Effects of sun cream on corals

From my earliest childhood I have been introduced to the importance of preserving our ecosystems. Our planet, our seas and our oceans. Effects of sun cream on corals are numerous. However we do not want to destroy things just like the day I broke a piece of fire coral

However, since the beginning of the Different Dive adventure a few months ago. My attention is even more acute on issues related to the preservation of the oceans.

I am a diver and love diving everywhere and all the time. The marine environment interests me necessarily because they constitute the privileged field of my explorations. My discoveries of scuba diving. Each dive allows me to marvel a little more about the richness and the diversity of the biotopes. Distributed throughout the marine areas that constitute the seas and oceans.

As I write these few lines, a burning question comes to my mind.

Some time ago I realized that sun cream contained substances that are extremely toxic and lethal to corals. For some years now, American and Israeli oceanologists have been warning and pointing to benzophenone-3. It seems to be the cause of serious damage to coral reefs. The sun cream that contains it can kill the coral in 48 hours!

However, 25,000 tons of sun cream are dumped every year in our oceans. 4,000 of which will be absorbed by the coral reefs which are dying.

When the oceans suffocate

Alarm bells ring everywhere. The oceans suffocate under plastic and pollution. Coral whiten and fish are contaminated by mercury and other products that are really crap. Can we continue to adopt harmful behaviors for marine environments. On the pretext that in any case our individual actions will be only drops of water in an ocean ? Can we reject our own responsibility ?

Knowing this, can I continue to use my sun cream for the pleasure of exposing myself longer. Just before going diving to discover the magnificent coral reefs of the Red Sea or elsewhere ?

But what can I do ?

Stop protecting my children from the sun with my good old sun cream ? Take the risk to see my dermatologist choking at the sight of my lobster skin damaged by sunburn ?

There are now “ocean-friendly” sun creams sold in pharmacies and general stores that offer an excellent, easy but somewhat expensive alternative to conventional creams. There are apparently also natural remedies to be manufactured (but I do not know them) to fight against the sunburn, however it is towards a different reflection that I decided to go.

Indeed, if sun cream is used to delay the burning of the sun, is it not simpler to expose oneself for a shorter time or not at all to its rays ?

So I decided this summer to relegate to the closet the bottles of sun cream that gave me a good conscience about the preservation of my skin and adopt a very different attitude: wearing clothes covering the most sensitive parts and reduced exposure and do it progressively.

Under an umbrella (watch out for the sun’s reverberation !) Or in the shade of a tree, I will take advantage of summer, respecting my skin … and the oceans.