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WHAT MAKES A GREAT DIVE?8 December 2003 CRC Reef postgraduate student Mr Dean Miller from James Cook University, working with the CRC for Sustainable Tourism, is asking SCUBA divers on the Great Barrier Reef what they think are the vital ingredients for a great dive. This will help the tourism industry create the best possible dives and help conserve species and places that are particularly important to divers. “The interest in SCUBA diving on the Great Barrier Reef is growing, with hundreds of thousands of dives on the Reef every year. This is the first time anyone has asked live-aboard divers what they experience at a dive site, and what animals they are looking for,” said Mr Miller. “The study uses questionnaires and biological surveys to compare what lives at a dive site with what divers enjoy seeing.” Finding out what divers want to see will benefit both tourism operators and the environment, according to Mr Miller. “If divers visit certain places hoping to see specific animals such as sharks, scorpion fish or potato cod, those animals have a high value to the tourism industry. This information can be used to support conservation efforts for these species and their habitats.” The study will also help tourism operators to develop the best possible dives for both beginner and experienced divers. “One aim of this research is to find new ways to enrich divers’ experiences by educating them about the Reef and the animals they are likely to see. This will also help minimise diver impacts on the Reef,” Mr Miller said. Mr Miller is surveying SCUBA divers on live-aboard boats visiting the Ribbon Reefs, northeast of Cairns, and Osprey Reef in the Coral Sea. His research will investigate how these dive sites match the expectations of SCUBA divers who have dived around the world. Mr Miller will also discover the differences between how dive sites are perceived by experienced and beginner divers. “If divers have really good experiences at dive sites, they are more likely to return in the future. Understanding the expectations and experiences of different types of divers will help the dive industry sustain high quality diving into the future.” This three-year project is funded by CRC Reef Research Centre, CRC for Sustainable Tourism, and James Cook University. The surveys have been made possible by the co-operation of live-aboard dive vessels including Undersea Explorer, Nimrod Explorer, SuperSport, Taka II, Spirit of Freedom and Diversity. This project forms part of ongoing research on the ecologically sustainable management of marine wildlife tourism by Dr Alistair Birtles and Associate Professor Peter Valentine. It has been based on their successful work on ecologically sustainable dwarf minke whale tourism. For more information: |
