On Monday night, Dr. Craig Downs came to HPA to present information about over tourism, sunscreen pollution and ways of handling both. Presenting to a crowd of approximately 100 people, he showed slides of areas in Indonesia, the Caribbean and Hawaii where the effect of over crowded tourist areas and the use of sunscreen have "killed" the coral reef. Stressing that the coral reef is a valuable economic entity, he further outlined how many for profit businesses (tour companies, hotels, etc.) are realizing that they will not have a business if the coral reefs disappear.
The remedy for the chemical pollution via sunscreens is to use"reef safe" sun screens or, better yet, wear UV protective clothing in place of any type of sunscreen. The only way that was shown to remediate the over tourism (too many people at one place) problem is to close the area. This type of solution simply sends the people to some other place where it is overrun. The only answer to too many people is fewer people... population limitations - but no one seems to want to talk about that.
The talk was very well received and there were many questions at the conclusion of the presentation.
Below are a couple of pictures from the night's presentation.
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| Dr. Downs poses with Laura Jim's Capstone Students. |
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| Talking about the effect of oxybenzone and other chemical pollutants of coral development and growth. |
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| The presentation by Dr. Downs was attended by approximately 100 people. |
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| Gerry Clark Art Center. |
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