The problem with baseline

I first came to Indonesia in 2001 on vacation. I had landed my first ‘real’ job for an International Travel and Education company and saved my annual vacation allowance to take three weeks off in November to backpack through Southeast Asia. The friend I was traveling with had talked me into doing a scuba diving course in the Gili Islands. She was already a certified diver and eager to share the experience. Although I had always loved the ocean, I was a little nervous about diving – all that gear and can one really breathe underwater, and what about all those fishes, namely sharks? Growing up with Jaws did not have a good effect on me, but she assured me I would be fine. So I went ahead and completed my Open Water certificate - and it turned out to be just magical! I clearly remember our first dive together as ‘buddies’. On our descent, we more or less landed in a school of bumphead parrotfish. Those guys are absolutely unique! They are the biggest of all parrotfish and can grow up to 1.2m (that’s about 4.2ft) in length. They sport a large protrusion on their forehead (hence the name) and are constantly munching on the reef. What I didn’t know at the time was how important all parrotfish are for healthy coral reefs, especially the bigger species helping to maintain a more diverse reef ecosystem.? I had never seen a bumphead and was fascinated by this small school, which went on its merry way after we reached the bottom. Maybe five minutes after this first breathtaking encounter, three white-tip reef sharks swam towards us. My friend and I intuitively grabbed each other’s hand and watched motionless as one of them circled us before swimming along. Wow, what a first dive!? We ended up staying much longer than planned in Indonesia, diving every day, and wrecking our travel budget to the bone, but it was so worth it! I fell even more in love with the ocean than before. Being underwater, marveling at this new world, watching all those colorful diverse fishes, corals, nudibranchs, turtles and dolphins (yet another dive), just made me the happiest human being on the planet.

In 2005 I moved to Hong Kong for work. I was once more traveling all over Southeast Asia, only now work-related and not on holidays. But whenever and wherever I could, I’d squeeze in some fun dives. I did my Advanced Open Water certificate in Lembongan, a small neighboring island to Bali, and only took a break from scuba diving when my daughter was born and in the immediate years after.

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Fast forward to 2024, and I am spending a whole year in Bali with my family. I am enjoying going back to diving in all those places I loved twenty years ago, as well as exploring new places. However, during my dives, I can't help but notice significant changes. I wonder if there are fewer fish around or if it's just my imagination? Coral reefs in Bali still exist, but not as many as before. During a dive at the US Liberty wreck in Tulamben, an experienced dive guide tells me that bumphead parrotfish disappeared years ago. Another seasoned diver shares with me that the reefs in the Gilis, where I did my Open Water course, have largely been destroyed. Long stretches have turned into fields of dead coral rubble. These stories are saddening.

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Then my daughter takes her Open Water certification and becomes as fascinated with underwater life as I was in 2003. She loves every dive and excitedly tells me about the different fishes and which ones she likes the best. I adore seeing her enthusiasm and how much she loves the ocean, just like me. We spend hours talking about a dive, going through our Marine Fishes guide identifying species. We talk fish, nudibranchs and coral, big and small. It reminds me of Dr Seuss’s “One fish, Two fish, Red fish, Blue fish. Black fish, Blue fish, Old fish, New fish”. We chat about where else around Bali we could go, and which weekend we can schedule.

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But all along, I face a dilemma. I know from experience that this underwater world used to be much healthier. There used to be more biodiversity. But I don't want to spoil these precious moments with my daughter by telling her how much more there was twenty years ago and how much marine life has already been degraded and destroyed. I don’t want to tell her, "You should have seen it beforehand" or "You won't believe how this looked when I first dived here." So I stay quiet and observe how her first diving experiences establish a baseline, her baseline. This will become her starting point for comparison.

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At the same time, I can’t just stand by and watch. My deep concern for the future of our oceans and the generations that will follow us is sounding a very loud alarm. I believe we must take action to ensure our oceans are protected and preserved. We cannot afford to delay or repeat the same mistakes made in the past. We have long passed the 11th hour!

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As a result, the two of us have discovered a fantastic reef restoration project in Padangbai, which allows us to volunteer at their site. We scuba dive, plant new corals on artificial reef structures called reef stars and maintain the younger sections of the coral reef. We talk to people and hold presentations in schools to raise awareness of the importance of the coral reef. We organize private fundraisers. My daughter even rallied her friends to donate over 1.1 million IDR to the cause.

?This project is one of the biggest reef restoration sites in Bali. It started in 2019 and now spans over 2,500 sqm. The project’s approach is very hands-on and open to the public. We primarily plant Acropora (Staghorn) coral since it’s one of the fastest-growing hard corals available. One might think, wait a minute, that’s a monoculture, how can that be good? But since there are still healthy reefs around, biodiversity is naturally finding its way into the reef restoration site - during our last monitoring dive, we counted over 50 different coral species! Nature will never cease to amaze me.

My daughter’s and my first reef stars are now one year old. The coral fragments we planted have grown magnificently and are looking very healthy. I can’t even begin to describe the joy it gives us when we stop by during a dive and check up on it. By now we know that it will only take two to three more years and this section will be completely outgrown. We see it in the older parts of the restoration site where you dive over a carpet of coral reef, no gaps, full of life and thriving.

?I am very proud of her for building a new reef where there was only sand and dead coral rubble. I hope that one day she will tell her children about it and remember, "You can't imagine what this area looked like when I started diving with your grandma - all dead coral and sand. But because we all came together and decided it was high time to do something about it, we turned it into a thriving marine ecosystem."

Maybe baseline isn’t the problem after all?