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in the Fall 2016 issue of Alert Diver (AlertDiver.
com/Looe_Key). We look forward to celebrating it
again in the not-too-distant future.
Our coverage of Keys’ dive opportunities
continues. In this issue we have an article about Key
Largo (Page 82). This article was planned long before
Hurricane Irma, and by luck alone it was the Florida
Key farthest from the eye and the one to restore
diving services soonest. By the time you read this, I
have no doubt there will be diving throughout the
Florida Keys again, including the Lower Keys.
Conchs (as Florida Keys residents are known) are
resourceful and resilient. They’ll fix their boats and
marinas, the hotel rooms will come back into service,
and life will slowly return to normal. It’ll take hard
work, but they will persevere. I’ve seen it too many
times in my Caribbean travels. Maria struck shortly
after Irma, devastating Puerto Rico and Dominica. It
seemed like Hurricane Hugo would forever change
St. Croix, and to Cayman residents the mere mention
of the name Ivan evokes an involuntary shudder. Even
places normally immune to the wrath of hurricanes
can be surprised, as Bonaire was by Hurricane Omar
in 2009. Yet all these places came back — different,
inevitably — but they all come back.
Sometimes they come back better. Hurricanes
serve a purpose in marine biology. They can obviously
damage corals, but they can also cool the ocean to help
mitigate coral bleaching. And they can scour algae off
of reefs, exposing new substrate for coral colonization.
Sometimes parts of a coral head that are uprooted can
resettle in the areas to which they’re moved.
No one wants to experience a huge hurricane
like Irma because of the misery it brings to those
who live near the sea. But the Florida Keys and the
islands Irma pounded throughout the Caribbean
will be back. The best thing we can do as divers is
to visit these islands. Support their economies, buoy
their spirits, and show them we care as they rebuild
their lives and businesses. AD
TANYA BURNETT
JEFF BOZANIC
WHAT’S NEW ON
ALERTDIVER.COM
KEY LARGO’S
CONSERVATION
Read about how
conservation efforts saved
Key Largo’s coral reefs (Page
82), then view Stephen
Frink’s online photo gallery
to see more of why divers
flock to the Keys.
RESPECTING
OUR REEFS
Join Jeff Orlowski
as he discusses the
making of Chasing
Coral (Page 88), then
go online to watch the
film’s trailer.
TRAILBLAZER
TANYA BURNETT
Shooter Tanya Burnett skillfully
combined success as both a dive
professional and an underwater
photographer (Page 94). See more
of her artful imagery in an online
photo gallery.
ICE ICE DIVING
Jeff Bozanic takes
readers to the Antarctic,
where his team tested
rebreathers in the frigid
conditions (Page 48).
See a virtual-reality
video and more of his
icy imagery in an online
photo gallery.
ALL THIS AND MUCH MORE AWAIT
AT ALERTDIVER.COM
STEPHEN FRINK CATHERINE YRISARRI/CHASING CORAL
ALERTDIVER.COM | 13