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The Gardens of the Queen

December 18, 2011 1:40 PM

Anderson Cooper takes viewers on an underwater adventure to one of the world's most vibrant coral reefs, an anomaly at a time when many of the world's reefs are in danger - or already dead.

The Gardens of the Queen

60 Minutes OverTimeAnderson Cooper: Swimming with sharks

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by dhaw1025 September 23, 2012 12:10 PM EDT
This fills me with hope and despair. A faint hope that with timely action it will be possible to repair the damage humans have wreaked on the environment and our fellow tennants and depair that enough of us will care enough to make a difference before it's too late.
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by adeels.mets January 29, 2012 1:45 AM EST
So a socialist Government was able to keep this land protected and thriving?! How can That be possible..
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by seashaz December 31, 2011 10:02 PM EST
Thank you for bring this story to us. The message is great; my only angst in watching it was, as some of the other viewers have commented, the way that sometimes dive gear was making contact with the reef and even worse, when filming Anderson, he appeared to be standing on the reef with the camera person alongside. Anderson also touched the sponge when looking at the grouper. These are all things we try to avoid doing as divers, especially in pristine areas. When taking photos or filming, the goal is to have one finger at most touching a barren or "dead" are. Even the sand is alive with creatures and small organisms.

Please keep bringing us these stories so that we can appreciate the importance of these reserves but please remember it is a priviledge for CBS and other groups to capture stores from these fragile areas of our planet.
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by carepentater December 27, 2011 9:11 PM EST
I dont think careless divers are as much to blame as industry. global warming and mans appetite. I too am a certified scuba diver and would love to dive that reef! We need to do something. The reefs are are responsible for cleaning the oceans water as well. That tidbit wasnt mentioned in mr talk shows segment there. Still great to shed some light on it though we need all the exposure we can get!
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by bsenka December 26, 2011 9:22 PM EST
That was a great piece. I went snorkelling on the north coast of Cuba last year, and that was amazing. Makes me want to learn to scuba just to go deeper and see those reefs.

One small nitpick: it's not difficult to get to Cuba at all. There are scores of direct flights daily... just go to any Canadian city.
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by ksiddel December 24, 2011 1:20 PM EST
As a diver I was disappointed to see Anderson's dive gauge swinging unsecured as he dove and at one point it appears that he struck the coral with it. There may be a lot of factors killing our reefs but careless divers are a big part. Shame on you Anderson.
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by pmaier December 21, 2011 3:35 PM EST
Excessive algae growth in open waters is now noticeable all around the world, especially close to large urban areas, even in the Western world, where sewage from such areas is supposed to be properly treated. Sadly this is not the case, as most countries still use sewage treatment technologies that were developed more than a century ago, mainly to control odor problems. And, when in the sixties countries started to write legislation to control water pollution, all used an essential water pollution test (developed around 1920 in England) incorrectly and as one of its many negative consequences, not only ignored 60% of the pollution in sewage that causes oxygen depletion, but also ignored all the pollution caused by nitrogenous (urine and protein) waste, while this waste besides exerting an oxygen demand, also is a fertilizer for algae. (www.petermaier.net)
So, with a large portion of the fertilizer used to grow food (and consumed by humans) ending up in our open waters, nobody should be surprised to witness this excessive algae growth in open waters, with all its consequences like red tides, dead zones and destruction of coral reefs.

The amazing part is that all this is caused by the lack of understanding of a test and that nobody is willing to admit that such a basic mistake is made, especially since there are sewage treatment technologies available that not only take care of the odor problems, but also treat the nitrogenous waste in sewage at a lower cost compared to 'conventional' sewage treatment facilities. Hard to believe that we live in the 21st century with all its science, technology and communication, while we slowly witness our open waters deteriorating and dying without doing anything.
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by 2sync December 20, 2011 2:57 PM EST
Good, necessary, cool, but imperfect story. Corals are in bad shape and this place is not different in that regard. Goliath Grouper are on endangered species lists, but they have significant protection in the US too, and have recovered to remarkable sizes and numbers. Great film, but boring story. Show me Castro diving and spearfishing! Show me Mr Cooper killing lionfish and talking about good they taste! And how interesting that CBS takes down previous comments about this story that are critical.
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by pkrupela December 20, 2011 12:25 PM EST
I applaud Anderson Cooper's story about the plight of coral reefs and how the video clip showed what a somewhat healthy coral reef should look like, i.e., large predators in abundance. I was a bit taken aback by the first underwater shot however, which showed two lionfish in the frame. Lionfish are endemic to the Indo-Pacific and are an introduced species in the Caribbean which have quickly and dramatically upset the ecology of Caribbean reef systems. They are voracious predators of small fish with no natural enemies in the Caribbean, and this has caused them to multiply and spread rapidly. The ecologically conscious Anderson Cooper would have been filmed spearing the lionfish.
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by scubagirlhollie December 19, 2011 3:59 PM EST
Great story! The Gardens of Eden are on my bucket list to dive. I do agree with snowman08648 with the issues on buoyancy, dangling gear configurations and "no touch". It is just one way we can help preserve the reef!
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