over use of scooters in removing shark teeth off coast
NORTH CAROLINA - Collecting fossilized sharks' teeth underwater is a big draw for divers along North Carolina's coast, but some local dive shops are questioning how certain methods used to retrieve the artifacts could affect the habitat.
And now a federal agency plans to look into the issue after learning of those concerns.
Captain Bruce Glisson of Blue Ocean Adventures in Carolina Beach sent an e-mail last month to about 100 people involved in marine conservation or research in which he accused a Hatteras-based dive shop of destroying reefs by using scooters to dig or blow into the sand in search of sharks' teeth.
Glisson's e-mail, sent Nov. 26, described how he anchored near Outer Banks Diving's Flying Fish boat earlier that month in the Frying Pan Tower area to look into rumors of alleged reef destruction and saw holes and sand that had been blown away for hundreds of square feet.
"It looked like a dredge or plow had gone through the entire area and cleaned out the reef, displacing the sand and exposing the hard bottom," Glisson's e-mail said.
Outer Banks Diving president Amy Pieno denied that the company is harming coral reefs.
"We do not own a dredge, we don't use a dredge," Pieno said Monday, Dec. 6. "There (are) no corals being affected."
Larry Cahoon, professor of biology and marine biology at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, said what is being done–not the kind of equipment used to do it–is what matters.
"Mechanical removal of sediment is dredging," Cahoon said Tuesday, Dec. 7, adding that dredging would require a permit.
"And they can't get a permit to do it there, so that's that," Cahoon said. "It's not legal to give a permit for that sort of activity in that habitat."
The Frying Pan Shoals area is far enough off the coast to be under federal jurisdiction under the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council, said Cahoon, who saw Glisson's e-mail after it was forwarded around the university.
Roger Pugliese, a senior fishery biologist with the federal council based in Charleston, S.C., also saw Glisson's e-mail.
"My initial reaction is that these activities seem similar to sand removal activities employed by treasure salvage operations employed in southern Florida and potentially could impact live hard bottom habitat designated as Essential Fish Habitat by the Council," Pugliese said in an e-mail Dec. 8. "I would think extensive excavations would be permitted under the authority of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and if not permitted they most likely would be illegal.
However, this may not apply to small area excavations. We are continuing to follow-up with our State and Federal partners to better define the extent of the activity and have requested NOAA Fisheries Habitat Conservation Division clarify what is known about the activity, its extent, the legal authorities/considerations and identification of habitats and how they may be affected as a result of the activity."
Meanwhile Glisson, who sent a copy of his initial e-mail to Pieno, also encouraged recipients to contact Outer Banks Diving and ask them to stop destroying the Frying Pan reefs.
Pieno had received several responses, which she said included nice messages of concern about reefs being destroyed, messages expressing understanding that reefs are not being destroyed and also some harassing messages.
"I do believe a lot of this is stemming from a jealousy issue," Pieno said. "I have a big white boat. Our boat is very visible. I don't think people like us being down there." Pieno said they have been coordinating diving trips to Wilmington for at least eight years, but that problems started a couple years ago when they got the bigger Flying Fish boat.
David Smithey, co-owner of Cape Fear Dive Center in Carolina Beach, said his shop was once friendly with Outer Banks Diving but later stopped filling their customers' tanks after local residents complained about the Hatteras company's use of scooters to uncover the ancient sharks' teeth.
"We're against people using mechanical devices to go out and to do things such as look for megalodon teeth," Smithey said Tuesday, Dec. 7.
"We don't mind them coming down here looking for teeth, but to come down here and wreck everything is just wrong," Glisson said Monday, Dec. 6.
Looking for the shark teeth is the primary reason clients go diving, Pieno said.
The shark teeth range in size from one-half inch to more than 6 inches, Glisson said, adding that finding a treasure or artifact is the ultimate experience in diving.
"It really spices up the adventure to find something that's old or worth money," Glisson said. "When you go down and find these teeth, it's like an Easter egg hunt."
A brief online search on eBay for megalodon shark teeth showed prices ranging from less than $10 to more than $1,200.
Glisson, who said his company uses scooters to get around in the water, admitted that some people on his boat have also used them for blowing, but he argued it was not at the same level as with Outer Banks Diving.
"They're scouring that reef to the point that they're not leaving any spots at all, they're completely displacing all the sand," Glisson said. "That's a totally different thing,"
"After this I'm not letting anyone else blow on my boat…You can see the devastation," Glisson added. "What kind of effect is that going to have on the coastal ecosystem? It looks wrong and it feels wrong, so it must be wrong."
Some experienced divers will commonly use scooters as a propulsion vehicle to navigate as opposed to kicking, so as not to physically exert themselves, Pieno said.
The diving process depends on the individual, she said, adding that some people take scooters while others handpick artifacts.
"There may have been some holes in the sand from people using scooters," Pieno said. "But there were no harmful intentions done to the reef."
Pieno wrote a response to messages she received, thanking those concerned and inviting them to contact her on the issue or accompany her on a trip.
"The area we dive on is way off of the ledges, in open sand bottom where sand is constantly being shifted due to Mother Nature, and no corals are being affected," Pieno said in her letter.
It is fine for divers to collect sharks' teeth by hand, Cahoon said.
"It's when you start bringing in the mechanical devices and blowing the sediment around you begin to cause trouble," he said.
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