TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums US VI and Puerto Rico Protecting the Reefs

There are biodegradable sunscreens available which I think we should use. Coincidentally, before seeing your post this morning, I had ordered some biodegradable sunscreen for a trip in December. The amount of harmful sunscreen that goes into the water near reefs is amazing - I do not remember any specific numbers but it is thousands and thousands of tons. The combination of temperature increase (regardless of cause or proper response) and the use of massive amounts of sunscreen (even apart from other activities which destroy reefs - see, e.g., construction of the Westin) clearly has had and is having an effect on the reefs. Just from personal observation, I think the reef off Prickly Pear has suffered from all the people with all the sunscreen. I also think that the reef off Green Cay has improved some or been degraded less because some of the bigger excursions off cruise ships that used to go there stopped going there a few years ago (or at least stopped going as much). I know that it is difficult to push, but I would hope that over time more governments and operators will push harder to require only biodegradable sunscreen - which I hope (but do not know the science of it) will cause less damage.

My comments are directed more to SXM than STJ - but I certainly agree about Trunk Bay which we have not gone to for over ten years at least - the last time we went, it already was suffering greatly from the number of people and all the effects of such numbers.