Reef Safe Sun Cream, Sunscreen & Sun Care Products To Help Us Save Our Coral Reefs
If you have been living under a rock for the past 10 years you might have not heard, but Coral Reefs all over the world are dying at an alarming rate and it is due to human activity and warming global temperatures.
These effects are combining to form a devastatingly brutal cocktail of pain for the Australian Great Barrier Reef tourism industry. Most people would have heard the rumors by now, that we lost nearly 70% of the GBR due to coral bleaching last year, now add to this that we as tourists and scuba divers are contributing to slow regrowth because of toxic sunscreens and you have a recipe for absolute disaster!
What can you do to help save the Great Barrier Reef and the worlds Coral Reefs?
Well for one you can stop using toxic sun cream when you go diving or even to the beach for a swim. You might have recently seen that both Mexico and Hawaii have outright banned banned any sun cream or sunscreen if you are entering the water, if that sun cream product contains any of the following chemicals.
- Oxybenzone
- Octisalate
- Homosalate
- Octocrylene
- Avobenzone
If you carry sunscreen onto a liveaboard or dive vessel that doesn’t meet the requirements, they will simply take it off you, leaving your skin unprotected in the tropical sun.
Don’t get caught out, switch to a reef safe sun cream now, because Great Barrier reef tourism outlets are also looking at banning chemical sun creams, and many now strongly recommend you don’t use your normal sun cream at all!
What’s The Big Deal?
Well, those chemicals we listed above, actually kill Coral, they also cause high morbidity rates in young corals which prevents damaged reef from re-growing.
That’s terrible news for a Coral Reef already under pressure from global warming and other factors!
Also adding to the fire is the fact that these chemicals are not good for us humans anyway, they build up in your body over time because you absorb them, especially Oxybenzone. Too much of any of those chemicals will cause hormone disruption in humans & testosterone reduction in men, and that’s just the studies done so far.
Why risk it when there are so many natural alternatives to protect you in the water from our Australian sun?
Reef Repair Sun Cream 50ml 120ml Spf30 Reef Safe Moisturising Kid Safe All Natural Sunscreen
Switch to 100% all natural sun creams that do not contain Oxybenzone and you should will be fine, all natural sunscreen does not harm coral reefs, but you need to check it thoroughly to make sure it does not contain the chemicals we listed above.
Where Can I Get Reef Safe Sunscreen?
It can actually be hard to find and many liveaboards and dive shops don’t always stock it. If your favourite dive shop doesn’t stock reef friendly sun creams, we suggest you get some from a company called Reef Repair, who specialise in reef safe cosmetics and sun care products.
You can also find out loads more about the dangers posed by chemical and synthetic cosmetics on their website.
We hope that you make the right choice when diving in the Whitsundays, every little thing we can do for coral reefs is important.
Join the sun care revolution and switch to an all natural sun cream for healthy and vibrant reefs!
