Other impacts on coral reefs - The Great Barrier Reef: An Environmental History - page 191

in November 1965 . 14 By that date, Fairfax Island had been bombed and shelled
for target practice for more than two decades, and considerable damage to the
landscape of the island must have been sustained.
Impacts of reef-walking
Some coral reefs have been heavily used for reef-walking by tourists (Figure 9.4) .
Reef-walking is not only a recent phenomenon, as Denton (1889, p171), stated:
We spent hours wandering over [the coral reefs] at low tide. They extended
partly round the island, and were a constant pleasure and delight to us. It
seemed a shame to walk over the reefs, breaking at every step lovely corals,
which would be the pride of our museums. Some of the branching corals,
radiating from a centre, and as large over as a round table, were very graceful.
[…] In places, the reef was covered […] with soft corals - or 'sea flesh,' as
it is called - resembling thick, wet leather, and very smooth and slippery to
walk upon.
Another account referred to the 'deep indigo of Heliopora coral as the foot snaps
it' (Bedford, 1928, no pagination). Many visitors to the Great Barrier Reef went
reef-walking, and in 1932 the QGTB (1932, no pagination) issued the following
advice to reef-walkers: 'Old boots should be carried for use when walking in the
lagoon, also boots to protect the feet and ankles from coral scratches'.
Ironically, while damage was inflicted on the corals by reef-walking, the
individuals who visited the reefs provided some of the only reef descriptions for
the period before underwater observations using snorkels and SCUBA equipment
were possible. For example, an account of dead and living corals at Cape
Tribulation reefs, written by Joske (1930, p180), was based on his experiences of
reef-walking. Hence, a quandary existed in relation to the value of reef-walking:
the activity damaged corals, yet also allowed some individuals to gain knowledge
about the nature and diversity of coral reefs, and reef-walking became a popular
activity that appealed to naturalists, scientists, 'beachcombers', and coral and
shell collectors. Geographically, however, the impacts of reef-walking were
concentrated at the major tourist resorts, especially Green and Heron Islands;
from those cays, visitors could easily access large expanses of coral reef. As early
as 1938, one report stated: 'Parties of sightseers are frequently guided over the
Green Island reef at low water', and a similar intensity of use of the reef flat, by
reef-walkers, was observed at Heron Island (Ratcliffe, 1938, p139; see also Gunn,
1966, p109) . 15
After the formation of the GBRMP in 1975, the threat presented by reef-
walkers to the most popular coral reefs was acknowledged; Woodland and Hooper
(1977), for instance, found that rapid alterations to coral reefs could occur as a
result of reef-walking at popular locations such as Heron Island reef. A report
about the degradation of corals at Green Island, published in 1978, stated: 'Under