INDONESIA AND THE PHILIPPINES — More than 80 percent of damaging physical contact with coral reefs by scuba divers is unintentional or unnoticed, according to research published in Conservation Letters on May 26, 2026. The study, led by marine conservation scientist Bing Lin of the University of Sydney, found that divers frequently harm reefs without realizing it, challenging assumptions that scuba diving is a low-impact activity.
Between December 2022 and January 2024, researchers collected survey and dive video data from 732 scuba divers at sites in Indonesia and the Philippines. They observed that divers touched the reef about once every four minutes on average. About 60 percent of those contacts were unintentional or done without the divers’ awareness, and overall, more than 80 percent of damaging interactions fell into this category.
"What’s less understood is just how invisible much of this damage is to the people causing the harm." "Reef damage was pervasive, but usually not malicious," says Bing Lin.
Divers commonly damaged reefs by kicking or grabbing corals or disturbing wildlife. The rate of damaging contact more than doubled when divers encountered wildlife. Despite this, about 75 percent of participants rated themselves as above average in diving ability and in avoiding reef impacts. In reality, divers touched reefs five times more often than they estimated.
About 15 percent of divers never touched the reef at all, according to Fabio Favoretto, a marine ecologist at the University of Plymouth. "That's the proof that this is fundamentally a fixable problem by training and regulation, not an inherent feature of diving," Favoretto said.
Scuba diving is often considered a non-extractive and environmentally friendly way to use coral reefs because it leaves fish in the water. Lin and Favoretto agree that stopping diving is not a solution, as reef tourism supports conservation efforts and provides economic incentives to protect marine ecosystems.
"On some popular reefs with thousands of divers and snorkelers per day, the accumulating damage could have substantial ecological impacts." "Ultimately, the goal is not to stop people from diving, but helping people dive better," says Lin.