Milestones in order. This is history, not a weekly activity grid.
- Rahu / tapu
- First mass reefs
- Hanauma-type management
- GBR Marine Park
- Mooring buoys
- UNESCO + tourism boom
- Sunscreen acts
- Ranger body-cams and fines
Darker cells mean a higher score for this topic on that metric.
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Quick answers
Which local rescue or training agency should I check first?
Use the local lens: coastguard/federation norms and the shop briefing for that bay — not a blog visibility claim.
Is touching coral always illegal?
Often yes in a park, and always a bad idea. A glove does not make a polyp tougher.
Why do Hawaii and Palau restrict sunscreens?
Statutes target ingredients such as oxybenzone. The science and the politics are both live; long sleeves work regardless.
Can people take a shell?
In many countries, even empty shells and sand are restricted. Assume no souvenir.
How far from a turtle?
Many parks specify 2–3 metres or more, no blocking the surface path. If the animal changes direction, the person is too close.
Is feeding fish kind?
It changes behaviour and is banned in serious parks. The bread-ball boat is a failure mode.
Pacific rahu and similar closures are older than tourism. The printed “do not stand on coral” card is a late-twentieth-century park product, written after the first mass-snorkel bays failed.
The history is customary law plus a few ugly photographs of standing tourists.
Timeline
- Rahu / tapu
Seasonal closures and species taboos in Polynesia, Micronesia and elsewhere — conservation as law, not a brochure.
- First mass reefs
Caribbean and Red Sea hotels discover the shallow reef as a product.
- Hanauma-type management
Ticketed bays and briefings after visible trampling.
- GBR Marine Park
A large statutory park becomes a global template (later UNESCO, 1981).
- Mooring buoys
Anchor damage becomes a solvable engineering problem.
- UNESCO + tourism boom
Raja Ampat, Tubbataha and others write codes in several languages.
- Sunscreen acts
Hawaii and Palau pass ingredient bans that other jurisdictions copy or debate.
- Ranger body-cams and fines
Enforcement, not just pictograms.
Eras
- Customary — Taboo time — Closures without tourists.
- 1950–1980 — Discovery damage — The first mass fins.
- 1980–2010 — Park paper — Permits, moorings, pictograms.
- 2010–now — Statute and shame — Sunscreen law, viral standing photos, and paid rangers.
Milestones
- GBRMPA — A statutory marine park at continental scale.
- Mooring programmes — Engineering that actually reduced anchor scars.
- Palau Pledge (2017) — Immigration-stamped etiquette as theatre and law.
- Hawaii Act 104 (2018) — Sunscreen chemistry as a tourist-facing statute.
Etiquette is old law wearing a new pictogram. The coral still grows on century time.