NEWS FROM THE PHILIPPINES: DECEMBER UPDATE
Added to website: 14 January 2008
Education & Community Work
I am very pleased to be able to announce that three dive centres of Padre Burgos; Southern Leyte Divers, Sogod Bay Divers and Pete’s Dive Resort have very kindly agreed to co-fund the running of the MPA Patrol Boat. It is important to note that without their generosity the Patrol Boat would be unable to function to its full potential, thus hampering efforts to effectively manage the four MPA’s. With their help the Patrol Boat will now be able to patrol on a daily basis thus acting as a deterrent and not simply responding to fishing violations, therefore playing a crucial role in protecting your precious coastal resources.
Baseline Surveys
At present we are busy finishing off any remaining surveys around Padre Burgos, focussing predominantly around San Roque and our ‘house reef’ at Ampo on the Tangka’an peninsular, this means that much of our survey work is now in the shallows. San Roque demonstrates an intricate topography of gullies and discontinuous reef which is dominated by hard coral cover. Unfortunately there is evidence of some coral damage from Crown of Thorns Sea Star Acanthaster planci, the damage is limited but we shall continue to monitor the situation. It is always a pleasure to survey the reefs at Ampo, which has excellent hard coral and soft coral cover and supports a diverse population of fish.
Reef Check
As part of International Year of the Reef (IYOR) 2008, we are offering Reef Check survey methodology training to the three local dive operators of Padre Burgos. The divers already have a wealth of information on the state of the reefs, collated over the years, so their input will be invaluable.
MPA Surveys
This month we completed the MPA surveys of Lungsodaan, all surveys were carried out at a depth of twelve meters. The reefs at Lungsodaan are discontinuous; within the MPA there are large coral mounds which support a plethora of life. There are many magnificent soft corals and the general diversity of both fish and corals is very high. It was also encouraging to see many large and commercially important species in the area, in particular Maya-Maya (snapper), Lipti (sweetlips) and Solid (fusiliers). The survey findings shall be analysed and compared to the previous two years data replicates and the findings shall be presented to the Barangay.
Interesting Unusual Sightings
Acanthaster planci - Crown of Thorns Sea Star (COT’s)
A number of these were sighted on our baseline surveys at San Roque. These sea stars are a member of the echinoderm family and as all echinoderms they display radial symmetry, but unlike many sea stars they have 16 – 24 legs! They also have the ability to regenerate themselves from surprisingly small fragments as long as a leg and a portion of its main body are present. Although it is normal for a few COT’s to be present on the reef, they are renowned for having seemingly sudden population explosions and at present little is understood about the causes of such explosions but it is thought that a phytoplankton bloom caused possibly by sediment run-off would provide enough nutrients/food for larvae, another possibility is mans manipulation of the environment and removal of their natural predators such as Triton trumpet snails, Puffer fish, Trigger fish and Shrimps can have dire consequences. It is when the numbers soar that they have an incredibly detrimental effect on the reef. They feed on the coral polyps by extruding their stomachs out through their mouths and over the coral, leaving a characteristic feeding scar behind them (see picture below). Reefs can recover from COT outbreaks, but it may take decades depending on the severity of the outbreak. It is crucial that in order for the reefs to recover we limit the anthropogenic impacts.
Project Scientist: Harri Morrall
