Under the surface – impacts of tourism
With the rapid growth of tourism in Palawan, it is not only the beachfronts and roadsides that have changed drastically in the last few years. Factors connected but not limited to tourism have also made quite an impact on the underwater world.
The marine ecosystem is fragile and it is easy to disturb its balance. With more people come more boats. With more people on boats comes a higher risk of damaging the coral reefs both acutely and long term – though anchors, sunblock, feet and fins. With more people comes more pollution – through gray and black water runoff, waste and trash, boat engines. With more people comes a higher demand for fish and seafood, a demand that is difficult to meet for the fishermen of Palawan who have already had to witness a general decline in their bounty over the last decade. All these amassing factors, along with extreme weather events and warming waters, influence the vitality and stability of the coral reef ecosystem.
Bacuit Bay and its many tour destinations have already seen a decline in the health of their coral reefs over the last year.
On the northeast coast of El Nido and the islands of Linapacan however, there are still many hidden gems– beautiful stretches of reef where the coral is alive and thriving. The factors that are the most threatening on this more remote and untamed side of Palawan are overfishing and illegal fishing methods. Dynamite fishing kills entire food chains within seconds, cyanide spreads with the current and damages reefs in the larger vicinity. Nets pull out anything that gets tangled in it, not respecting juvenile marine life or unsellable bycatch.
The lack of fish and other reef inhabitants, no matter how healthy the coral, is a precarious factor in tipping the balance and starting events that could result in the rapid decline of the reef. One example is that of the giant triton shell, a beautiful species that is collected for its commercial value and whose population has been decimated in Philippine seas. It happens to be one of the main predators of the crown of thorns.
Combining efforts – Private sector, NGO, and government agencies
We were alerted via social media by concerned tour operators and business owners who brought attention to a possible crown of thorns (COT) outbreak on the reefs around the island of Ginto in Linapacan. With the help of PCGA and Malampaya Foundation who communicated the need for a COT-clean-up to the local government unit of Linapacan and online coordination between the two dive shops on the east coast – Qi Palawan and Dive Sibaltan – and Turtle Divers in El Nido town, efforts were shared to get help to where it was needed.
Cleaning up Crown of Thorns – The Whys and Hows
Crown of thorns (COT) are a type of starfish that play a controlling role in a reef’s ecosystem. They feed on coral polyps and, when present in low density, ensure that fast growing coral species do not overgrow the slow and steady ones. However, COT density can increase rapidly due to afore mentioned factors – essentially because pollution and global warming increase the growth of plankton which the COT larvae feed on and overfishing have diminished the COT’s natural predators. Once a high density is present, it becomes a race against time, as night for night one of these corallivorous invertebrates can devour its own size (25-80cm diameter) in coral polyps, leaving behind the corals’ white calcium carbonate skeleton.
Removing COT can be tricky since they are extraordinarily fertile and can spawn when stressed, spreading their eggs over the already effected reef. Currents can then carry their eggs to reefs in the vicinity as well causing further outbreaks.
Coral mortality during outbreaks can be 50-100 percent, collapsing the ecosystem and finally killing the reef.
Physically removing COTs from the effected reef is one option, though this can be a long and strenuous process and there’s a risk of the volunteers being stung by the toxic thorns.
A method first used on the Great Barrier Reef and replicated on many others is the injection of 20ml of regular white household vinegar into the body of the COT. The PH imbalance from the acidity kills the invertebrate within 48h. It is a quick, safe and easy method for divers ,that requires less people and logistics than removal. We at Dive Sibaltan had tested this method on a small primary outbreak on a reef near one of their dive sites and offered to help in applying it in Linapacan as well.
Damage Control on Crown of Thorns
After an initial survey by Qi Palawan and Dive Sibaltan, we established the urgency for the clean-up and a team from Turtle Divers as well as a diver from the Malampaya Foundation joined us on a full day operation around the island of Manligad, just off Ginto. Despite less than favorable weather conditions, we managed to inject over 550 COTs during three dives.
Because managing a COT outbreak is a continuous process, we will continue to monitor the area that has already been visited to ensure the method was effective and return for further clean-up dives on that same reef and others in the area that are known to also have high densities of COTs.
Advocacy for marine conservation in Palawan
To keep more events like these from happening, to generally and committedly protect the marine ecosystem of Palawan on which the tourism industry and so much of the local livelihood depends, more efforts towards its conservation, protection and rehabilitation need to be made.
Minimizing our impact on the ecosystem by reducing waste, managing sewage and making sure that neither ends up polluting the waters around our island paradise is a very important step.
Marine Protected Areas (MPA) and Marine Sanctuaries need to be established to ensure that reefs will not be lost to negative impacts of mass tourism and illegal or non-sustainable fishing practices. Malampaya Foundation has done some great work in this field, establishing MPAs and offering livelihood projects as alternative to fishing. However, what is often lacking is the enforcement of the rules and consequent penalty of those who break them.
And finally, awareness needs to be raised and consciousness spread, that how we as islanders, residents, business owners and travelers act in and for the environment now can make or break the future of Palawan as a home and destination.
Follow us for updates on more clean-ups and conservation projects.
Meet the author
Sana Schiffreer
Sana got the best of both worlds, moving back and forth between Germany and the Philippines a few times before the last one took her from Berlin to Sibaltan, El Nido. This Balikbayan decided that if she can’t be professional traveler, to instead live her other dream of working in tourism on the islands she fell in love with over and over again. Her passion for hosting and marketing, as well as diving, got her the gig of managing Dive Sibaltan. She is using those same skills as well as trying out her green thumbs and green living in her home, the Roots Palawan Farm. Read more on her blog Roots Palawan.
