National Geographic - NOVEMBER 2017

In the early '80s, The Atolls of the Tubbataha Reef were still marvelous. But over
the next few years fishermen filed into Tubbataha Reef, one of the world’s most
biodiverse—for their livelihoods’ sake. Dynamite killed fish where they swam;
cyanide squirted over corals stunned fish into submission. On the reef’s islets,
fishermen gathered seabirds and their eggs.

In 1988 Tubbataha was designated a national marine park—the first in the

Philippines’ history. Fishing was prohibited and then extra protections against
shipping were taken. Park rangers, some of them members of the Philippines’
military, begun to live there to protect it round the clock.

Today, All of the signs are that Tubbataha Reef is nearing the true natural state. In
all, some 600 species of fish and 360 coral species—about half of all known
species—call Tubbataha home. Tubbataha also boosts the Philippines’ coral-reef
fisheries.

The Manila Times – JANUARY 2018

Over the recent decades, divers and scientists have witnessed firsthand the
alarming damage to the reefs that are vital to the health of the Philippine seas.

Last year, a team of divers and marine biologists recorded the occurrence of coral
bleaching on the reefs inside and outside of 19 marine protected areas (MPAs) in
Lanuza Bay, Surigao del Sur.

The National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the US

government raised the bleaching status in Eastern Philippines to Alert Level 2, the
highest alert level, in July 2017.

There are many reasons why corals bleach. It takes place when water
temperatures rise, during extreme low tides, high solar light, and through run-off
from pollution.
Once corals turn white, they become very susceptible to disease. But while they
appear like “graveyards” for a time, corals can actually recover as long as the
water cools down, pollutants are removed, over fishing, and other threats are
stopped.

Philippine Canadian Inquirer – FEBUARY 2018

The 2014 Asian Development Bank publication “State of the Coral Triangle” said
Philippine coral reefs host about 3,053 fish species.

Sedimentation, marine pollution, destructive fishing, and negative impacts of

coastal development are among the factors that contributed to Philippine reef
damage.

Also environment authorities said climate change-induced sea temperature rise

beyond what corals could tolerate would stress out and possibly kill these
animals.

The first mass coral bleaching event in the Philippines was reported in 1998-1999,
beginning in Batangas and spreading nearly clockwise around the country.

The bleaching correlated with anomalous sea surface temperature, noted BFAR.