TATAKalikasan, Ateneo de Manila University
87.9 FM Radyo Katipunan, every Thursday 11 to 12 a.m.,
July 10, 2025
Let's Preserve our Marine Ecosystem
The Samal Bridge and the Writ of Kalikasan
Hosts: Fr JM Manzano SJ, Dr Abe V Rotor, Prof Emoy Rodolfo, AdMU
and Prof Pauline Salvana Bautista
Guest, Director Carmela Marie Santos
Ateneo de Davao University
The Davao-Samal Bridge project summary
Here's a more detailed breakdown:
Project Status:
Construction is ongoing and the project is reportedly on track for completion by 2027.
Legal Challenges:
There are ongoing legal challenges related to the project, including a petition for a Writ of Kalikasan, but these have not significantly disrupted the construction timeline.
Physical Accomplishment:
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has reported that the project has surpassed 12% in overall physical accomplishment.
Timeline:
The project is expected to be completed and operational by 2027.
Key Features:
The bridge is a 3.9-kilometer, four-lane cable-stayed bridge. It will reduce travel time between Samal and Davao City from 30 minutes via ferry to just 5 minutes. AI Overview
Background
SC issues Writ of Kalikasan vs. Davao-Samal bridge project
By Benjamin Pulta
July 1, 2025, 5:29 pm
PNA file photo by Yancy Lim
Mongabay.
China-funded bridge threatens Paradise Reef in southern Philippines
Bong S. Sarmiento
7 Mar 2023AsiaOceans
Samal Island, a popular tourist destination near Davao City in the southern Philippines, is fringed by a 300-meter (980-foot) coral system known as Paradise Reef, which hosts more than 100 coral species.
A plan to build a bridge linking Davao to Samal threatens to destroy the reef, scientists and conservationists warn.
Campaigners in the area are calling on the Philippine government to reroute the bridge to minimize damage to the ecosystem.
SAMAL ISLAND, Philippines — Its official name, the Island Garden City of Samal, tells you all you need to know about this bucolic township off the coast of the southern Philippines. It’s an established tourist destination just offshore from the large city of Davao, and is known for its nature-based attractions such as beaches, waterfalls, a sanctuary for giant clams, and the world’s largest colony of Geoffrey’s rousette (Rousetteus amplexicaudatus), a species of fruit-eating bat.
A favorite getaway for Davao residents as well as other domestic and foreign tourists, the island can be reached from the city by passenger boat for less than $1 in about 10 minutes. Taking a car across involves a longer trip by ferry.
This narrow passage of water, home to the popular Paradise Island Park and Beach Resort, is also the site of a coral reef that runs 300 meters across and 50 wide (980 by 160 feet), known as the Paradise Reef. The reef hosts 79 species of hard corals, 26 species of soft corals, and at least 100 species of reef fish, according to a study commissioned by the resort owners.
But a massive bridge project, meant to boost tourist traffic from the mainland to Samal, threatens to wipe out Paradise Reef if construction pushes through, according to marine biologists and environmentalists. They’ve called on Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to order a rerouting of the $400 million China-funded project to
The project’s EIA, which used a different methodology, rated the live coral coverage at the chosen landing site at just 20.2%. Sotto and her team say the 2019 survey conducted by Ove Arup “was largely incomplete, misleading, deceptive and highly inaccurate.” Ove Arup & Partners did not respond to Mongabay’s request for comment.
The call to reroute the bridge is backed by the Sustainable Davao Movement (SDM), a coalition of at least 20 environmental organizations. And an calling to “Realign the Samal-Davao Bridge,” has gained almost 8,500 signatures since launching three months ago.
Carmela Marie Santos, director of Ecoteneo at Ateneo de Davao University and SDM’s point person for the Save Paradise Reef campaign, has appealed to President Marcos to order the rerouting of the bridge to save Paradise Reef, and to the DPWH to listen to the clamor of environmental groups.
Part 1 - "All in the Name of Progress"
Even today the average life span of man is mid 70. It will not be a surprise if one out of a hundred individuals will be a centenarian. One report claims that the life span of man can be increased up to 140 years by the middle of the millennium. How long did Moses live?
• But cancer is on the rise, so with AIDS, and the spread of genetically linked defects and illness. Work-related and stress-related deaths will likewise increase with heart and severe depression as the leading diseases, followed by the traditional diseases like respiratory and diarrheal diseases. Already there are 15 million people who have died of AIDS and 40 millions more who are living with HIV, the viral infection. A pandemic potential with up to 1 billion people to become affected with HIV has started appearing on some crystal balls and this is not impossible if it hits populous Asia.
• Cloning, the most controversial discovery in biology and medicine, will continue to steal the limelight in this millennium, stirring conscience, ethics and religion. It is now sensed as the biggest threat to human society, and if Frankenstein is back and some people regard him as a hero instead of a villain, we can only imagine the imminent destruction our society faces - the emergence of sub- and ultra- human beings. On the other hand, there are those who look at cloning as an important tool of medicine to enable doctors to save lives and increase life expectancy. They also believe that cloning in situ (on site) will do away with tedious and unreliable organ transplants.
• Gene therapy is in, medicinal healing is out. It means diagnosing the potential disease before it strikes by knowing its source. Actually diseases are triggered by specific genes. Reading the gene map of an individual, the doctor can “cure” the disease right at it genetic source. We call this gene therapy, the newest field in medical science. But the altered gene will be passed on to the next generation. Playing God, isn’t? Definitely it is, and it is possible to use this technology not only for the sake of treatment but for programmed genetic alteration. Another Frankenstein in the offing? But scientists are saying gene therapy can be a tool in removing permanently the genes that cause cancer, AIDS, and genetically linked diseases like diabetes, Down’s Syndrome, and probably alcoholism.
• We are in an age of test tube babies. There are now 100,000 test tube babies in the US alone since 1978, the arrival of Louise Brown, the world’s first test tube baby. The industry has just started booming with sperm and ova banks established and linked with the Internet and other commodity channels. Not only childless couples can have children, but even a sixty year old woman can - through what is coined as menopausal childbirth technology. Surrogate mothers for hire, anyone?
• If diseases can be predicted and successfully treated, and life can be prolonged – these have indeed grave consequences to population increase. Already there are 7.7 billion people inhabiting the earth today, and we are increasing at the rate of more than 80 million a year. After 2150 we shall have reached 13 billion, the estimated maximum capacity our planet can support. Is Malthus right after all? It looks like the ghost of this English political economist and priest is back to warn us, this time more urgent than his 1789 prediction that our population would grow until it reaches the limits of our food supply.
Marine life painting by the author. With him is Sis Bernadette S Racadio, SPC, PhD, educator and environmentalist
Degradation of the land, the breaking up of ecosystems, are resulting to modern day exodus of ecomigrants who cross borders, invade cities and build marginal communities, threaten security of nations, and creates other socio-economic problems. Desertification, soil erosion, overuse of farms drive multitudes to search for greener pasture, many in the guise of overseas workers, settlers, refugees.
The birth of megacities is a human phenomenon in modern times. The world’s cities are bursting at the seams. Half of the world’s population live in urban areas today, and more are coming in. In developed countries 75 percent of their population live in cities. By year 2015, 27 of the world’s 33 largest cities will be found in Asia, with Mumbai and Shanghai bursting with 20 million each. Today the most populous city in the world is Tokyo with 27 million people. New York has 16.3 million which is about the same as Sao Paolo. Metro Manila has 10 million.
On global warming, figures show how the world fares under greenhouse effect. This phenomenon is attributed to the severity of the last three episodes of El Nino in the last three decades, and to the prevalence of deadly tornadoes, hurricane, floods and natural calamities.
A hole in the sky was caused by damaging chemicals that tear down the vital atmospheric ozone shield that keeps us from too much heat and radiation. The size of the ozone hole about the Antarctic region is estimated to be like the whole continental US – and is still expanding. CFC use is now restricted in most countries, but there are other damaging chemicals used by agriculture and industry. Methyl bromide for one is 40 times more destructive to ozone than CFC.
Indeed, this millennium is the deciding point whether we can save Mother Earth - or fail. Already a decade has passed, and the trend of destruction has even increased. If we fail it is also the doom of mankind and the living world. It is yet the greatest challenge to civilization. ~
Facts about the giant clam, Tridacna gigas.
1. In the Philippines it is called taklobo. It is the largest living bivalve mollusk and one of the most endangered clams.
2. It lives on shallow coral reefs of the South Pacific and Indian oceans, up to 20 meters deep.
3. It weighs more than 200 kilograms (440 pounds), and measures as much as 1.2 m (4 feet) across. It has an average lifespan in the wild of 100 years or more.
4. Although larval clams are planktonic, they become sessile in adulthood. Growth is enhanced by the clam's ability to grow algae in symbiosis. The creature's mantle tissues act as a habitat for the symbiotic single-celled dinoflagellate algae (zooxanthellae) from which it gets its nutrition. By day, the clam opens its shell and extends its mantle tissue so that the algae receive the sunlight they need to photosynthesize.
5. T. gigas reproduce sexually. They are hermaphrodites (producing both eggs and sperm), but self fertilization is not possible. Since giant clams can't move across the sea floor, the solution is broadcast spawning. This entails the release of sperm and eggs into the water where fertilization takes place.
Let's save the giant clams. It's better to be assured they are alive on the seafloor than to have their fossils in our home.~
References: Living with Nature by AVRotor; Marine Biology: An Ecological Approach by JW Nybakken; Wikipedia.
Lesson on former Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid with Ms Melly C Tenorio 738 DZRB AM Band, 8 to 9 evening class, Monday to Friday
Atoll, acrylic painting, AVR 1995
Coral Reef, detail of mural at SPUQC, AVR 2000
UST students in phycology, study of seaweeds, Bacnotan, La Union
Scientists today believe that eighty percent of the world’s species of organisms are found in the sea. One can imagine the vastness of the oceans as their habitat – four kilometers deep on the average (12 km at the deepest, Mariana Trench and Philippine Deep), covering 78 percent of the surface of the earth.
Living with Nature - School on Blog
I am a witness of a pair of giant lapulapu (kugtong) in Sablayan Occidental Mindoro caught by local fishermen sometime in 1982. I had been hearing kugtong since childhood, a threat to fishermen and picnickers because it could swallow a whole human being, and here with my own eyes the kugtong in Lola Basiang’s story is true after all.
There is a story about a kugtong that lived under the old pier ofSan Fernando , La Union. For a long time the strange fish was feared by the residents and many animals around had mysteriously disappeared. Then the local fishermen decided to catch it with a big hook luring the fish with a live piglet as bait. The fish took it and struggled until it was finally subdued. It was hauled by many men and if the story is accurate it took a six-by-six truck to transport it.
There is mystery in the biology of lapulapu or grouper as it is known worldwide. Groupers are hermaphroditic, which means that sex switch from male to female and vice versa. The young are predominantly female but transform into males as they grow to about a kilogram in a year, remaining adolescent until they reach three kilos. From here they become females. But wait. When they are about 10 to 12 kg they turn to males and grow very, very big. Lengths over a meter and weights up to 100 kg are not uncommon.
NOTE: Groupers belong to a number of genera, the biggest being Epinephelus and Mycteroperca of then Family Serranidae, Order Perciformes. Not all serranids are called groupers; the family also includes the sea basses. Their mouth and gills form a powerful sucking system that sucks their prey in from a distance. They also use their mouth to dig into sand to form their shelters under big rocks, jetting it out through their gills. Their gill muscles are so powerful that it is nearly impossible to pull them out of their cave if they feel attacked and extend those muscles to lock themselves in. Many groupers are important food fish, and some of them are now farmed. Unlike most other fish species which are chilled or frozen, groupers are usually sold alive in markets. Many species are popular fish for sea angling. Some species are small enough to be kept in aquaria, though even the small species are inclined to grow rapidly. (Wikipedia)
Arusip or ar-arusip, is the most popular sea vegetable in the local market. It is now widely cultivated on seaweed farms.
“Food of the gods.” This is what the ancient Greeks call a special kind of seaweed which the Chinese and Japanese call “food of the emperor.” And only members of the royalty have the exclusive right to partake of this food. It is Porphyra – nori to the Japanese, laver to the Europeans, and gamet to Ilocanos. Thus elevating the status of some 30 species of edible seaweeds to a premium class of food - sea vegetables.
The fact is seaweeds have a wide range of importance from food and medicine, to the manufacture of many industrial products. In nature, seaweeds together with corals and sea grasses, constitute the pasture and forest of the sea, a vast ecosystem, unique in its kind because it is the sanctuary of both marine and terrestrial life, and in the estuaries.
Lately however, we have intruded into this horizon, pushing agriculture beyond land towards the sea. We build fishponds, fish pens and cages, resorts, and we introduce poison from our wasteful living.
And yet we have barely discovered the many uses of seaweeds. Ironically we are indiscriminately and unwittingly destroying the very production base of this valuable resource before we have discovered its full potential – in the same way we are destroying the forest even if we have studied barely 10 percent of the potential value of its composition.
A happy note however, may be found in our success in cultivating seaweeds even before naturally occurring species and stands become exhausted. Seaweed farming has been established in coves and sheltered coral reefs such as in Danajon Reef between Cebu and Bohol, on flat coral beds in Calatagan in Batangas, Zamboanga and Tawi-tawi, to mention the most important plantations. Eucheuma PHOTO, the source of carageenan is the main crop, followed by Gracillaria, Gellidiella and other species as source of algin and agar.
These seaweeds built a multi-million dollar industry locally. Their extracts have revolutionized the food industry, mainly as conditioners in food manufacture. More and more products are derived from them for our everyday use, which other than in food, are used in the manufacture of medicine and drugs, cosmetics, fabrics, paints, films, to mention a few.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------Unlike land plants, no seaweed has been found to be poisonous or pathologic. On the contrary seaweeds are rich in minerals and vitamins, which make them elixir of health. Only one species so far is known to cause dizziness when taken in excess - lato or Caulerpa. A substance responsible to this effect is caulerpin, which may be explored of its potential value in medicine as natural tranquilizer.
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Seaweeds, botanically speaking, are not true plants, but rather algae – giants among their counterpart in the micro-world such as the Chlorella and Spirogyra. Biologists have assigned seaweeds into classes based on their color or dominant pigment, hence green (Chlorophyta), brown (Phaeophyta) and red (Rhodophyta). In terms of niche, these three groupings grow naturally at varying depths - in increasing depth in this order. This is ecologically advantageous and definitely a tool in their evolutionary success.
Food Value of Seaweeds
Fishes that feed on seaweeds contain high levels of Vitamins A and D in their liver, apparently absorbed from the seaweeds. Algae also synthesize appreciable amounts of Vitamins B12, C and K. Another advantage they have over land plants is their rich content of iodine, bromine, potassium, and other chemicals that have been discovered recently, many of which have potential value to medicine and industry.
It is no wonder why people who take seaweeds as regular part of their diet are sturdier and healthier and seldom get sick of anemia, goiter and scurvy. It is an observation that the Ilocanos who are the country’s top consumers of seaweeds generally enjoy good health and long life.
The cultivation of other edible seaweeds now include Enteromorpha, Monostroma, Laminaria, Porphyra and Undaria. The importance of seaweed culture is fast expanding this century, principally for food. This is to show the food value of seaweeds using kelp as a model.
Kelp (Laminaria japonica) contains the following nutrients based on a 100-gram sample: Carotene, 0.57 mg; Thiamine, 0.09 mg; Riboflavin, 0.36 mg; Niacin, 1.60 mg; Protein 8.20 g; Fats, 0.10 g; Carbohydrates, 57 g; Coarse fiber (roughage), 9.80 g; Inorganic salts, 12.90 g; Calcium, 1.18 g; Iron, 0.15 g; and Phosphorus, 0.22g.
Philippine seaweeds which approximate the food value of Laminaria are Eucheuma, Gracillaria PHOTO and Gellidiella. On the other hand, gamet or Porphyra has the following food value. Based on a 100-gram sample, gamet contains protein, 35.6 g; fat, 0.7 g; carbohydrates, 44.3 g; provitamin, 44,500 IU; Vitamin C, 20 mg; Vitamin B1, 0.25 mg; Vitamin B2, 1.24 mg; and Niacin, 10 mg.
Seaweeds Sold in the Market
These seaweeds are commercially sold in Metro Manila, mainly in public markets and in talipapa.
1. Lato or Arusip [Caulerpa racemosa)(Forsk)L Agard], Chlorophyta
2. Guso (Eucheuma sp.), Rhodophyta
3. Gulaman (Gracillaria verrucosa), Rhodophyta
4. Kelp (Laminaria sp.), Phaeophyta
5. Gamet (Porphyra crispata Kjellman ), Rhodophyta
6. Kulot [Gelidiella acerosa (Forsk) Feldman ]
Lato or Caulerpa is of two commercial species, C. racemosa which is cultured in estuaries and fishponds and and C. lentillifera which is usually found growing in the wild. It is the racemosa type that predominates the market. Because of frequent harvesting of this species by local residents lentillifera it is no longer popular in the market. Besides, the cultured Caulerpa is cleaner and more uniform. It has lesser damage and is less pungent than its wild counterpart.
Guso or Eucheuma cotonii is cartilaginous and firm as compared with Caulerpa and because it is very much branched air can circulate better in between the fronds, which explains why its self life may extend up to 3 days. Guso is eaten in fresh state mixed with vegetables or cooked in water and sugar to make into sweets.
Gracillaria verrucosa and G. coronipifolia are the two common species of gulaman. The thallus is bushy with a firm fleshy texture. It is cylindrical and repeatedly divided into subdichotomous branches with numerous lateral proliferation. Gulaman grows up to 25 cm long and has a disclike base. It is found growing in protected, shallow waters.
Gamet or Pophyra crispata Kjellman has a deep red thallus which is flat and membranous with soft gelatinous fronds. Three to nine blades usually form clusters which grow from a very small adhesive disc which has tiny rhizoids attached to the rocky substratum. Gamet grows on rock promontories and rocks exposed directly to the action of waves and wind. This can be observed along the coast of Burgos, Ilocos Norte, which is the major producer of gamet. To date we have not succeeded in culturing gamet in spite of our knowledge on how nori, a species of Porphyra similar to our own gamet, is raised on marine farms in Japan and other parts of the world. The most authentic reason is because the natural habitat of Porphyra is temperate.
Why gamet grows along the northern most tip of Luzon is because the cold Kuroshu Current coming down from Japan reaches this point during the months of December to February. The current probably carries also the reproductive parts of the organisms, which explains the similarity of the Japanese and Philippine species.
Gamet is sold in dried form, compressed in mat, either circular with a diater of 20 to 30 cm, or rectangular in shape measuring some 50cm x 100 cm. Gamet is blanched with boiling water and allowed to cool before salad garnishings are added. It is also added to soup or diningding.
Kulot or Gelidiella acerosa (Forsk) Feldmann and Hamel has tough and wiry thalli, greenish black to dull purple in color. They lie low and creeping on rocks and corals along the intertidal zone. It is very much branched when mature with secondary branches cylindrical at the base and flattened towards the tip and beset on both sides with irregular, pinnately short branches. The fertile branchlets have conspicuous swollen tips.
Kelp or Laminaria is also found in the market. This is popular seaweed growing only in temperate seas. The main supplier is China. Kelp grows to several feet long and is usually thick and broad. It is sold in dried form or cut into strips and soaked in water and rehydrated.
As a source of nutrition and natural medicine, seaweeds are important in commerce and industry and as direct source of food of the people. On the point of ecology, protection of seaweeds in the wild, as well as their cultivation on reefs, farms and estuaries should be integrated under a sound management program of our coastal areas. Thus preserving God’s Eden under the Sea. ~
MANILA – The Supreme Court (SC) has issued a Writ of Kalikasan against the China-funded Samal Island - Davao City Connector Bridge Project, and has referred the case for a temporary environmental protection order (TEPO) to the Court of Appeals (CA).
The respondents include the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the Samal Island Protected Landscape and Seascape Protected Area Management Board, and the China Road and Bridge Corp.
In a press briefing during the first day of the resumption of the SC session on Tuesday, spokesperson Camille Ting said the tribunal "required respondents to file a verified return on the petition within a non-extendable period of 10 days after service of the writ."
"The Supreme Court referred the prayer for a temporary environmental protection order to the Court of Appeals - Cagayan de Oro, for action," Ting added.
As a rule, so-called questions of fact in cases must be settled before lower courts, as the SC generally rules exclusively on questions of law.
Various groups have filed a petition before the SC to halt the construction of the PHP23 billion project that aims to connect Davao City and Samal, Davao del Norte.
The petitioners claimed the project will cause “actual, serious, and irreversible damage” to coral reefs in Paradise Reef, Samal Island, and the marine protected area in Davao City. (PNA)
The respondents include the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the Samal Island Protected Landscape and Seascape Protected Area Management Board, and the China Road and Bridge Corp.
In a press briefing during the first day of the resumption of the SC session on Tuesday, spokesperson Camille Ting said the tribunal "required respondents to file a verified return on the petition within a non-extendable period of 10 days after service of the writ."
"The Supreme Court referred the prayer for a temporary environmental protection order to the Court of Appeals - Cagayan de Oro, for action," Ting added.
As a rule, so-called questions of fact in cases must be settled before lower courts, as the SC generally rules exclusively on questions of law.
Various groups have filed a petition before the SC to halt the construction of the PHP23 billion project that aims to connect Davao City and Samal, Davao del Norte.
The petitioners claimed the project will cause “actual, serious, and irreversible damage” to coral reefs in Paradise Reef, Samal Island, and the marine protected area in Davao City. (PNA)
Mongabay.China-funded bridge threatens Paradise Reef in southern Philippines
Bong S. Sarmiento
7 Mar 2023AsiaOceans
Samal Island, a popular tourist destination near Davao City in the southern Philippines, is fringed by a 300-meter (980-foot) coral system known as Paradise Reef, which hosts more than 100 coral species.
A plan to build a bridge linking Davao to Samal threatens to destroy the reef, scientists and conservationists warn.
Campaigners in the area are calling on the Philippine government to reroute the bridge to minimize damage to the ecosystem.
SAMAL ISLAND, Philippines — Its official name, the Island Garden City of Samal, tells you all you need to know about this bucolic township off the coast of the southern Philippines. It’s an established tourist destination just offshore from the large city of Davao, and is known for its nature-based attractions such as beaches, waterfalls, a sanctuary for giant clams, and the world’s largest colony of Geoffrey’s rousette (Rousetteus amplexicaudatus), a species of fruit-eating bat.
A favorite getaway for Davao residents as well as other domestic and foreign tourists, the island can be reached from the city by passenger boat for less than $1 in about 10 minutes. Taking a car across involves a longer trip by ferry.
This narrow passage of water, home to the popular Paradise Island Park and Beach Resort, is also the site of a coral reef that runs 300 meters across and 50 wide (980 by 160 feet), known as the Paradise Reef. The reef hosts 79 species of hard corals, 26 species of soft corals, and at least 100 species of reef fish, according to a study commissioned by the resort owners.
But a massive bridge project, meant to boost tourist traffic from the mainland to Samal, threatens to wipe out Paradise Reef if construction pushes through, according to marine biologists and environmentalists. They’ve called on Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to order a rerouting of the $400 million China-funded project to
save the coral garden. Tourists enjoy the waters off Paradise Island Park and Beach Resort. Image by Bong S. Sarmiento for Mongabay.
A vital ecosystem
Originally proposed 40 years ago, the Samal Island–Davao City Connector (SIDC) project was finally inaugurated in October 2022 at a groundbreaking ceremony attended by Marcos and the Chinese ambassador to the Philippines, Huang Xilian. The construction contract was awarded to China Road and Bridge Corp. (CRBC), a unit of state-owned China Communications Construction Co. Its Philippine partner on the project is the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
Ninety percent of the funding is in the form of a loan from China, signed toward the end of the administration of former president Rodrigo Duterte. Once completed by the 2027 target date, the 3.98-kilometer (2.47-mile) dual carriageway would allow vehicles to make the crossing in just five minutes, compared to a trip of roughly an hour by ferry, which includes the waiting time.
In the process, however, the bridge will cut across Paradise Reef, and run through land owned by the Rodriguez-Lucas family who have for the past 35 years operated the landmark Paradise Island Park and Beach Resort.
Paradise Reef is a precious coral garden with significant importance to the marine biodiversity around Samal Island, says marine biologist John Michael Lacson.
Lacson strongly recommends rerouting the bridge to save the reef ecosystem. “Paradise Reef is a spawning site — kind of like a bank that keeps hundreds of different kinds of precious coins that were collected throughout history. Spawning is when the bank multiplies those coins and dispenses them into the ocean. The future of coral reefs on the western side of Samal Island depends on this bank,” he said.
In January this year, Lacson took this Mongabay contributor on a guided snorkeling tour of Paradise Reef, which teems with corals and various fish species. Giant clams could be seen dotting the reef and a table coral believed to be more than 100 years old.
If the bridge is built through the site currently proposed, Lacson says the reef won’t survive the five-year construction period; the sedimentation and siltation from the dredging and construction activity will smother the coral polyps through the natural tidal current and kill them.
“The very same current that brings life to this reef will result in its death,” he tells Mongabay.
Lacson’s concern is echoed in the project’s final environmental impact analysis, prepared by advisory group Ove Arup & Partners Hong Kong Ltd. and published in October 2020. The report classifies the bridge as an “environmental critical project” because of its potential significant impacts on the local marine ecosystem.
“The largest potential impact foreseen would be during construction,” the EIA says. “Sedimentation and siltation would be a crucial source of risk and impact.” It adds that marine habitats and organisms in the area are at potential risk as resuspended sediments can settle and suffocate the ecosystem.
Lacson also says that a 10-square-meter (108-square-foot) portion of the coral reef has already been destroyed by the anchors of vessels used to drill boreholes for the geotechnical survey; in all, 97 boreholes will be drilled on and offshore ahead of construction.
Those responsible must held accountable, Lacson says, noting that the Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998 outlaws any activity that damages coral reefs.
Originally proposed 40 years ago, the Samal Island–Davao City Connector (SIDC) project was finally inaugurated in October 2022 at a groundbreaking ceremony attended by Marcos and the Chinese ambassador to the Philippines, Huang Xilian. The construction contract was awarded to China Road and Bridge Corp. (CRBC), a unit of state-owned China Communications Construction Co. Its Philippine partner on the project is the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
Ninety percent of the funding is in the form of a loan from China, signed toward the end of the administration of former president Rodrigo Duterte. Once completed by the 2027 target date, the 3.98-kilometer (2.47-mile) dual carriageway would allow vehicles to make the crossing in just five minutes, compared to a trip of roughly an hour by ferry, which includes the waiting time.
In the process, however, the bridge will cut across Paradise Reef, and run through land owned by the Rodriguez-Lucas family who have for the past 35 years operated the landmark Paradise Island Park and Beach Resort.
Paradise Reef is a precious coral garden with significant importance to the marine biodiversity around Samal Island, says marine biologist John Michael Lacson.
Lacson strongly recommends rerouting the bridge to save the reef ecosystem. “Paradise Reef is a spawning site — kind of like a bank that keeps hundreds of different kinds of precious coins that were collected throughout history. Spawning is when the bank multiplies those coins and dispenses them into the ocean. The future of coral reefs on the western side of Samal Island depends on this bank,” he said.
In January this year, Lacson took this Mongabay contributor on a guided snorkeling tour of Paradise Reef, which teems with corals and various fish species. Giant clams could be seen dotting the reef and a table coral believed to be more than 100 years old.
If the bridge is built through the site currently proposed, Lacson says the reef won’t survive the five-year construction period; the sedimentation and siltation from the dredging and construction activity will smother the coral polyps through the natural tidal current and kill them.
“The very same current that brings life to this reef will result in its death,” he tells Mongabay.
Lacson’s concern is echoed in the project’s final environmental impact analysis, prepared by advisory group Ove Arup & Partners Hong Kong Ltd. and published in October 2020. The report classifies the bridge as an “environmental critical project” because of its potential significant impacts on the local marine ecosystem.
“The largest potential impact foreseen would be during construction,” the EIA says. “Sedimentation and siltation would be a crucial source of risk and impact.” It adds that marine habitats and organisms in the area are at potential risk as resuspended sediments can settle and suffocate the ecosystem.
Lacson also says that a 10-square-meter (108-square-foot) portion of the coral reef has already been destroyed by the anchors of vessels used to drill boreholes for the geotechnical survey; in all, 97 boreholes will be drilled on and offshore ahead of construction.
Those responsible must held accountable, Lacson says, noting that the Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998 outlaws any activity that damages coral reefs.
Paradise Reef is a precious coral garden with significant importance to the marine biodiversity around Samal Island. Image by Alfredo Medina.
Calls to reroute the bridge
On the Davao side, the bridge runs through the village of Hizon, a designated marine protected area with known coral communities, and will connect to Samal in the village of Limao, cutting across the Paradise Island and Costa Marina beach resorts, both owned by the Rodriguez-Lucas family.
The project’s EIA notes that construction over the sea would destroy and disrupt soft corals and patches of hard corals on both sides of the bridge, and also identifies disruptions to seagrass meadows, fish habitats and natural sedimentary habitats. However, the developer’s environmental management plan, which forms part of the EIA, says the project’s impact on soft and hard corals “can be addressed by removing quickly any debris” and proposes regular monitoring of the reef.
The engineering, geological and geohazard report for the project also notes that a sinkhole lies adjacent to the location of the bridge in Samal, and that areas along the coastline exhibit clear indications of limestone dissolution features. These geological features could compromise the integrity of the bridge. However, the EIA says there are “engineering solutions that could address the problem.”
The government has rebuffed fears about the environmental impact of the bridge project. Emil Sadain, senior undersecretary at the DPWH, said in a statement that the final routing of the Samal-Davao bridge “has been exhaustively studied with most beneficial effects in terms of technical, financial, economic, environmental and social impacts.”Davao City’s skyscrapers loom from Samal Island. Image by Bong S. Sarmiento for Mongabay.
On the Davao side, the bridge runs through the village of Hizon, a designated marine protected area with known coral communities, and will connect to Samal in the village of Limao, cutting across the Paradise Island and Costa Marina beach resorts, both owned by the Rodriguez-Lucas family.
The project’s EIA notes that construction over the sea would destroy and disrupt soft corals and patches of hard corals on both sides of the bridge, and also identifies disruptions to seagrass meadows, fish habitats and natural sedimentary habitats. However, the developer’s environmental management plan, which forms part of the EIA, says the project’s impact on soft and hard corals “can be addressed by removing quickly any debris” and proposes regular monitoring of the reef.
The engineering, geological and geohazard report for the project also notes that a sinkhole lies adjacent to the location of the bridge in Samal, and that areas along the coastline exhibit clear indications of limestone dissolution features. These geological features could compromise the integrity of the bridge. However, the EIA says there are “engineering solutions that could address the problem.”
The government has rebuffed fears about the environmental impact of the bridge project. Emil Sadain, senior undersecretary at the DPWH, said in a statement that the final routing of the Samal-Davao bridge “has been exhaustively studied with most beneficial effects in terms of technical, financial, economic, environmental and social impacts.”Davao City’s skyscrapers loom from Samal Island. Image by Bong S. Sarmiento for Mongabay.
Lower-impact alternatives exist
In 2016, the Japanese government through its Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) commissioned a study on a potential Davao-Samal bridge. It identified an old shipyard, now called Bridgeport, as a suitable landing point for the bridge in Samal.
The span would be shorter and cheaper than the Chinese-backed SIDC project, at 2.62 km (1.63 mi) and around 16 billion pesos ($295 million at current rates).
Ramon Lucas, a spokesperson for the Rodriguez-Lucas family, says the METI routing would have been the best option in terms of both cost and environmental impact. The family owns a property close to the shipyard and offered to donate it as an alternative landing site to spare Paradise Reef in front of the beach resort, says Lucas, a lawyer.
In December 2019, the family commissioned a team led by marine biologist Filipina Sotto to conduct a study of the marine biodiversity in three sites in Samal: the chosen landing site, the site proposed by METI, and the property the Rodriguez-Lucas family offered to donate.
They found that the government’s chosen landing site had the healthiest coral, with 36.3% live coral coverage, or LCC. The next healthiest was the site offered by the Rodriguez-Lucas family, with 25% LCC, followed by the METI site, with LCC of just 7.8%. This indicates that either of these alternative site would result in less ecological damage than the plan proposed by the government. Building the bridge as planned, the team of marine biologists wrote, “will definitely cause irreparable, irreversible and incalculable damage to the best marine ecosystem in Samal Island that will have adverse ecological impact to the Davao Gulf as a key marine biodiversity area.”
In 2016, the Japanese government through its Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) commissioned a study on a potential Davao-Samal bridge. It identified an old shipyard, now called Bridgeport, as a suitable landing point for the bridge in Samal.
The span would be shorter and cheaper than the Chinese-backed SIDC project, at 2.62 km (1.63 mi) and around 16 billion pesos ($295 million at current rates).
Ramon Lucas, a spokesperson for the Rodriguez-Lucas family, says the METI routing would have been the best option in terms of both cost and environmental impact. The family owns a property close to the shipyard and offered to donate it as an alternative landing site to spare Paradise Reef in front of the beach resort, says Lucas, a lawyer.
In December 2019, the family commissioned a team led by marine biologist Filipina Sotto to conduct a study of the marine biodiversity in three sites in Samal: the chosen landing site, the site proposed by METI, and the property the Rodriguez-Lucas family offered to donate.
They found that the government’s chosen landing site had the healthiest coral, with 36.3% live coral coverage, or LCC. The next healthiest was the site offered by the Rodriguez-Lucas family, with 25% LCC, followed by the METI site, with LCC of just 7.8%. This indicates that either of these alternative site would result in less ecological damage than the plan proposed by the government. Building the bridge as planned, the team of marine biologists wrote, “will definitely cause irreparable, irreversible and incalculable damage to the best marine ecosystem in Samal Island that will have adverse ecological impact to the Davao Gulf as a key marine biodiversity area.”
The bridge on the side of Samal will land on the property owned by the Rodriguez-Lucas family. Image by Bong S. Sarmiento for Mongabay.
The project’s EIA, which used a different methodology, rated the live coral coverage at the chosen landing site at just 20.2%. Sotto and her team say the 2019 survey conducted by Ove Arup “was largely incomplete, misleading, deceptive and highly inaccurate.” Ove Arup & Partners did not respond to Mongabay’s request for comment.
The call to reroute the bridge is backed by the Sustainable Davao Movement (SDM), a coalition of at least 20 environmental organizations. And an calling to “Realign the Samal-Davao Bridge,” has gained almost 8,500 signatures since launching three months ago.
Carmela Marie Santos, director of Ecoteneo at Ateneo de Davao University and SDM’s point person for the Save Paradise Reef campaign, has appealed to President Marcos to order the rerouting of the bridge to save Paradise Reef, and to the DPWH to listen to the clamor of environmental groups.
References and Review Articles
- Ecology's Dilemma Today
Coral Reef, counterpart of our forest on land
• It looks like man has been able to trace the source of the water that comes from the proverbial Pierian Spring, the secret of health and long life. For years it was believed that the spring lies up in Shangrila atop the Himalayas, or according to the Greeks on Mt. Olympus, or the Egyptians in the Pyramids. One does not have to go there now.
Even today the average life span of man is mid 70. It will not be a surprise if one out of a hundred individuals will be a centenarian. One report claims that the life span of man can be increased up to 140 years by the middle of the millennium. How long did Moses live?
• But cancer is on the rise, so with AIDS, and the spread of genetically linked defects and illness. Work-related and stress-related deaths will likewise increase with heart and severe depression as the leading diseases, followed by the traditional diseases like respiratory and diarrheal diseases. Already there are 15 million people who have died of AIDS and 40 millions more who are living with HIV, the viral infection. A pandemic potential with up to 1 billion people to become affected with HIV has started appearing on some crystal balls and this is not impossible if it hits populous Asia.
• Cloning, the most controversial discovery in biology and medicine, will continue to steal the limelight in this millennium, stirring conscience, ethics and religion. It is now sensed as the biggest threat to human society, and if Frankenstein is back and some people regard him as a hero instead of a villain, we can only imagine the imminent destruction our society faces - the emergence of sub- and ultra- human beings. On the other hand, there are those who look at cloning as an important tool of medicine to enable doctors to save lives and increase life expectancy. They also believe that cloning in situ (on site) will do away with tedious and unreliable organ transplants.
• Gene therapy is in, medicinal healing is out. It means diagnosing the potential disease before it strikes by knowing its source. Actually diseases are triggered by specific genes. Reading the gene map of an individual, the doctor can “cure” the disease right at it genetic source. We call this gene therapy, the newest field in medical science. But the altered gene will be passed on to the next generation. Playing God, isn’t? Definitely it is, and it is possible to use this technology not only for the sake of treatment but for programmed genetic alteration. Another Frankenstein in the offing? But scientists are saying gene therapy can be a tool in removing permanently the genes that cause cancer, AIDS, and genetically linked diseases like diabetes, Down’s Syndrome, and probably alcoholism.
• We are in an age of test tube babies. There are now 100,000 test tube babies in the US alone since 1978, the arrival of Louise Brown, the world’s first test tube baby. The industry has just started booming with sperm and ova banks established and linked with the Internet and other commodity channels. Not only childless couples can have children, but even a sixty year old woman can - through what is coined as menopausal childbirth technology. Surrogate mothers for hire, anyone?
• If diseases can be predicted and successfully treated, and life can be prolonged – these have indeed grave consequences to population increase. Already there are 7.7 billion people inhabiting the earth today, and we are increasing at the rate of more than 80 million a year. After 2150 we shall have reached 13 billion, the estimated maximum capacity our planet can support. Is Malthus right after all? It looks like the ghost of this English political economist and priest is back to warn us, this time more urgent than his 1789 prediction that our population would grow until it reaches the limits of our food supply.
• Our Earth is getting warmer, and this is not any kind of comfort but destruction. We have experienced seven of the ten warmest years in the past decade and we are heading toward another Noah’s episode. Low lying areas where the rich farmlands and many big cities virtually squat will be flooded. Heat is trapped by the carbon that we generate from our cars and industries creating a “greenhouse effect.” As the world’s temperature increases, the polar ice will melt, more rains and climatic disturbances will ensue. Climate scientists have predicted that by year 2100 the earth’s temperature will go up from 1 to 3.5 degrees centigrade. But wait, the worst is yet to come. Global warming will plunge us ultimately – towards the middle of the millennium – into another ice age! There will be a buildup of ice at the polar regions as the ocean currents fail to carry warm water to the poles and back.
• The trend of lifestyle will be toward the simple and natural, even in the midst of high tech living. More and more people will go for natural food and natural medicine as they become conscious of their health. The media and the information highway will provide more people access to entertainment and information. Remote management and distance learning will greatly influence business and education. But people will still seek greener pastures in cities and in foreign lands.
• “Save the earth!” has yet to be a denominator of cooperation and peace among nations. The failure of the Earth Summit some years ago at Rio de Janairo, and the first summit before in Stockholm, has produced valuable lessons leaders must learn. There is only one ship in which all of us are riding. Let us all save our ship.
All in the name of Progress
It is all in the name of progress that nations are pursuing. The West insists of pushing the frontiers of technology into the so-called “third wave.” The East, the Asian Pacific region, insists on industrialization in order to catch up with the progress of the West, while the Middle East has yet to undergo a major socio-cultural and political transformation while aiming at lofty economic goals.
Progress, it is generally believed, is the aim of globalization, and globalization is building of a world village. Isn’t this the key to peace and cooperation? Sounds familiar to scholars and leaders.
Maybe, but the greatest challenge lies in the preservation of a healthy Mother Earth, a common denominator of concern irrespective of political, ideological and religious boundaries. It is the saving of the environment that will be the biggest challenge to this and the coming generations.
Poor Rating of Earth Summit
The recent Copenhagen Earth Summit renewed basically the agenda of previous summits. But demonstrators expressed pessimism over the sincerity of world leaders on environmental issues.
They had in mind what happened to the promises made by leaders from 178 nations who gathered in the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro some years ago. These are the four areas of accord: biodiversity, climate, deforestation, and population.
On the biodiversity accord signed by 161 countries (except the US), ecosystems continue to be assaulted and fragmented. On arresting global warming as a result of emissions from industries and vehicles, developing countries on the path of industrialization have exacerbated the problem. Deforestation virtually knows no limits and bounds as long as there is wilderness to conquer. Every year forests are lost the size of Nepal. Asia has lost 95 percent of its woodlands.
There are now 7.7 billion people on earth. Every year about 85 million people are added. This is slightly bigger than the Philippines’ total population. Although birth rates are going down in the West as well as in the NICS, there is a boom in babies in rural Asia, Latin America and Africa.
What is the score of the Earth Summit? Rhetorics and promises can not be relied upon. It is in this area that globalization should be reviewed. Globalization should be defined in economic, cultural and environmental terms. This triad approach has yet to be addressed to all members of the global village. And there should be a new world governance, more credible than the UN, to undertake this gargantuan task.
Idyllic rural life. People tend to go and live in the city. Painting by the author.
• The trend of lifestyle will be toward the simple and natural, even in the midst of high tech living. More and more people will go for natural food and natural medicine as they become conscious of their health. The media and the information highway will provide more people access to entertainment and information. Remote management and distance learning will greatly influence business and education. But people will still seek greener pastures in cities and in foreign lands.
All in the name of Progress
It is all in the name of progress that nations are pursuing. The West insists of pushing the frontiers of technology into the so-called “third wave.” The East, the Asian Pacific region, insists on industrialization in order to catch up with the progress of the West, while the Middle East has yet to undergo a major socio-cultural and political transformation while aiming at lofty economic goals.
Progress, it is generally believed, is the aim of globalization, and globalization is building of a world village. Isn’t this the key to peace and cooperation? Sounds familiar to scholars and leaders.
Maybe, but the greatest challenge lies in the preservation of a healthy Mother Earth, a common denominator of concern irrespective of political, ideological and religious boundaries. It is the saving of the environment that will be the biggest challenge to this and the coming generations.
Poor Rating of Earth Summit
The recent Copenhagen Earth Summit renewed basically the agenda of previous summits. But demonstrators expressed pessimism over the sincerity of world leaders on environmental issues.
They had in mind what happened to the promises made by leaders from 178 nations who gathered in the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro some years ago. These are the four areas of accord: biodiversity, climate, deforestation, and population.
On the biodiversity accord signed by 161 countries (except the US), ecosystems continue to be assaulted and fragmented. On arresting global warming as a result of emissions from industries and vehicles, developing countries on the path of industrialization have exacerbated the problem. Deforestation virtually knows no limits and bounds as long as there is wilderness to conquer. Every year forests are lost the size of Nepal. Asia has lost 95 percent of its woodlands.
There are now 7.7 billion people on earth. Every year about 85 million people are added. This is slightly bigger than the Philippines’ total population. Although birth rates are going down in the West as well as in the NICS, there is a boom in babies in rural Asia, Latin America and Africa.
What is the score of the Earth Summit? Rhetorics and promises can not be relied upon. It is in this area that globalization should be reviewed. Globalization should be defined in economic, cultural and environmental terms. This triad approach has yet to be addressed to all members of the global village. And there should be a new world governance, more credible than the UN, to undertake this gargantuan task.
Idyllic rural life. People tend to go and live in the city. Painting by the author. “Hundreds of millions of people will starve to death,” warned Paul Ehrlich in his book, The Population Bomb. This is an echo of the Malthusian Theory raised 250 years ago. This means farmers, in spite of biotechnology, can not keep up indefinitely with increasing food demands. Yet there is a great disparity in food distribution. While the average adult needs 2200 calories a day, an American consumes 3603 as compared to the intake of a Kenyan which is only 1991 calories.
Degradation of the land, the breaking up of ecosystems, are resulting to modern day exodus of ecomigrants who cross borders, invade cities and build marginal communities, threaten security of nations, and creates other socio-economic problems. Desertification, soil erosion, overuse of farms drive multitudes to search for greener pasture, many in the guise of overseas workers, settlers, refugees.
The birth of megacities is a human phenomenon in modern times. The world’s cities are bursting at the seams. Half of the world’s population live in urban areas today, and more are coming in. In developed countries 75 percent of their population live in cities. By year 2015, 27 of the world’s 33 largest cities will be found in Asia, with Mumbai and Shanghai bursting with 20 million each. Today the most populous city in the world is Tokyo with 27 million people. New York has 16.3 million which is about the same as Sao Paolo. Metro Manila has 10 million.
On global warming, figures show how the world fares under greenhouse effect. This phenomenon is attributed to the severity of the last three episodes of El Nino in the last three decades, and to the prevalence of deadly tornadoes, hurricane, floods and natural calamities.
A hole in the sky was caused by damaging chemicals that tear down the vital atmospheric ozone shield that keeps us from too much heat and radiation. The size of the ozone hole about the Antarctic region is estimated to be like the whole continental US – and is still expanding. CFC use is now restricted in most countries, but there are other damaging chemicals used by agriculture and industry. Methyl bromide for one is 40 times more destructive to ozone than CFC.
Indeed, this millennium is the deciding point whether we can save Mother Earth - or fail. Already a decade has passed, and the trend of destruction has even increased. If we fail it is also the doom of mankind and the living world. It is yet the greatest challenge to civilization. ~
Credit: Museum of Natural History UPLB, Marlo Rotor for the photo. and Wikipedia
Part 2 - Let's Save the Giant Clam (Taklobo -Tridacna gigas)*
Dr Abe V Rotor
Living with Nature School on Blog [ avrotor.blogspot.com ]
Former Professor, UST Graduate School
Author and his students lift a living specimen of the Giant Clam
(Tridacna gigas) from its natural habitat during an on-site study
off the coast of Masinloc, Zambales.
A seven-kilogram Tridacna gigas is examined by students in Environmental Science from the UST Graduate School. Lower photo shows its natural habitat at 6 to 14 feet on coral reef of San Salvador Island, east of Masinloc, Zambales.
1. In the Philippines it is called taklobo. It is the largest living bivalve mollusk and one of the most endangered clams.
2. It lives on shallow coral reefs of the South Pacific and Indian oceans, up to 20 meters deep.
3. It weighs more than 200 kilograms (440 pounds), and measures as much as 1.2 m (4 feet) across. It has an average lifespan in the wild of 100 years or more.
4. Although larval clams are planktonic, they become sessile in adulthood. Growth is enhanced by the clam's ability to grow algae in symbiosis. The creature's mantle tissues act as a habitat for the symbiotic single-celled dinoflagellate algae (zooxanthellae) from which it gets its nutrition. By day, the clam opens its shell and extends its mantle tissue so that the algae receive the sunlight they need to photosynthesize.
5. T. gigas reproduce sexually. They are hermaphrodites (producing both eggs and sperm), but self fertilization is not possible. Since giant clams can't move across the sea floor, the solution is broadcast spawning. This entails the release of sperm and eggs into the water where fertilization takes place.
Let's save the giant clams. It's better to be assured they are alive on the seafloor than to have their fossils in our home.~
Tridacna in its natural habitat - lighted seafloor. Right, Tridacna graveyard.
Shell is highly prized for locally and for export. Collection and selling
of Tridacna shell is strictly prohibited.
Mrs Cecilia Rojas Rotor, author's wife. poses before a giant Tridacna shell as holy water receptacle in Mount Carmel Church, QC
------------------*Why are giant clams endangered in the Philippines? Giant clams, which can weigh up to 200kg and live for more than a century, face an existential threat from illegal poaching – and very likely organized crime – which has spiked in the last few years across Philippine and Indonesian waters, conservationists have warned. Internet Apr 26, 2023Lesson on former Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid with Ms Melly C Tenorio 738 DZRB AM Band, 8 to 9 evening class, Monday to Friday
Part 3 - The Ocean Biome
Scientists today believe that eighty percent of the world’s species of organisms are found in the sea.
Dr Abe V Rotor
Atoll, acrylic painting, AVR 1995
Coral Reef, detail of mural at SPUQC, AVR 2000
UST students in phycology, study of seaweeds, Bacnotan, La UnionYoung people create scenarios of Jules Verne’s, “Ten Thousand Leagues Under the Sea,” such as the diorama shown here, imagining man’s futuristic exploration in the deep led by Captain Nemo, the idealistic but ruthless scientist. Such scenarios are no longer fantasy today – they are scenes captured by the camera and other modern tools of research.
Latest development
An international team of scientists has discovered 17,000 species living in darkness some three miles beneath the surface of the world's oceans. Scientists believe there are thousands more species yet to be discovered. Among the bottom dwellers discovered are Enypnioastes - a species of transparent sea cucumber that feed on sediments on the ocean floor; Neocyema,
rare fish, elongated and orange in color found in the Atlantic Ocean; Dumbo, a six-foot octopus; and Copepods, almost microscopic crustaceans sub-species of freshwater species. (Time, December 17 2009)
Left, Enypniastes is a genus of deep-sea sea cucumber. Due to its unique appearance, the genus has been dubbed the headless chicken fish, headless chicken monster, and the Spanish dancer. It is also known as the swimming sea cucumber. Right, Dumbo, a six-foot octopus
Miniature diorama of a tropical coral reef, by the author,
Our concern on the ocean biome is not one of exploration alone, but conservation, for our oceans, limitless as they seem, are facing the same threats of pollution and other abuses man is inflicting on land and air. The sea is man’s last frontier. Let us give it a chance.~
Miniature diorama of a tropical coral reef, by the author, former St Paul University Museum, QC
Part 4 - Kugtong - Giant Grouper (Lapulapu)
Dr Abe V RotorI am a witness of a pair of giant lapulapu (kugtong) in Sablayan Occidental Mindoro caught by local fishermen sometime in 1982. I had been hearing kugtong since childhood, a threat to fishermen and picnickers because it could swallow a whole human being, and here with my own eyes the kugtong in Lola Basiang’s story is true after all.
Groupers (lapu-lapu). Giant lapulapu is locally called kugtong. (Photo credit Internet)
So huge are these overgrown lapulapu that two men could hardly carry one of them with a bamboo pole on their shoulders. A third man had to lift its tail from the ground as they inched their way to a waiting truck. I examined the fish; its body is coarse and shaggy, covered with seaweeds and tiny mollusks, and had lost all semblance of the favorite lapulapu on our dining table. But this makes a perfect camouflage that suits the predatory habit of this benthic fish.There is a story about a kugtong that lived under the old pier of
There is mystery in the biology of lapulapu or grouper as it is known worldwide. Groupers are hermaphroditic, which means that sex switch from male to female and vice versa. The young are predominantly female but transform into males as they grow to about a kilogram in a year, remaining adolescent until they reach three kilos. From here they become females. But wait. When they are about 10 to 12 kg they turn to males and grow very, very big. Lengths over a meter and weights up to 100 kg are not uncommon. A newspaper reported a 396.8 pound grouper being caught off the waters near Pulau Sembilan in the Straits of Malacca in 2008. Shenzhen newspaper reported that a 1.8 meter grouper swallowed a 1.0 meter whitetip reef shark at the Fuzhou Sea World aquarium.
So I asked my friend Dr. Anselmo S Cabigan, a fellow biologist. “What is really the sex of a full grown kugtong, such as those I found in Mindoro ?”
In my research it is male. The male is larger and wilder than the female, and I use as analogy the bull to cow, rooster to hen, peacock to peahen, lion to lioness. Dr Cabigan thinks it otherwise. The female is larger, in fact much larger, that the male is virtually a remora-size creature attached to the female. I imagine the huge size of the queen termite as compared to the tiny king termite. The enigma of the groupers, considering their varied genera and species, and worldwide distribution could yet reveal other amazing facts about the kugtong. At least we are sure the kugtong does exists.
How dangerous is the kugtong? It has the strategy of lying in wait, rather than chase in open water. It swallows prey rather than bite pieces of it. According to a report, there is at least one record, from Mozambique , of a human being killed by one of these fish.
There are giants in the deep. After the tsunami in 2004 that hit the Indian Ocean , by coincidence I saw giant squids measuring 3 feet long being sold at the SM Fairview supermarket. I surmise that these were flushed out from their deep dwellings and landed in the fisherman’s net when the calamity struck. I remember the giant squid that almost sank Captain Nemo’s submarine in Jules Verne’s “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.”
NOTE: Groupers belong to a number of genera, the biggest being Epinephelus and Mycteroperca of then Family Serranidae, Order Perciformes. Not all serranids are called groupers; the family also includes the sea basses. Their mouth and gills form a powerful sucking system that sucks their prey in from a distance. They also use their mouth to dig into sand to form their shelters under big rocks, jetting it out through their gills. Their gill muscles are so powerful that it is nearly impossible to pull them out of their cave if they feel attacked and extend those muscles to lock themselves in. Many groupers are important food fish, and some of them are now farmed. Unlike most other fish species which are chilled or frozen, groupers are usually sold alive in markets. Many species are popular fish for sea angling. Some species are small enough to be kept in aquaria, though even the small species are inclined to grow rapidly. (Wikipedia)
Part 5 - Phycology: Seaweeds - Vegetables of the Sea
“Food of the gods.” This is what the ancient Greeks call a special kind of seaweed which the Chinese and Japanese call “food of the emperor.” And only members of the royalty have the exclusive right to partake of this food. It is Porphyra – nori to the Japanese, laver to the Europeans, and gamet to Ilocanos. Thus elevating the status of some 30 species of edible seaweeds to a premium class of food - sea vegetables.
The fact is seaweeds have a wide range of importance from food and medicine, to the manufacture of many industrial products. In nature, seaweeds together with corals and sea grasses, constitute the pasture and forest of the sea, a vast ecosystem, unique in its kind because it is the sanctuary of both marine and terrestrial life, and in the estuaries.
Lately however, we have intruded into this horizon, pushing agriculture beyond land towards the sea. We build fishponds, fish pens and cages, resorts, and we introduce poison from our wasteful living.
And yet we have barely discovered the many uses of seaweeds. Ironically we are indiscriminately and unwittingly destroying the very production base of this valuable resource before we have discovered its full potential – in the same way we are destroying the forest even if we have studied barely 10 percent of the potential value of its composition.
A happy note however, may be found in our success in cultivating seaweeds even before naturally occurring species and stands become exhausted. Seaweed farming has been established in coves and sheltered coral reefs such as in Danajon Reef between Cebu and Bohol, on flat coral beds in Calatagan in Batangas, Zamboanga and Tawi-tawi, to mention the most important plantations. Eucheuma PHOTO, the source of carageenan is the main crop, followed by Gracillaria, Gellidiella and other species as source of algin and agar.
These seaweeds built a multi-million dollar industry locally. Their extracts have revolutionized the food industry, mainly as conditioners in food manufacture. More and more products are derived from them for our everyday use, which other than in food, are used in the manufacture of medicine and drugs, cosmetics, fabrics, paints, films, to mention a few.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------Unlike land plants, no seaweed has been found to be poisonous or pathologic. On the contrary seaweeds are rich in minerals and vitamins, which make them elixir of health. Only one species so far is known to cause dizziness when taken in excess - lato or Caulerpa. A substance responsible to this effect is caulerpin, which may be explored of its potential value in medicine as natural tranquilizer.
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Seaweeds, botanically speaking, are not true plants, but rather algae – giants among their counterpart in the micro-world such as the Chlorella and Spirogyra. Biologists have assigned seaweeds into classes based on their color or dominant pigment, hence green (Chlorophyta), brown (Phaeophyta) and red (Rhodophyta). In terms of niche, these three groupings grow naturally at varying depths - in increasing depth in this order. This is ecologically advantageous and definitely a tool in their evolutionary success.
Food Value of Seaweeds
Fishes that feed on seaweeds contain high levels of Vitamins A and D in their liver, apparently absorbed from the seaweeds. Algae also synthesize appreciable amounts of Vitamins B12, C and K. Another advantage they have over land plants is their rich content of iodine, bromine, potassium, and other chemicals that have been discovered recently, many of which have potential value to medicine and industry.
It is no wonder why people who take seaweeds as regular part of their diet are sturdier and healthier and seldom get sick of anemia, goiter and scurvy. It is an observation that the Ilocanos who are the country’s top consumers of seaweeds generally enjoy good health and long life.
The cultivation of other edible seaweeds now include Enteromorpha, Monostroma, Laminaria, Porphyra and Undaria. The importance of seaweed culture is fast expanding this century, principally for food. This is to show the food value of seaweeds using kelp as a model.
Kelp (Laminaria japonica) contains the following nutrients based on a 100-gram sample: Carotene, 0.57 mg; Thiamine, 0.09 mg; Riboflavin, 0.36 mg; Niacin, 1.60 mg; Protein 8.20 g; Fats, 0.10 g; Carbohydrates, 57 g; Coarse fiber (roughage), 9.80 g; Inorganic salts, 12.90 g; Calcium, 1.18 g; Iron, 0.15 g; and Phosphorus, 0.22g.
Philippine seaweeds which approximate the food value of Laminaria are Eucheuma, Gracillaria PHOTO and Gellidiella. On the other hand, gamet or Porphyra has the following food value. Based on a 100-gram sample, gamet contains protein, 35.6 g; fat, 0.7 g; carbohydrates, 44.3 g; provitamin, 44,500 IU; Vitamin C, 20 mg; Vitamin B1, 0.25 mg; Vitamin B2, 1.24 mg; and Niacin, 10 mg.
Seaweeds Sold in the Market
These seaweeds are commercially sold in Metro Manila, mainly in public markets and in talipapa.
1. Lato or Arusip [Caulerpa racemosa)(Forsk)L Agard], Chlorophyta
2. Guso (Eucheuma sp.), Rhodophyta
3. Gulaman (Gracillaria verrucosa), Rhodophyta
4. Kelp (Laminaria sp.), Phaeophyta
5. Gamet (Porphyra crispata Kjellman ), Rhodophyta
6. Kulot [Gelidiella acerosa (Forsk) Feldman ]
Lato or Caulerpa is of two commercial species, C. racemosa which is cultured in estuaries and fishponds and and C. lentillifera which is usually found growing in the wild. It is the racemosa type that predominates the market. Because of frequent harvesting of this species by local residents lentillifera it is no longer popular in the market. Besides, the cultured Caulerpa is cleaner and more uniform. It has lesser damage and is less pungent than its wild counterpart.
Guso or Eucheuma cotonii is cartilaginous and firm as compared with Caulerpa and because it is very much branched air can circulate better in between the fronds, which explains why its self life may extend up to 3 days. Guso is eaten in fresh state mixed with vegetables or cooked in water and sugar to make into sweets.
Gracillaria verrucosa and G. coronipifolia are the two common species of gulaman. The thallus is bushy with a firm fleshy texture. It is cylindrical and repeatedly divided into subdichotomous branches with numerous lateral proliferation. Gulaman grows up to 25 cm long and has a disclike base. It is found growing in protected, shallow waters.
Gamet or Pophyra crispata Kjellman has a deep red thallus which is flat and membranous with soft gelatinous fronds. Three to nine blades usually form clusters which grow from a very small adhesive disc which has tiny rhizoids attached to the rocky substratum. Gamet grows on rock promontories and rocks exposed directly to the action of waves and wind. This can be observed along the coast of Burgos, Ilocos Norte, which is the major producer of gamet. To date we have not succeeded in culturing gamet in spite of our knowledge on how nori, a species of Porphyra similar to our own gamet, is raised on marine farms in Japan and other parts of the world. The most authentic reason is because the natural habitat of Porphyra is temperate.
Why gamet grows along the northern most tip of Luzon is because the cold Kuroshu Current coming down from Japan reaches this point during the months of December to February. The current probably carries also the reproductive parts of the organisms, which explains the similarity of the Japanese and Philippine species.
Gamet is sold in dried form, compressed in mat, either circular with a diater of 20 to 30 cm, or rectangular in shape measuring some 50cm x 100 cm. Gamet is blanched with boiling water and allowed to cool before salad garnishings are added. It is also added to soup or diningding.
Kulot or Gelidiella acerosa (Forsk) Feldmann and Hamel has tough and wiry thalli, greenish black to dull purple in color. They lie low and creeping on rocks and corals along the intertidal zone. It is very much branched when mature with secondary branches cylindrical at the base and flattened towards the tip and beset on both sides with irregular, pinnately short branches. The fertile branchlets have conspicuous swollen tips.
Kelp or Laminaria is also found in the market. This is popular seaweed growing only in temperate seas. The main supplier is China. Kelp grows to several feet long and is usually thick and broad. It is sold in dried form or cut into strips and soaked in water and rehydrated.
As a source of nutrition and natural medicine, seaweeds are important in commerce and industry and as direct source of food of the people. On the point of ecology, protection of seaweeds in the wild, as well as their cultivation on reefs, farms and estuaries should be integrated under a sound management program of our coastal areas. Thus preserving God’s Eden under the Sea. ~
Author (top, right) leads UST students in Phycology (study of algae) in a field research at Bacnotan, La Union
Codium or pokpoklo is popular among Ilocanos as fresh salad
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A species of Caulerpa has became invasive in the Mediterranean like weed in a field.
Corals and algae for a symbiotic relationship, that one cannot exist without the other.Part 6 - Heroes for Mother Earth
Today, rather than defending himself against nature,
man has realized that he needed to defend nature against himself.
Dr Abe V Rotor
Endangered Earth in acrylic by the author
Then in the past century man began to dominate nature and soon attempted to overrun the planet. It was a 360 degrees turn. Today, rather than defending himself against nature, he has realized that he needed to defend nature against himself.
This is the beginning of a new environmental movement. Leaders of this movement are acclaimed protectors of our home – our only home, Planet Earth. They are regarded as the new breed of heroes. Now, who are these heroes? As we go through these names and analyze their contributions we hope to be able to understand this new concept of heroism.
Theodore Roosevelt, often referred to as Teddy or TR, was an American statesman, author, explorer, soldier, naturalist, and reformer who served as the 26th President of the United States, from 1901 to 1909.
- Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) was the first president to make conservation as a national policy.
- Ernest Schumacher (1911-1977) did not believe in endless growth, mega-companies and endless consumption, His book Small is Beautiful became a best seller.
Ernst Friedrich "Fritz" Schumacher was an internationally influential economic thinker, statistician and economist in Britain, serving as Chief Economic Advisor to the UK National Coal Board for two decades.
- Barbara Ward (1914-1981) is the author of Only One Earth which shaped the UN environmental conference.
- E.O. Wilson (1929- ) PHOTO founded sociobiology in the 70s, saying that such human behavior as sexuality, aggression and altruism had a genetic basis. Recently he articulated the importance of bio-diversity in keeping the Earth healthy.
Edward Osborne "E. O." Wilson FMLS is an American biologist, researcher, theorist, naturalist and author. His biological specialty is myrmecology, the study of ants, on which he is considered to be the world's leading expert.
- Paul Crutzen (1933- ), F. Sherwood Rowland (1927- ) and Mario Molina (1943- ) showed that man-made chemicals, the major culprit chloro-fluoro-carbons or CFC, destroys the ozone layer. The 1987 Montreal Protocol phased out CFC. Nobel prizes were given to the three scientists.
- Jacques-Yves Cousteau (1910-1995? ) Oceanographer and showman, espoused the need to arrest the declining health of the oceans.
- Rachel Carson (1009-1964) Mother of modern environmentalism, wrote Silent Spring documenting the deadly carnage of wrought by pesticides.
Rachel Louise Carson was an American marine biologist and conservationist whose book Silent Spring and other writings are credited with advancing the global environmental movement.
- Aldo Leopold (1887-1948) advocated the total protection of certain wilderness areas, established the land ethic which is summed up, “anything that harms an ecosystem is ethically and aesthetically wrong.”
- Barry Commoner (1917- ) Paul Revere in ecology, one of the first scientist to worry about the deteriorating environment, organized the eco-based Citizens’ Party ticket which paved a new political movement.
- Barry Commoner was an American biologist, college professor, and politician. He was a leading ecologist and among the founders of the modern environmental movement.
- Wangari Muta Maathai was a Kenyan environmental and political activist. She was educated in the United States at Mount St. Scholastica and the University of Pittsburgh, as well as the University of Nairobi in Kenya.
- Wangari Maathai (1940- ) activist, organized the Green Belt Movement against reckless development in Kenya, stopped construction of a 69-storey office tower in a vital public space.
- Robert Hunter (1941- ) and Paul Watson (1950- ) pioneers of Greenpeace, then founder a more radical eco-organization, Sea Shepherd Conservation, and latest, Greenspeak and Frankenfood which are against genetically modified foods.
- Medha Patkar (1954- ) activist, forced WB to withdraw support Sardar Sarovar Dam along India’s Narmada River, saving half a million villagers from being displaced.
- Chico Mendes (1944-1988) Brazil environmental conscience, formed human barriers whenever chain saws and bulldozers threatened the rainforest, cut down by ranchers’ bullets.
There are many other Heroes for the Planet Earth, unknown and unsung. On the part of the church, St. Francis of Assisi is regarded as the patron saint of ecology. In ancient times, Aristotle was the first naturalist of global significance, and whose works are still relevant today.
Among the philosophers, Henry David Thoreau is known for his discourse on human liberty and survival in “Walden Pond” which still stirs imagination on how one man can live alone in the wilderness yet retains his rationality.
When Mac-liing was gunned down by unknown assailants for openly protesting the government’s Upper Chico River dam project his image was that of a rebel rather than one who was fighting for the preservation of the ancestral lands of the Kalingas. Thousands of hectares were to disappear under water when the dam is completed, a case similar to Pantabangan dam which forever submerged a whole town, vast farmlands and forests.
Philippine national hero Jose Rizal as a student
We have our own national hero Dr. Jose Rizal as an environmentalist in exile at Dapitan, and a naturalist even when he was a boy.~
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