|
By Anthony Bayarong, Correspondent
SUBIC BAY Freeport: Marine life in Subic Bay
Freeport is now under threat not from continuous development but
from a species of starfish called “taeng kalabaw.”
Scientifically known as acanthaster planci, it
is a predator of hard corals that could reduce coral reef to a mass
of skeletons in a matter of weeks.
Commonly known as “taeng kalabaw,” it is the
only poisonous starfish of its kind that feeds on coral reefs
leaving it dead in a matter of hours.
Reports from the Subic Bay Metropolitan
Authority said that the starfish have already damaged 700 meters of
a three-kilometer reef in Grande Island. Grande Island is located at
the mouth of Subic Bay and is one of the more popular snorkeling and
diving spots for tourists.
The killer starfish has also reportedly damaged
another stretch of coral reef located at a hidden beach near Grande
Island.
Marine biologist Dorothy Joyce Ardiente of
SBMA’s Ecology Center said that consultants of SBMA for its
coastal resource management program first reported the infestation
after conducting a survey in the said areas early this month.
The crown-of-thorns colonies were seen attacking
various forms of corals, including branching and tabular species,
massive and encrusting corals, as well as solitary forms such as
mushroom corals.
“Obviously, such number obtained would
represent an outbreak,” survey team Ruben Estudillo warned in his
report.
“If no immediate control measure is done, the
large number of Acanthaster observed could swiftly reduce the small
reef to a mass of dead coral skeletons, which will be rapidly
overgrown with algae,” he added.
SBMA Ecology Center Manager Amethya de la
Llana-Koval has called on the help of volunteers from dive shops in
the Subic Bay area to join clean-up operations that is expected to
last for a few months.
“We’re calling on more volunteers to help
save Subic’s coral reefs,” she said.
The volunteer divers, accompanied by personnel
from the Ecology Center and the SBMA Harbor Patrol, have been
conducting collection operations almost daily since last week, and
coming up with about a hundred crown-of-thorns starfish for each
half-day dive.
Last week, divers from the Ocean Adventure
collected a total of 435 crown-of-thorns, Koval said. On Tuesday,
volunteers from Diver Down International came up with 100, Boardwalk
Dive Center with 300, and Master Dive with 90 starfish.
Koval said the killer starfish collected are
brought to the landfill area where they are buried.
She also explained that the killer starfish is
neither edible nor dangerous to humans.
“The poison is not fatal to humans unless one
develops an allergic reaction,” Koval continued.
Divers use sticks and tongs to pry the
crown-of-thorns starfish off their coral prey, then bags them for
disposal.
“It’s a painstaking process,” Ardiente
said. “The starfish have long barbs that could inject poisonous
stings. The divers have to be very careful in handling them.”
Estudillo also said in his report that this is
the first time that a crown-of-thorns outbreak has been observed
here in Subic Bay.
Similar outbreaks, however, have been reported
at Apo Reef and Puerto Galera in Mindoro, Mabini in Batangas, Roxas
in Palawan, Bolinao in Pangasinan, and Kiamba and Glan in Sarangani
Bay, an article on the World Wildlife Fund’s website said.
Estudillo added that there are experts who say
that the outbreaks are a naturally recurring phenomenon, while
others believe they are a result of overfishing, especially of the
crown-of-thorns’ natural predators.
Among these predators, he added, are reef fishes
such as the hump-headed wrasse and puffer fish, and the giant
triton, a mollusk often collected—illegally—for its decorative
shell.
Quoting researches into similar outbreaks in the
1960s and 1970s, Estudillo added that infested reefs could recover
in 10 to 40 years, and that is if further infestation does not
occur.
|
