Philippine coral reefs: More than just visual treats

It’s been almost a month since a tourist submarine was reported by a Japanese national visiting the country to have hit some coral reef beneath the Mactan Channel in Cebu. The concerned foreigner, Satoshi Toyoda, personally saw the incident, caught it on video, and posted it on YouTube. To his surprise, what was intended only for his close friends was picked up by social media and came through the national news just before the frenzy of Philippine election week.

The video was a short clip of a “Yellow Submarine” that seemed to have rammed through a huge coral formation, the impact causing some visible underwater force, and with the crashing sound one could even hear. Toyoda’s clip was a mere 3 minutes. Even so, netizens reacted with dismay. Sadly, the operator of the tourist business, despite the images that could be clearly seen on video, denied that what looked like what happened did happen.