Photos show coral bleaching of up to 18-meter depth in Janao Bay in Mabini, Batangas. The temperature was 29 degrees Celsius when the photo was taken by conservation advocate and underwater photography expert Danny Ocampo on August 21, 2020. Scientists explain that elevated temperatures fueled by an El Niño climate pattern can harm corals, which experience coral bleaching, thereby also adversely affecting many species.
Dr. Florence Onda, MSI deputy director for research, meanwhile, said that symposiums like that by PAMS give UPD MSI an opportunity to share results and best practices to other researchers. During the event, at least 230 oral presentations and more than 130 poster presentations geared toward the restoration of marine research, said Saco, a 2020-2021 Balik Scientist of the Department of Science and Technology . He is also the head of the Verde Island Passage Center for Oceanographic Research and Aquatic Life Sciences-Labo Campus.
He said that younger researchers are actively helping in the knowledge-generation task of experts in various fields of marine science. For one, she said the Philippines has no economic valuation of the various ecosystem services. Studies on putting value to the country’s natural resources, like corals, mangroves, and other habitat-forming species, or the marine species themselves are still lacking.
“We feel it. If there’s El Niño, we experience drought [while] there’s flooding in other parts. It impacts on agriculture, fisheries, flora and fauna, and there are organisms and animals that could not cope with the effect of El Niño,” she pointed out.“We have this so-called ridge-to-reef approach in environmental protection and conservation. What happens to our forest also affects our reefs and coastal and marine environment,” she added.