4 SCIENCE/ENVIRONMENT h
VOL.5 ISSUE 143 • THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2012
EDGEDAVAO
Donsol hosts most whale sharks in Philippines
oW many spotted sharks have been spotted? In Donsol at least, 377. high-tech satellite tags, waterproof cameras and hefty lungs are the tools of Dave David’s trade. As the head researcher of WWF’s Donsol-based whale shark photo-identification programme, Dave has spent the past six years holding his breath – literally – to swim with the world’s largest fish. Strikingly-spotted whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) can grow longer than a passenger bus and weigh a whopping 10 tonnes. With unblinking golf ball-sized eyes, they wolf down wafting clouds of plankton and the occasional, unlucky small fish. Together with basking and megamouth sharks, they are one of just three planktivorous or filter-feeding sharks and have cruised the world’s seas for some 50 million years. Little is known of their habits, with fewer than 350 sightings recorded prior to the 1980s. Through the support of WWF-Denmark, WWF-Philippines allied with Australia-based eCoCeAN, the hubbs Sea World Research Institute (hSWRI) and Banco de oro Unibank (BDo) to catalogue the country’s whale sharks. The partnership provides researchers with both population pegs and migratory data to guide conservation efforts not just for whale sharks – but for all migratory pelagic species. Sporting waterproof digital cameras, trained WWF skin divers snap photos of a spot right above each shark’s pectoral fins, behind its gill slits. The photos are fed into a computer which uses a program to triangulate each shark’s unique spot configuration. Data is then uploaded to the web-based eCoCeAN library.
Like human fingerprints, whale shark spot configurations are wholly unique and allow individual sharks to be identified. [WWF-PhiLiPPiNEs] Unless it is a new individual, the library shows researchers when and where the shark was last encountered. Since 2003, eCoCeAN has catalogued 3822 individual sharks from places as far as Mexico, Mozambique and the Galapagos Islands. “Photo-identification is a non-invasive approach for identifying sharks,” explains David. “The library uses the whale shark’s distinct patterns, plus information on scars, sex and size to identify individuals.” Since WWF-Philippines began implementing the programme in 2007, 458 individual whale sharks have been iden-
with detachable GPS satellite tags designed to pop to the surface after several months of data collation. Four sharks were tagged in May 2007, 10 more in May 2009 and 15 in April 2010. The results suggest that most tagged whale sharks keep to 200 kilometers of Donsol. Three however, swam east to the Philippine Sea, with one more swimming as far north as Taiwan. All spent most of their time below 50 meters, rarely rising to the surface to feed. “The results suggest that whale sharks are highly-mobile, transient foragers which recognize no country or territorial boundary as their own. The distribution of whale sharks and other large filter-feeders also indicate the presence of plankton and the overall health of our oceans,” expounds David. For years, Donsol has been identified as a whale shark hotspot, hosting one of the largest aggregations of whale sharks on earth. other large aggregations include Ningaloo Reef in Australia with 808, Mexico with 812 and Mozambique with 624. Through continued research, Dave and other WWF volunteers hope to generate an accurate peg of the country’s migratory and resident whale shark population. “Long days at sea are worth it, considering the immense scientific, ecological and economic value that whale sharks bring people,” adds David. “even after years of research, there’s still so much we WWF researchers chase after a shark in Donsol, Sorsogon. have to discover – where they feed, mate Recent surveys indicate that at least 377 whale sharks and give birth. our work continues, which frequent its waters. [cLAus ToPP] is just as well because diving with these tified – 377 in Donsol, 54 in Cebu, 14 in gentle giants is pure magic.” After six years of swimming with the Leyte and the rest in Bohol, Palawan, Alworld’s largest fish, it seems that each bay and Batangas. shark encounter still leaves Dave breathTo complement the photo-identificaless. tion drive, 29 whale sharks were affixed
MGB closure on mine WheRe hAVe ALL The FoReSTS GoNe? firm’s warehouse stays SPECIAL REPORT
Illegal logging intensifies in Surigao Sur despite total log ban
By Vanessa L. Almeda [2nd of three parts]
o
N August 18 and 19, the Surigao Development Corporation (Sudecor), together with local police, apprehended some 190 round red Falcata logs or an equivalent of 157.62 cubic meters, estimated to cost P900,000 at the roadside of Barangay Cancavan, part of their concession area. A month earlier, between July 14 and 17, round logs and sawn lumber of yakal and red lauan hardwood species were found strewn and abandoned by illegal loggers in various parts of Barangay hinapuyan, also part of the Sudecor area, apparently waiting for transport under cover of darkness. A documentation report sent to the Community environment and Natural Resources office (Cenro) showed photographs of wreckers in Km. 18 along the esperanza line in Sitio Gacub, Barangay hinapuyan and anoth-
er in Km. 20 at Sagimsim Spurline. For the Social Action Center (SAC) and environmental watchdogs, the seizure of these logs has opened a Pandora’s box as it led to allegations of involvement of officials ironically tasked to oversee the implementation of executive order 23. Rowil Aguillon, Woods Division head of Sudecor’s Management Committee, said that on Aug. 18, a certain “Jhero King” talked to him over the phone and ordered the immediate release of the logs confiscated that day. Aguillon narrated that when he refused, King, who was later identified as Roland Seblario, allegedly threatened him: “Wag niyong pakialaman yang mga kahoy ko kundi magkakaputukan tayo.”(Don’t you dare touch my logs or we’ll shoot it out). Aguilon alleged that the logs documented in July were also owned by
Seblario. “Iya man ni tanan ang kahoy, basta gani naa ng wrecker iya na.”(he owns all those logs; when you see a wrecker that is his). he said they have been sending to Cenro and the Department of environment and Natural Resources regional office documentation reports, including photographs, of illegal logging activities within the Sudecor area, since June 2011, when the company shut down operations. he said Seblario also started to drop names including “Gen. Miranda” and Secretary Ramon Paje of the Department of environment and Natural Resources (DeNR). “Gen. Miranda” is retired Marine Maj. Gen. Renato Miranda, executive Director of the national Anti-Illegal Logging Task Force. A peeved Miranda told MindaNews in a telephone interview Monday that he
will have Seblario arrested if he is found to be “violating a regulation.” he said he will not tolerate the use of his name to “commit a crime.” Miranda figured in the national scene as one of the brains behind several coup attempts against the Arroyo administration. he has availed of the Aquino government’s amnesty program and was appointed head of the Anti-Illegal Logging Task Force. Miranda said DeNR Caraga, headed by Undersecretary Marlow Mendoza is tasked to investigate the confiscated logs, not him. In the company of Aguillon narrated that sometime on August 28 and 29, a police official informed him that Seblario and retired Army colonel harry Taladua, the regional head of the Anti-Illegal Logging Task Force in Caraga, were at the Community environment and Natural
FWHERE, 11
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he closure order imposed by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau 11 on a mine firm’s warehouse along Lanang, Davao City will remain for as long as the ongoing conflict between two factions of the Nationwide Development Corporation (Nadecor) is not resolved. This was the statement made by MGB 11 director edilberto Arreza after Nadecor’s American partner, St. Augustine Gold and Copper Inc. (SAGC), sought clarification on the closure order issued since last July and is still in effect until press time. The Lanang warehouse is the storage depot of the core samples of the drilling conducted by SAGC for the past year. In an interview, Arreza said he issued the order upon the request of one of the two warring factions of Nadecor. he explained that as part owner of the core samples, the government has the right to issue such an order aimed for the protection of the samples. “When the Ricafort group brought to my attention because they were
worried that the samples might be destroyed or interchanged/harmed due to desperation, I decided to intervene and issue the order, because the government is part owner of these samples,” Arreza said. “This is to safeguard the integrity of the core samples while the two factions are embroiled in a dispute,” he added. When informed that the warehouse is actually being rented by SAGC and not Nadecor, Arreza maintained that the government is duty-bound to protect the mine core samples which is partly-owned by the government. The MGB regional director said the closure order on the warehouse will stay for as long as the “two factions of Nadecor would not resolve their conflict among themselves”. “This is to safeguard the integrity of the core samples while the two factions are embroiled in a dispute. The two groups are not allowed (to make use of any of the samples inside the warehouse) at this moment,” Arreza said. [BoT]