Campaign: Strengthen Coral-Rich Marine Protected Areas
What’s the TEA?
Our vision for the province is to fight poverty and make our province competitive by upholding discipline, teamwork, and solidarity among our people. This will stem from self-reliance and empowerment of our people to be able to participate in our TEA program – tourism, environmental protection, and agricultural development. Our TEA program intends to harness … Read more
Marine Protected Areas for Fisherfolk
This article was written by Norberto Berida, Regional Director of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Region VIII Great biodiversity is very important in the fisheries industry, both for fisheries and for human well-being. For the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, marine protected areas can define the baseline for impact evaluation of the covered … Read more
Importance of Coral Reefs to Fisheries
This article was written by Diovanie De Jesus, Oceana Campaign and Science Specialist. Imagine an upside-down jellyfish with its tentacles up to gather food from the water and its body inside a calcium carbonate exoskeleton—that’s a coral polyp. Living within it are microscopic algae, the zooxanthellae, which help provide food to the coral through photosynthesis. These coral … Read more
A Dive Down Memory Lane
Months after the expedition, we asked Oceana’s Senior Campaign Manager Danny Ocampo to look back at his favorite photos from Panaon Island. It wasn’t an easy task given how biodiverse Panaon’s reefscape is, but Danny lists down his three photos and anecdotes that go with it. Since returning to dry land a couple of weeks ago after the expedition, I only managed to sneak in one dive since I … Read more
Scientist Spotlight: Mar Saniano
For our final Scientist Spotlight, we feature no other than Oceana’s very own and Panaon Expedition Team Leader, Mar Saniano. From staying up late to watch documentaries on television, she ably coordinated the latest Oceana scientific expedition to protect the coral reefs of the Philippines. What made you decide to become a marine scientist? Early in my childhood, my sister and I were very fond … Read more
At Sea with Yvette Lee
Yvette Lee is the Vice President of the Discovery Fleet but this award-winning underwater photographer found it hard to resist the call of the ocean. She volunteered to be part of the documentary team and we are more than thankful to have an eye like hers to capture the gems of Panaon. Can you tell us about how you got started … Read more
Bew Pardo’s Dive Diaries
You might remember Bew from our first issue where we wrote about the expedition team’s birthday surprise for her onboard. Bew Pardo, who is part of the coral team, is a UP Los Baños alumna and is among those with the highest general weighted average among Master of Science in Environmental Science graduates. Let’s take a look at Bew’s usual … Read more