frogfish

The dive liveaboard "MV Blue Dragon 2" sank during the early morning hours of 14 Sep 2010 "after being pushed onto a shallow reef near Manta Alley (Loh Sera) in South Komodo" according to a statement by the owners on their Facebook site.  "There was no lost of live [sic] and no injuries," the statement continued. "All guests and crew were safely evacuated to Labuan Bajo, then back to Bali and are now on their way home."

A report in the Bali Times, however, said that two persons, a divemaster and a cook, were injured as the sinking forced "a dozen panicked foreigners to scramble to safety", citing Dody Donatus, reservations and ticketing clerk with Blue Dragon Indonesia, which operated the vessel and a sister-ship, Blue Dragon 1.  The report said there were 12 guests aboard the stricken craft  "from Japan, the United States, Taiwan and Singapore [who] were taken to Labuan Baju before flying to Bali on Thursday morning. The injured crew were to receive further medical attention in Bali.  Blue Dragon Indonesia owner Emil Bei, from Flores, was with the guests at Ngurah Rai International Airport as his company attempted to secure accommodation for them. “We have been trying to book accommodation for them since yesterday,” Donatus said.  See: "Two injured as dive boat sinks off Komodo".  

The vessel was a Phinisi schooner, 28 m, built in 2009, and began operations in April this year.  The company, which has a sales office in Bali but apparently is based in Malaysia, also operates another Phinisi live-aboard, the 26 m MV Blue Dragon I, which was built in 2008.

Manta Alley has been a popular dive site in South Komodo for many years.  

R.

WWF Coral Triangle Programme Media Release
For Immediate Release: 29 July 2010

Mass coral bleaching closes dive sites, threatens future of world’s most diverse marine region – WWF

Mass coral bleaching caused by global warming is threatening the health of the Coral Triangle, a vast marine region that is home to 76% of all known corals in the world.

The Malaysian government recently closed portions of world-renowned dive sties on the tropical islands of Tioman and Redang, saying they would be off limits until October to give the fragile coral reef ecosystems time to heal.

Meanwhile, in the Philippines, bleaching has been reported in Anilao and Nasugbu, as well as off the cost of the western municipality of Taytay, Palawan. The latter saw corals, which usually exhibit a green and brown hue, temporarily turn unusual shades of pink, orange and yellow—a precursor to complete bleaching.

Numerous other Philippine reefs are likely to have been affected as well, exacerbated by localized outbreaks of Crown-of-Thorns Seastars.

Widespread bleaching has also been recorded in Indonesia, with areas near Sabang, Aceh, Padang, Thousand Island Jakarta, Bali, and many other locations.

“This widespread bleaching is alarming because it directly affects the health of our oceans and their ability to nurture fish stocks and other marine resources on which millions of people depend for food and income” says Richard Leck, Climate Change Strategy Leader of the WWF Coral Triangle Programme.

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Coral Bleaching in Philippines - WWF Philippines

Coral bleaching is a phenomenon caused by global warming. Increased seawater temperatures, which in some regions have grown as much as 2°C above the long-term average maximum, can push the algae living inside corals beyond the brink, causing reefs to eventually turn white and die.

Aside from increased sea temperatures, other causes of stress include disease, pollution, sedimentation, cyanide fishing, changes in salinity, and storms.

The Coral Triangle region covers the seas of Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Solomon Islands and Timor Leste. This nursery of the seas contains over 600 species of reef-building coral.

Since March this year, about 50 different organizations and individuals have reported signs of coral bleaching in the Coral Triangle region. Up to 100% bleaching on susceptible coral species have been reported, and in some areas, severe bleaching has also affected the more resistant species.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Coral Reef Watch stated that the current incident is the worst of it kind since 1997-1998, which decimated 16% of the world’s coral reefs.
With many areas showing signs of mass bleaching, it has become apparent that more weight needs to be put behind long-term conservation strategies, such as marine protected area management, preventing coastal and marine pollution, as well as promoting sustainable fisheries.

“Well-designed and appropriately-managed networks of marine protected areas and locally managed marine areas are essential to enhance resilience against climate change, and prevent further loss of biodiversity, including fisheries collapse” Leck also added.

Through new sustainable finance mechanisms and investments in climate adaptation, WWF plans to support networks of marine sanctuaries and locally managed conservation areas across the Coral Triangle.

Better fisheries management is also key to alleviating the impacts of coral bleaching, ensuring that only viable sites are given access to fishing and that the more sensitive ones are given time to recuperate via strong regulations, enforcement and awareness.

In Malaysia, for instance, WWF is promoting the conservation of herbivorous reef fish, which plays a critical role of keeping algae populations lower, allowing room for coral recruits to settle on the potentially newly-dead coral skeletons.

Only a year ago, WWF launched The Coral Triangle and Climate Change: Ecosystems, People and Societies at Risk, a report based on a thorough consideration of the climate biology, economics and social characteristics of the region, showing how unchecked climate change will ultimately undermine and destroy ecosystems and livelihoods in the Coral Triangle.

ENDS
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Editors note:
• The Coral Triangle—the nursery of the seas—is the most diverse marine region on the planet, matched in its importance to life on Earth only by the Amazon rainforest and the Congo basin. Defined by marine areas containing more than 500 species of reef-building coral, it covers around 6 million square kilometres of ocean across six countries in the Indo-Pacific – Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Islands, and Timor-Leste.
• It is home to 3,000 species of reef fish and commercially-valuable species such as tuna, whales, dolphins, rays, sharks, and 6 of the 7 known species of marine turtles.
• The Coral Triangle also directly sustains the lives of more than 120 million people and contains key spawning and nursery grounds for tuna, while healthy reef and coastal systems underpin a growing tourism sector. WWF is working with other NGOs, multilateral agencies and governments around the world to support conservation efforts in the Coral Triangle for the benefit of all.
• For information on Coral Triangle go to: www.panda.org/coraltriangle  
• To download the Coral Triangle and Climate Change report go to: http://assets.panda...._document_1.pdf

For further information:
Paolo Mangahas, WWF Coral Triangle Programme Communications Manager, Email: pmangahas@wwf.org.my, Tel: +60 3 7803 3772, Mobile: +60136730413
Richard Leck, WWF Coral Triangle Programme Climate Change Strategy Leader, Email: rleck@wwf.org.au, Mobile +61439814847

 Santelmo_Bleaching_by_WWF_Philippines_Lory_Tan.JPG   160.86K   53 downloads
Santelmo Bleaching in Philippines - Lory Tan/WWF Philippines