PH reef exhibited at a museum in California »Manila Bulletin News

By Ellalyn From Vera-Ruiz

In the face of climate change, the reefs of the island of Verde, located in the center of the "marine biodiversity center" around the world, are showing signs of protection against the major impacts of climate change.

According to Bart Shepherd, principal director of the Steinhart Aquarium at the California Academy of Sciences (CAS) in San Francisco, large-scale coral bleaching episodes that have occurred in other places, such as the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, have not been observed in the reefs. from the passage of the island of Verde.

Realistic view of Filipino reef in a museum of California. (Photo of the California Academy of Sciences / MANILA BULLETIN)

"I think the same characteristics that make it the center of marine biodiversity also make it more or less resilient to the impacts of climate change," Shepherd said.

The Verde Island Passage covers 1.14 million hectares of water along the Batangas, East Mindoro, Mindoro Occidental, Marinduque and Romblon provinces in southern Luzon, Philippines.

It is located right in the heart of the Coral Triangle, an area with the highest concentration of marine species in the world, surrounded by six nations – the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea , Timor-Leste and Solomon. He is.

Shepherd, co-director of the Academy's Hope for Reefs initiative, and colleagues at the California Academy of Sciences and international partners are researching and restoring critical coral reef systems such as the Isle of Verde.

He observed that the Verde Island Passage area benefits from two major factors, such as "proximity to deep water, upwellings, strong currents and many nutrient-rich foods that help protect corals from hot and stagnant waters with major whitening events. "

In addition to the coral reefs, Shepherd said the area was a "complex of different ecosystems", which included "herbaria, mud habitats, sandy areas, reef walls, rubble areas, between others, all close to each other ".

These "micro-habitats", he said, also serve as protection against the effects of climate change "by providing shelter and resources for many species".

Centerpiece of coral triangle exploration by the Academy

Verde Island Passage has long been a regional center for many expeditions by the Academy, as it is the most biologically diverse water in the world.

CBS researchers have visited the region since 1992 and have discovered more than a thousand new species for science.

Shepherd is part of the Academy's deep diving team, a group of science divers who focus on depths of 60 to 150 meters in an area known as the Twilight Zone.

In 2015, the group discovered more than 100 new marine species on the island of Verde.

Shepherd said that if the island of Verde seemed resilient to the effects of climate change, it is "essential that we take steps to restore and preserve the coral reefs now."

Climate change, the world's biggest threat to coral reef ecosystems

The role of the oceans in adapting to and mitigating climate change was one of the issues discussed at the World Summit for Climate Action in San Francisco last September.

Experts have observed that ocean warming, sea-level rise, changes in the frequency and intensity of tropical storms, and changes in ocean circulation have affected the function of coral reef ecosystems. worldwide.

About 90% of the heat goes into the oceans, said former US Vice President Al Gore at the summit.

He compared the warming of the ocean to "400,000 A bombs in Hiroshima every day". "That's why temperatures rise every year. Thousands of high temperature records have been broken this year. "

"We put a lot of heat in our oceans," said Gore. "We must make the connection between cause and effect."

The warming of the oceans is one of the main factors of coral bleaching and death, ocean acidification and eutrophication, among others, which affects all marine species – described or described. not described, said Shepherd.

"These environmental threats do not differ according to whether someone has given them a name or not. But we risk losing species that we do not even know if we allow the effects of climate change to continue, "he said.

"We have a relief that is literally sent to paradise: the sun and the winds and the low cost of energy produced from renewable sources make it not only competitive, but also, in most geographical areas, less expensive than fossil electricity, "Gore said. "We have the tools we need."

Realistic reef display of PH at the California Academy of Sciences

The Philippine Coral Reef exhibition is a permanent exhibition at the CAS Museum in San Francisco to raise awareness of climate change since 2008.

It includes about 120 species of fish and a similar number of species of corals and other invertebrates.

"It's a fraction of the diversity of" real "coral reefs in the Philippines, because we need to eliminate predators and fish feeding on corals to ensure the long-term health and vitality of the system," Shepherd said. .

"The academy's mission is to explore, explain and preserve life – and in the Steinhart Aquarium we are working to raise awareness of climate change in a number of ways," he added.

These include graphic panels and interactive displays that speak about threats to coral reefs, including warming and ocean acidification.

"We are also discussing these concepts and coral bleaching, which can be a direct consequence of the warming ocean, in our bi-daily coral reef show," he said.

During this program, Shepherd explained that a freelance diver and a qualified educator engaged guest discussions on the impacts of climate change and other destructive factors, and explained how the population could help preserve these precious ecosystems in the future.

"This program alone reaches more than 100,000 on-site visitors each year, as well as many other virtual visitors via our online webcams," he said.

Climate change and its impacts on coral reefs are also a topic in CAS Expedition Reef's new show, which includes segments on the Verde Island Passage and the Devil's Point dive site.

The concept of the Philippine Coral Reef exhibition of the California Academy of Sciences was developed in the early 2000s by CAS exhibition design firm, Thinc Designs, staff and academy leaders and consultants outside the public aquarium sector.