Author: cbartazo

Unity for the Ocean We Love

cbartazo
A plastic bottle over the corals
A piece of abandoned clothing
A vehicle tire was heavy, we left it alone

The month of September is all too important to the diving community, internationally every third Saturday is declared as coastal and underwater cleanup. For the past years marine enthusiasts and environmentalists gather together sharing resources and time and for this endeavor. They have gone a long way to protect and preserve our oceans and the amazing life that contain our vast waters.

As a diver, I have always wanted to be part of it, connected with all other in the waters to gather trash and marine debris. So last September 21 together with my favorite dive buddy, we joined my dive mentors group at Opol Marine Sanctuary. Mario had coordinated with LGU Opol, XU McKeough Research Center (MRC), local tourism office and other groups for the clean-up. It was an opportunity to see him, meet other divers and to revisit the sanctuary which we dove three years back for the same purpose.

It was a sunny Saturday and Mario had been waiting for us at the resort, AJIS resort grounds was in cheery mode when I got there. We finally left at past 9am when Angel arrived from far-off Languindingan airport, heading for Sakayan to transport us all off coast Opol waters. It was unfortunate I forgot our net trash bag, the surface seemed clean but the underwater held surprising debris. I descend finally with Angel after I surfaced shortly to change my BC as it kept inflating, making it hard for me to control my buoyancy.

Sea anemone and its resident clownfish
A giant clam – something new in the sanctuary!
Yellow brownish nudi at Opol Marine Sanctuary
cabbage corals with damsels and snthias
branching corals with chromis and damsels

Opol is one of the town facing environmental safeguards issue, in fact it was one of the areas that suffered the devastation from Tropical Storm Sendong in 2011, small scale mining upstream made Opol river murky even without the rains. This unwanted sediments flowed into the Opol seacoast which affected the marine environment. But judging from what we saw, there has been much improvement underwater three years ago. The visibility was good and there were more tropical fishes roving the area. Healthy corals around the sanctuary are now abundant, I sighted giant clams and colorful nudis, Angel found a moray which quickly hid when I got near. Yes, we found trashes – plastic bottles, sachets, plastics, clothing and a large tire! Unfortunately, the tire was too heavy we need flotation device to carry up to surface. It was a productive dive and I was wishing for another descent – our one hour underwater was just too short for that sunny day. The water was too reviving for my dried-up gills! It was my fourth year to be part of this undertaking and I was thankful my favorite dive buddy came over for the dive clean-up here in Cagayan de Oro.

P1040370
Debris we gathered from the dive cleanup!

Let us not forget that this fight is not just once but whole year round. It’s a diver’s lifestyle, a habit, a pledge to fight the ocean silent killer. We can all do it!

Diveshop Discoveries

cbartazo
dive-flag-large
The iconic dive flag

My passion for diving and the underwater life had given me that keen sense for the red flag with the diagonal line, it seemed I am drawn to it even in the midst of other travel agenda. I have promised myself to be productive in every trip, learn and discover especially marine issues and activities and possibility for diving trips in the future. I always believe that many places are worthy for diving, this country has 7,107 islands and literally surrounded by waters. Indeed, many interesting spots are not in the diving map but some brave souls just establish dive shops in rural areas even if scuba diving is unpopular in the locality. Recently I unexpectedly found dive operators in the least popular setting, new discoveries that sent flutter in my heart!

Surigao City

20131102_120827
Mabua Peeble Beach is just 10 minutes away from Surigao City

We went to this popularly unique pebble beach in Mabua to fulfill my promise to the kids – my nephews and nieces, it was long overdue and have to squeeze schedules for a two-hour travel from Butuan to Mabua and another two hours for the return trip. We drove to the tip of the cove for the beach cottages, and somewhere halfway I caught sight of a cottage painted white with the dive sign, it was a surprise! I thought there was only Punta Bilar Dive Center in the city. It is operated by Dirk/Doris, a friendly couple who just started the shop few months back. Mabua Divers (www.mabuadivers.com) can be reached at 09166439982. The site is a good prospect as it is in the nearby Caraga region and can be reached by land, there’s no need to fly!

Legazpi City

Recently visited the city through a work trip, at the airport while waiting for my luggage I hastily approached the tourist info booth and asked about diving, it was again surprising as the attendant handed me a calling card. I mentally noted Pacific Blue (www.pacificblueasia.com) not sure to find or visit the shop. Later that afternoon, a friend’s friend showed us around and drove us to Embarcadero and further to Legazpi Boulevard. There tucked in between with newly constructed establishments is a lowly but with large ground space is the shop. I asked our host for a short stop to inquire which he politely obliged. A Japanese which looked like a Filipino to me, attended to my inquiries – a casual conversation about the divesites and its marine life. There were damages from dynamite fishing and currently they are working on coral transplantation to revive the coral reefs in the surrounding Albay Gulf. It was interesting to note their effort to restore the marine environment, in coordination with BFAR.

20131107_105510
As expected diving in Misibis Bay is in dollars!

The luxurious Misibis Bay offers diving but I cringed as I inquired for the rates, the bay is still reviving from dynamite fishing damages.  A sanctuary is maintained by the resort, giant clams transported from Bolinao, Pangasinan were planted and adapting well, tropical fishes which includes over-sized groupers are decorating the nearby resort waters.

Butuan City

Right in this city where I grew up, I wasn’t expecting that diving will come right at home. In my own opinion, hardly would anybody set up a dive shop in Butuan, it was unbelievable. The notable body of water in the city is the Agusan River, with its murky waters it is not feasible for diving. The decent beaches worthy for the usual weekend outings are in Nasipit and Carmen, which is more than 25 kilometers away. Most likely, diveshops will open in the coastal towns with obvious reasons. JJ Dive Center started operations just few months back this summer, with the vision that Butuanons will embrace Scuba Diving as a sport, hobby and passion.

Punta_Diwata_Reef
Punta Diwata Reef is offshore of Punta Diwata Cave (Photo credits of wikipedia.org)

I found their announcement online through a diver Mexican contact and noticed that their dive spots include those located in Surigao City and Carmen, Agusan del Norte. These localities have notable marine environment and have existing partnership with government agencies for marine preservation and protection. I’m looking forward to discover and explore the mysterious depths in Caraga, and again there’s no need to fly!

Mystic Moray

cbartazo

After more than six years in diving I have adored the depths and the amazing life in it, with increasing passion I wanted to know closely the interesting creatures that contain this mysterious world. My encounters with them were all in silence, even with restraint and patience, for them bigger species (like divers) are threatening and must be avoided. There are few of them that are generous and stood their ground even with my presence, face to face encounters are rare moments which I always treasure.

Moray Eels (Muraenidae) are interesting and just one of my favorite friends, I always stop at a distance for a quick observation – round eyes, naughty grin with razor teeth, elongated body like snake, brown or deep blue countenance – what a beauty! It could just easily glide away if feeling threatened, it is always my joy to glance at it without moving, and watch in awe how it gawk at me as if wondering what kind of fish I am! Glorious, but sadly I can’t touch my moray but just gaze in wonder.

I gathered few facts about this specie, few things that I must always remember when I dive expecting encounter with them:

1. Moray eels are found in shallow tropical ocean waters throughout the world, and live in crevices around reefs and rocks.
2. While moray eels look like snakes, they are actually fish which lack scales.
3. Morays are covered by a slimy mucus that allows them to quickly slither around reefs without getting all scratched up.
4. Morays have poor eyesight, and are known to accidentally bite the fingers off of divers who feed them (so don’t).
5. Cleaner shrimp and cleaner wrasses (tiny fish) coexist with morays and eat the parasites that live on them.
6. Moray eels are one of the few species of fish that can swim backwards.
7. Morays look menacing and scary, but they are relatively docile fish that will only attack if threatened (for example by a diver reaching into a moray’s hiding spot).
8. Morays are predators that typically hunt at night using their sense of smell; their prey include fish, crustaceans, octopus and squid.
9. Morays can cause ciguatera food poisoning if eaten by humans. The symptoms include serious gastrointestinal and neurological conditions
10. To breathe, moray eels must continually open and close their mouths to move water over their gills. Scuba divers often incorrectly interpret this behavior as threatening

It is comforting to note that morays are never aggressive but just like me and my cat, they are docile and undoubtedly lovable.  And I always considered it a compliment if a moray would stop and stare back at me as if saying – we are friends!

Dive Against Debris

cbartazo

AWARE-DAD-Banner-2013

The world we have created today as a result of our thinking thus far has problems which cannot be solved by thinking the way we thought when we created them. ~Albert Einstein~

Scientists think over six million tons of marine debris are entering our ocean every year. One can just imagine the volume of underwater trash that threatens marine life, destruction is evident and many documentaries can only reveal the devastating effects of these wastes. In my own diving trips, the disheartening sight of trashes is very common – either on the shores or floating on the waters or underwater. Definitely, the debris don’t belong to the waters – so pathetic! But we are not hopeless, the global diving community have focus on battling the ocean’s silent killer from beneath the surface.

This September – Debris Month of Action – let us join to combat the growing marine debris problem and inspire year-round action to remove, report and prevent underwater debris. Volunteer this September for this drive and be counted, join a group event or grab your dive buddy and report your data. Moreover, make this a habit, let us pledge to dive against debris all year, a lifestyle we must maintain. Together, we can stop marine debris by taking local action and supporting policy change. By submitting your underwater data on an ongoing basis, we’re one step close to prevention.

Let’s join the fight against the ocean silent killer!