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EnvironmentmentEnvironment

In the summer of 1998 there was some extensive coral bleaching around Medio Island and a large section of shallow reef ('Coral Gardens') was virtually destroyed. Recent evidence has shown it have almost recovered with a larger diversity of coral species, replacing the prolific table corals.

In 2006 two large super-typhoons damaged the shallow areas around Escarceo Point. Many of the faster growing coral species were destroyed to a depth of 6m. This represents about 5% of the coral reef in the area.

Over the past ten years large numbers of crown-of-thorns (COTs) starfish have migrated to Puerto Galera from adjacent areas. While most of the reef is unaffected, a few sites show COTs density in the thousands/per hectare. A program run by the local dive shop association has removed tens of thousands of COTs since 2005. Whether this has any real impact on the long term health of the coral reef remains to be seen. Control is made by injecting the COTs with a solution of swimming pool PH-control chemicals. The COTs are killed while the chemical remains safe for the reef.

A study by the University of the Philippines in the 1980s, found that the Batangas, Puerto Galera area has the highest diversity of marine species in the world. It forms the centre of the golden triangle - The Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia - renowned for their coral and fish species.