PH Sea-lebrities
This gentle giant is the world’s largest fish and is often seen in Donsol, Sorsogon.
What is the whale shark (Rhincodon typus)?
These designated areas restrict or regulate human activities to protect marine ecosystems and biodiversity.
What are Marine Protected Areas (MPAs)?
This oceanic trench is located east of the Philippines and is one of the deepest parts of the world’s oceans.
What is the Philippine Trench?
Ocean Chemistry
This term describes the increasing absorption of CO₂ by the ocean, causing a drop in pH levels.
What is ocean acidification?
This Tridacna species has symbiotic algae and plays a role in reef building.
What is the giant clam (Tridacna gigas)?
This Philippine law, passed in 1998, protects wildlife and their habitats, including marine species.
What is Republic Act 9147 (Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act)?
The Philippine Trench is known to produce large-magnitude earthquakes. These undersea quakes can generate what coastal hazard?
What is a tsunami?
Coral Biology
This symbiotic algae lives inside coral polyps and provides them with energy via photosynthesis.
What is zooxanthellae?
This herbivorous marine mammal, found in southern Philippine waters, feeds mainly on seagrasses.
What is the dugong (Dugong dugon)?
This practice involves planning and actions that balance the use of coastal resources while protecting them from damage.
What is Coastal Resource Management?
This warm ocean current flows from the Pacific and influences Philippine weather and coral reef ecosystems.
What is the Kuroshio Current?
Marine Biodiversity
This marine biodiversity hotspot includes parts of the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia and is home to 76% of the world’s coral species.
What is the Coral Triangle?
This critically endangered turtle species nests on Philippine beaches and is known for its beautiful shell patterns.
What is the hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata)?
Republic Act 10654 amends this 1998 law to help fight illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing in the Philippines.
What is the Fisheries Code (RA 8550)?
In 2022, the Philippines officially declared this pinnacle reef system in the Philippine Rise as a Marine Resource Reserve.
What is the Benham Bank?
Weird Sea Behavior
This strange event occurs when corals lose their symbiotic algae, usually due to temperature stress.
What is coral bleaching?
This colorful marine animal builds reefs that provide homes for many sea creatures and are vital to ocean health.
What is coral?
The Philippines claims part of the West Philippine Sea based on this international agreement defining maritime zones.
What is the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)?
Protecting marine biodiversity helps maintain this, which is the balance of ecosystems and species interactions in the ocean.
What is ecological balance?
Reef Ecosystem Services
Coral reefs provide this important benefit, protecting coastlines by reducing the energy of waves during storms.
What is coastal protection?