The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has reported the sighting of sea anemones on the shores of the Tanza Marine Tree Park (TMTP) in Navotas City, which gives hope about the good effects of the Manila Bay rehabilitation.
While DENR-National Capital Region (NCR) does not necessarily attribute the presence of sea anemones on TMPT to the thriving coral reef community in the area, its Executive Director said it makes the agency "excited as it says a lot of what we have been doing in relation to the cleanup and rehabilitation of Manila Bay."
"DENR and other partner organizations have been recording a lot of previously unseen wildlife in Manila Bay," DENR-NCR Regional Executive Director Jacqueline Caancan said.
Sea anemones, sometimes called the 'flowers of the sea,' are marine animals closely related to corals and jellyfish. Like corals, some species of sea anemone live in association with hermit crabs, small fish or other animals to their mutual benefit.
"Admittedly though, we are a long way from our target of making the waters of Manila Bay compliant with class SB standards. But we are confident that, slowly and with the help of other stakeholders, we can do here in Manila Bay what has been done in Boracay," Caancan added.
In 2019, the Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau (ERDB) of DENR conducted an inventory of the coral ecosystems within the Manila Bay Area (MBA), where they found that many coral reefs are surviving in Manila Bay despite numerous environmental and human pressures.
However, Jose Isidro Michael Padin, ERDB’s Supervising Science Research Specialist clarified that nearly 72 percent of the surveyed reefs is found in Cavite.
"The reef sites in Maragondon and few on Corregidor and Caballo Islands had fair to good live coral cover, but these reefs are continually threatened by sedimentation, nutrient contamination, reduced water clarity, and high fishing pressure," Padin said.