Today we headed out to the reef again, this time to try snorkelling in a slightly different spot.
The coral is really in pristine condition, even though the local boats anchor on it at night. We saw a lot of different species of fish today. Some beautiful pink anthias and a spotted moray eel leaving his hole. Oh, and of course a couple of elegant turtles!
The whole place is teeming with marine life and it's really wonderful to see. Many reefs are bleached which happens when the water temperature rises and the coral dies, leaving behind the white limestone skeleton (global warming?) We haven't seen any Crown of Thorns starfish which is great news, as they can devour a reef in no time! And, from what we've witnessed there has been no dynamite fishing that blows the reef apart. The locals are fishing using hand lines to catch the sardines one at a time, which is perfect! We were thinking of going to try and catch a glimpse of the largest fish in the sea, the whaleshark at Oslob. However, they attract the sharks by feeding them, which we totally disagree with! They also allow scuba diving with the sharks which is rightfully banned in other countries due to the noise and irritation of the bubbles on the sharks. They should STOP!
The coral is really in pristine condition, even though the local boats anchor on it at night. We saw a lot of different species of fish today. Some beautiful pink anthias and a spotted moray eel leaving his hole. Oh, and of course a couple of elegant turtles!
The whole place is teeming with marine life and it's really wonderful to see. Many reefs are bleached which happens when the water temperature rises and the coral dies, leaving behind the white limestone skeleton (global warming?) We haven't seen any Crown of Thorns starfish which is great news, as they can devour a reef in no time! And, from what we've witnessed there has been no dynamite fishing that blows the reef apart. The locals are fishing using hand lines to catch the sardines one at a time, which is perfect! We were thinking of going to try and catch a glimpse of the largest fish in the sea, the whaleshark at Oslob. However, they attract the sharks by feeding them, which we totally disagree with! They also allow scuba diving with the sharks which is rightfully banned in other countries due to the noise and irritation of the bubbles on the sharks. They should STOP!
