For several months now, marine scientists and divers have been witnessing and recording the massive bleaching of coral reefs all over the country, which is being caused by warmer-than-normal ocean water temperatures. In some coves, what was once a thriving, technicolor symphony of corals has been transformed into sickly white reefs, the equivalent of an underwater ghost town. One picture from the report released by a group of scientists last week showed a stark white coral colony. The colony is estimated to be 200 years old. Other photographs showed corals turning into dark brown lumps, an indication that it’s on the way to bleaching. “There is something happening underwater and it may be catastrophic,” Rollan Geronimo of Conservation International said.

Alave, K. L. (2010, September 6). RP scientists note massive bleaching of coral reefs. Philippine Daily Inquirer, pp. A1, A22.