Dolphin-watching in 100 Islands soon?
ALAMINOS CITY–Officials here are optimistic that dolphin-watching will soon become another eco-tourism activity in the Hundred Islands National Park (HINP), in addition to kayaking, bird-watching, snorkeling, diving, nature photography and island- hopping.
Dr. Lemuel Aragones, associate professor of the Institute of Environmental Science and Meteorology of the University of the Philippines, said he is convinced that the presence of natural food and the absence of human threats in the Hundred Islands area will keep the dolphins in the city’s marine park.
The city government was upbeat with Aragones’ initial assessment and Mayor Hernani Braganza said this could mean more opportunities for the city’s tourism industry
More than 20 dolphins were seen swimming in pods in Lucap Bay, near the Hundred Islands, last December 6.
Aragones, who was first here in 2008 to help save a stranded rough-toothed dolphin named “Bayanihan”, lectured on marine mammal stranding and watched and studied the videos footage of the recent dolphin sightings at Lucap Bay. (The footages are available in the city’s Gali-La Alaminian Facebook account.)
“They are whales but considered dolphins since they belong to the Delphinidae family,” Aragones said.
FURTHER STUDIES
Aragones stressed that the situation also still needs studies and preparations to ensure that the sea mammals will keep coming back.
Although the dolphins plus two baby whale sharks (butanding) sighted at the Hundred Islands last October were not stranded, Aragones said residents must learn how to respond to possible mammal stranding in the future.
A marine mammal stranding is an event in which an individual or group of marine mammals washes ashore after dying or is found on the beach or shore in a helpless situation and unable to return to the water on its own.
They are said to be out-of-habitat when they are found close to shallow waters and likely at risk of becoming stranded.
In the case of the dolphins and a baby whale seen in the city’s waters, Aragones said that the marine mammals might be enjoying the alamang (small shrimps), their favorite food that are now abundant in the Hundred Islands.
There is also the possibility, he added, that the dolphins might have been affected by dynamite fishing which is still rampant in the Lingayen Gulf area particularly in the neighboring Zambales, Ilocos Norte and Cagayan, which are three of the nation’s marine mammal stranding hotspots.
Aragones lauded program and the political will of the administration of Braganza in protecting the city’s territorial waters from illegal fishing activities, and cited the mayor for instructing the city’s POSO-Bantay Dagat and General Service Office composite team to guide back the dolphins to the deeper part of the sea and to ensure round-the-clock protection for them.
“Dolphins and whales are indicators of the health and condition of the coastal waters and the ocean in general,” said Aragones, a former professor of the University of Miami in Florida, USA.–LM
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