Olivia Miwil New Straits Times 2 Sep 19;

KOTA KINABALU: The threat posed by ‘ghost nets’ — fishing nets discarded or lost in the sea — to marine life forms was evident recently when a dive and recreation team from Gayana Marine Resort discovered two bamboo sharks battling for their lives in the surrounding waters off Malohom bay here.

The team managed to rescue one shark, but could not save the other.

The resort was conducting a cleanup operation following the discovery of ghost nets in the surrounding waters of Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park (TARP).

BBC 30 Aug 19;

The Great Barrier Reef's outlook has been officially downgraded from poor to very poor due to climate change.

Rising sea temperatures thanks to human-driven global warming remain the biggest threat to the reef, a five-year Australian government report says.

Actions to save it "have never been more time critical", the report reads.

Stretching over 2,300km (1,400 miles), the reef was designated a World Heritage site in 1981 for its "enormous scientific and intrinsic importance".

But in recent years the reef has been increasingly damaged by warmer seas which have killed off coral and affected its long-term health.

Avila Geraldine New Straits Times 14 Aug 19;

KOTA KINABALU: A Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) reef expert has welcomed the one-month closure of popular Sipadan Island to give way for marine recovery effort.

Marine ecology lecturer Muhammad Ali Syed Hussein said the decision by Sabah Parks to temporarily close the island was a good start to reduce and remove stress from the coral reefs.

“As Sipadan is popular (for scuba diving activities), it would be difficult to close it for a long period of time. A one-month closure is a good start.

“It will help control the quota (of divers) while ensuring the reefs are maintained in good condition,” he said.

Avila Geraldine New Straits Times 9 Aug 19;

KOTA KINABALU: Damaged reefs within the protected marine park off the state capital are regenerating.

A large flat reef at the Midreef diving point near Pulau Manukan Island, in particular, has seen new coral growth aided by artificial reefs. This was after the area’s corals were wiped out by Tropical Storm Greg in 1996.

Manukan is one of the five islands in Tunku Abdul Rahman Park (TARP), a protected marine area. The other islands are Sapi, Mamutik, Sulug and Gaya.

Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) reef ecologist Dr Zarinah Waheed said Sabah Parks had initiated reef restoration work by placing artificial reef balls in some of the damaged areas.

She said this established solid substrate for new corals to migrate and attach themselves.

“The problem with damaged reef is that, when coral or any hard limestone structures are destroyed, it will become small loose pieces and these move with the water current.

Roy Goh New Straits Times 8 Aug 19;

KOTA KINABALU: A silica sand mining proposal on an island off the northern district of Kudat concerns the World Wildlife Fund-Malaysia.

The mining was proposed on Pulau Balambangan which is located within the 900,000ha Tun Mustapha Park, the largest marine park in the country. There are also some 50 islands within the park.

Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal announced this during the State Legislative Assembly sitting, which ended on Wednesday.

In response to this, WWF-Malaysia Conservation director Dr Henry Chan urged the state government to turn down the silica sand mining proposasl.

Brooks Hays UPI 16 Jul 19;

July 16 (UPI) -- Corals are disappearing across the world's oceans, and most scientists have pointed to warming water temperatures -- the result of climate change -- as the primary driver. But new research suggests nitrogen pollution is the main cause of coral bleaching in Florida.

The study, published this week in the journal Marine Biology, was compiled using three-decades worth of observational data collected at the Looe Key Reef in the lower Florida Keys.

"Our results provide compelling evidence that nitrogen loading from the Florida Keys and greater Everglades ecosystem caused by humans, rather than warming temperatures, is the primary driver of coral reef degradation at Looe Key Sanctuary Preservation Area," lead study author Brian Lapointe, research professor at Florida Atlantic University's Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, said in a news release.

Coral bleaching, crown-of-thorns starfish and cyclones reduced coverage to 10% to 30% over past five years
Adam Morton The Guardian 11 Jul 19;

Hard coral cover on the Great Barrier Reef is near record lows in its northern stretch and in decline in the south, surveys by government scientists have found.

A report card by the government’s Australian Institute of Marine Science says hard coral cover in the northern region above Cooktown is at 14% – a slight increase on last year but close to the lowest since monitoring began in 1985.

A series of “disturbances” – coral bleaching linked to rising water temperatures, crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks and tropical cyclones – have caused hard coral cover to decline to between 10% and 30% across much of the world heritage landmark over the past five years.

Mike Emslie, the institute’s acting head of long-term monitoring, said the report included glimmers of hope: individual reefs, including those on the outer shelf in the Whitsunday Islands, were found to have lively communities and tiny juvenile corals were discovered across the 2,300km reef system. The density of juvenile coral suggested recovery was possible if there were not further disturbances.

He said it indicated there was some resilience in the system but added: “The important thing is the absence of further disturbances. If we have more coral bleaching events all bets are off.”

martin carvalho, hemananthani sivanandam, rahimy rahim, and tarrence tan The Star 8 Jul 19;

KUALA LUMPUR: The Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Ministry is awaiting the full police report on the two Chinese tourists and their local divemaster who were believed to have been killed by fish bombs while diving in waters off Semporna in Sabah's east coast on Friday (July 5).

Its minister Datuk Salahuddin Ayub said that such cases were rare and he would wait for the full details from the police before making any comments.

"We will wait for the actual report from the police. I think the police can investigate it swiftly," he told reporters at the parliament lobby Monday (July8).

It was reported that tourism operators are blaming fish-bombing activities for the deaths, but the police have yet to officially confirm it.

NUS News 1 Jul 19

NUS marine scientists found that coral species in Singapore's sedimented and turbid waters are unlikely to be impacted by accelerating sea-level rise

Global sea levels are expected to rise by at least half a metre by the year 2100 due to climate change. The projected rise can affect important environmental factors such as habitat suitability and availability of light, threatening the health and survival of marine ecosystems.

For the corals dwelling in the sedimented, turbid waters around Singapore, rising sea levels can imperil species, as those living among the deepest waters could starve due to insufficient light for them to make food.

The Star 1 Jul 19;

MIRI: Wildlife rangers are being trained from among local fishermen communities in the coastal villages to play key roles in protecting the fragile coastal and marine life along the Miri-Sibuti coral reefs in northern Sarawak.

Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC) and Petronas are jointly collaborating in the training of these honorary rangers.

Antara 21 Jun 19;

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesia's Tojo Una-Una Togean, Central Sulawesi, and Saleh-Moyo-Tambora (Samota), West Nusa Tenggara, were two new biosphere reserves recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) at the Paris congregation, France, June 19.

At the 31st Session of the International Coordinating Council of the Man and the Biosphere Program (ICC-MAB), Tojo Una-Una and Saleh-Moyo-Tambora Togean were the 15th and 16th biosphere reserves in Indonesia to be added to UNESCO's list.

"The Togean Tojo Una-Una Biosphere Reserve spans an area of 2,187,632 hectares in the heart of the Coral Triangle that has the highest coral diversity in the world as well as mangrove forests and small island ecosystems," IESCO-MAB UNESCO President Enny Sudarmonowati, also deputy for life sciences at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), noted in a written statement received in Jakarta on Friday.

kristy inus The Star 14 Jun 19;

KOTA KINABALU: The carrying capacity to the five islands under Tunku Abdul Rahman Park (TARP) here will be capped due to overcrowding, as proposals to "facelift" the islands are also being considered.

Sabah Parks director Dr Jamili Nais said that at present the numbers can reach up to 2,000 visitors per day, with an average of 400 to 500 visitors per island.

“We are going to limit the numbers but that can only be done once we go online to sell entrance tickets.

RNZ 12 Jun 19;

A coral bleaching around the French Polynesian islands of Tahiti and Mo'orea is being described as the most devastating seen in years.

But what's worried scientists most is that it took them by surprise.

Olivia Miwil New Straits Times 7 Jun 19;

SEMPORNA: Sipadan Island, among the few places on earth which provides an unforgettable experience for scuba divers, has not been spared from the blight of man-made floating trash currently polluting the world’s oceans.

Sipadan Island Park and Tun Sakaran Marine Park manager Boni Antiu said that a clean-up of waters off the isolated island in November yielded up to 60kg of rubbish on the beach and 2kg underwater.

“The trash found under the water line was not only (drifting) in the waters of dive sites, but also stuck on corals.

Clearer communication from authorities on closures would also help
DUSIDA WORRACHADDEJCHAI Bangkokg Post 4 Jun 19;

The temporary closure for rehabilitation of several famous marine national parks and coastal sites, including Maya Bay and the Similan and Surin islands in southern Thailand, and more recently Samae San island on the east coast, has drawn mixed reactions from stakeholders.

While many praised the ecological recovery plans, local tourism operators have complained that unclear information over the closing plans and the reopening dates put them at a disadvantage.

Phuriwat Limthavornrat, president of the Association of Domestic Travel, said that even though many operators agree with closing marine national parks, they would like authorities to notify them of the duration of the closure and how the places will be restored during the period.

Discussions with representatives from the private sector and the Federation of Thai Industries suggest that whenever the authority wants to shut down national parks it should mitigate the impact on tour operators, Mr Phuriwat said.

The government should inform related tourism organisations in advance, instead of making abrupt announcements.

Kritsada Mueanhawong The Thaiger 31 May 19;

Corals at Koh Phi Phi near a famous driving point has started to bleach.

Paranya Pantajit, a scuba expert in Krabi says, “Corals near a famous diving point at Koh Phi Phi is beaching. There are many marine lives living around this coral.”

“The temperature at 8 metres deep in the sea is about 31 degree Celsius. Corals in in other islands in Krabi have started to bleach as well.”

THOOTHUKUDI The Hindu 26 May 19;

The intensity of coral bleaching has increased in the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay in May. However, no mortality has been witnessed so far.

While the prevalence of bleaching was less than 3% during April in the Gulf of Mannar, it has increased significantly in May.

During a rapid survey conducted from May 15-23 by the Suganthi Devadason Marine Research Institute, a total of nine reef areas including two reef areas in Thoothukudi group (Vaan, Koswari and Kariyachalli Islands), three in Mandapam Group (Shingle, Krusadai and Hare Islands), three others in Keelakarai group (Mulli, Valai and Thalaiyari Islands) and reefs in Palk Bay were surveyed.

In the Keelakarai group, which was the most affected, the prevalence of bleaching has increased significantly up to 35% (Mulli Island) from 3% in April. In the Mandapam group (Krusadai Island), the bleaching went up from 6% to 28% during the period. Twelve percent of corals have suffered bleaching in Palk Bay.

NNT 26 May 19;

Bangkok – Jatuphorn Burusphat, Director-General of the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR), says a recent inspection of the coral in Thailand’s national marine parks has shown an improvement on the bleaching situation in many areas.

It was found that most coral bleaching in 51 areas in the Andaman Sea and 72 areas in the Gulf of Thailand has started to improve due to the arrival of the rainy season, which decreases sea temperatures. Most of the affected corals have begun to recover but are still pale.

Shubashree Desikan The Hindu 22 May 19;

When a coral bleaches, it does not die but comes pretty close to it. Some of the corals may survive the experience and recover once the sea surface temperature returns to normal levels.

The National Centre for Coastal Research, an institute under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, in India, has a field research station in the Gulf of Mannar region, and researchers led by Dr. Shanmugaraj have found an alarming pattern of bleaching in the reefs in Mandapam, Keezhakkarai and Palk Bay. They have found that sea surface temperature ranged from 28.7°C to 31°C in the August 2018-February 2019 period and there was no bleaching seen then. However, when the temperatures rose to between 32°C and 36°C between March 2019 and May 2019, researchers observed a pattern of bleaching in corals, which was different at different layers within the sea.

Avila Geraldine New Straits Times 20 May 19;

KOTA KINABALU: A picture of a diver holding up a totally protected turtle in the waters here has caused anger among the diving fraternity.

The picture, which was shared in a WhatsApp chat group with members comprising mostly professional divers and Sabah Parks staff, showed the diver holding a Hawksbill turtle up from the surface of the water.

The diving group has described the act as thoughtless and called on the relevant authorities to investigate and take necessary action against such irresponsible behaviour towards marine life.

It was unclear whether the incident occurred within the Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park (TARP) or outside it, but the water appeared to be shallow. It was also unclear why such an act was committed.