The Report On The Uss Guardian Ran - 1698 Words

Introduction In January 2013, the USS Guardian ran aground on the Tubbataha Reefs in the Palawan province of the Philippines, harming over 2,000 square meters of the protected environment (The Philippine Star 2014). As a result, the US Navy minesweeper had to be disassembled into several pieces in order to safely remove it from the reef without further damaging the corals. It is unclear of how the ship sailed off track and ended up in the shallow waters of the marine sanctuary. After over a year of litigation, in October 2014, the US government agreed to pay 87 million pesos ($1.9 million) to the Philippines as compensation for the extensive damage. Unfortunately, this event is only one of the more recent incidents that severely damaged†¦show more content†¦These atolls, along with the nearby Jessie Beazley Reef, compose the Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park (TRNP), as shown in the map. It lies in the center of the Sulu Sea and encompasses nearly 100,000 hectares of reefs and dee p sea. The TRNP is known internationally for supporting a grand marine biodiversity. According to Dygico (2006), the ecosystem contains 396 species of coral, which is about 85% of the coral population in the Philippines, as well as 479 species of fish. Some common pelagic species include barracuda, tuna, white tip reef sharks, and many more (UNESCO c. 2014). The park is also home to several endangered marine species, such as the Napoleon wrasse and hawksbill turtles. As one of the Philippines’ oldest ecosystems, Tubbataha is crucial to the reproduction and distribution of aquatic organisms throughout the Sulu Sea. Not to mention, the reefs are important in supplying nearby fisheries, ultimately providing food and livelihoods for millions of Filipinos (TRNP c. 2012). Since the Tubbataha Reefs play a key role in the marine ecosystem, President Corazon Aquino signed the Presidential Proclamation 306 in 1988, which created the TRNP as the first marine protected area (MPA) of the Philippines (Dygico 2006). This meant that the national government, rather than the municipal government of the nearby island, Cagayancillo, held management jurisdiction over the park. The legislation also prohibited the gathering of any corals and marine life within the