Samal LGU leads Scubasurero
ISLAND Garden City of Samal - As part of the city's efforts to care for its marine environment, the local government unit of Samal through the office of City Environment and Natural Resources Office (Cenro) and in collaboration with the Samal Island Tourism Council (SITC) conducted the Scubasurero activity on December 6, 2017.
The clean-up drive aims to exterminate the crown-of-thorns starfish, locally known as “dap-ag”, which is known to prey on corals and destroy patches of coral reefs.
Volunteers used a 60 ml of syringe containing vinegar, which was injected into the crownof-thorns. The injected vinegar will cause the starfish to slowly shrink and then dies.
The activity also strengthens the efforts of the community to be involved in the improvement and care of the marine ecosystems surrounding the island that serves as a major source of livelihood of some Samaleños.
Despite the strong current and unclear waters, the volunteer divers were still able to gather around 70 kilograms of solid waste like plastics and other wastes that may causes harm to marine life and ecosystem.
The Philippine National Police (PNP) was assigned to ollect garbage from the seashore along the identified areas.
The collected garbage was properly segregated by Cenro. It was then immediately hauled and transported to the sanitary landfill for proper disposition.
The team started at Paradise Beach, which is one of the identified reef areas. From there they went to Barangay Kinawitnon until Barangay Caliclic.
The Scubasurero activity was participated by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) 11, Moonstar Divers Club, Carabao Dive Shop Divers, LGU Samal Island divers, private divers, and PNP. Emma Recalde/Samal Info