"Maintaining Sta. Filomena Coral Reef". Just 2 days ago, divers dove from Sta. Filomena Marine Sanctuary back to Alegria Dive Resort. The total distance of approx 1,000m! Just 550m heading north from the Sanctuary and approx 250m heading south from Alegria Dive Resort. A COTs outbreak of an area of approx 400m2 was reported. size of COTS on average was 18" - 24" A huge part of the coral reef is now destroyed and our analyse confirm there heading south towards the sanctuary. Yesterday our COTs management program started in this area! A total of 116 COTs in just a 50m2 area, were injected in one 70min dive, until the liquid solution had depleted. Many escaped the fate! Each one injected was logged with its own co-ordinates. (thank you #tg6). We estimate a total number of #COTs in this area alone to be approx 2,000 - 2500 + based on research. One management dive daily, over the next 14 days will see a huge decline in COTs in this area. Therafter monitoring and managing this area every 2 weeks until sustainable numbers are achieved. Then monthly monitoring will continue. #freethereef #padicotsspecialty #livingreef #coralreef (at Santa Filomena, Cebu, Philippines) https://www.instagram.com/p/COmAt4KBdEE/?igshid=2wehd2bdpfwa
