Source: All Headline News
September 6, 2010

Manila, Philippines - Scientists from two Philippine universities are alarmed over the bleaching of corals in the country's seabed because of a two-degree rise in Philippine waters in 2009. The University of the Philippines and De La Salle University have received reports and photos from different groups of the discoloration of the coral reefs.

Aside from the damage such phenomenon causes to the ecological balance, the bleaching of Philippine corals could also cause losses in the country's tourism and fishery sectors. In 1998, when El Nino hit the country, the popular El Nido resort lost $15 million in income as tourists shied away due to reports of coral bleaching.

Many of the photos submitted showed that the reefs have turned to white, which was caused by the death of a protozoa—the zooxanthellae—which gives the corals its colors. Discoloration is an indicator that the coral is under stress or dying.

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