National Committee on Marine Sciences (NCMS)
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- Interchange of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) between northern Philippines and Ogasawara, Japan, has implications for conservationNakagun, Shotaro; Smoll, Laetitia I.; Sato, Takayuki; Layusa, Cynthia A. A.; Acebes, Jo Marie V. (CSIRO Publishing, 2020-03-12)Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in the western North Pacific breed in the Philippines and Japan, where there is relatively little scientific data available, leading to uncertainty about their population status and structure. This study investigates links between humpback whale populations in northern Philippines and Ogasawara, Japan, through a comparison of the most recent fluke identification catalogues. The Philippines catalogue (1999–2016) included 234 individuals, and the Ogasawara catalogue (1987–2014), 1389 individuals. The number of matched individuals was 86 (including 14 known females and 40 known males), corresponding to 36.8% of the Philippines and 6.2% of the Ogasawara catalogues. The findings included four within-season matches, with travel times as short as 25 days. The results suggest that a considerable portion of whales utilising Philippine waters pass through and also utilise the Ogasawara region, but the majority of whales found off Ogasawara either stay in that location, move to different breeding grounds, or remain out of the sampling area. Nevertheless, in light of the high site fidelity of individuals in the Philippines and Ogasawara area, as well as constant evidence of breeding activities, these regions are of importance to the lesser known western North Pacific subpopulation. Humpback whales migrating to this part of the world are estimated to be in relatively low abundance, therefore continued conservation attention is needed.
- Moving towards open data, public access, and information sharing to combat marine plastics pollution in the Philippines and the Southeast Asian regionAlindayu, Ricardo C.; Licnachan, Lance Oliver C.; Luzadas, Ramgem L.; Ignacio, Paul Samuel P.; Onda, Deo Florence L. (Elsevier, 2023-09-01)Despite the consistent tagging of countries in Southeast Asia as among the top polluters of plastics in the oceans and the increasing local literature documenting the presence and abundance of plastics in marine environments, there still lacks a comprehensive, open, and accessible repository for marine plastics pollution data in the region. As such, this study presents the development of the PlastiCount Pilipinas portal in line with the call for a common data repository by the Philippines’ National Plan of Action for the Prevention, Reduction, and Management of Marine Litter and the ASEAN Regional Action Plan for Combating Marine Debris in the ASEAN Member States. A total of 14 existing databases were reviewed to identify key features for the online portal implemented to promote ease of access and diversified functionality. For the database, a total of 38 publications, 2 reports, 1 scientific poster, and 3 baselining studies were used to develop the initial ground-truthed baseline for marine plastic pollution, covering 23 provinces and 14 regions across the Philippines. The challenges presented by an observed variation across different methodologies and reporting styles emphasize the critical need to harmonize methods toward generating a more refined national baseline for marine litter. The initial baseline data and other resources such as manuals, information sheets, photographs, news, and publications are uploaded onto a public online portal for viewing and download (https://plasticount.ph/). Data and resource submissions from the public are also accepted and considered for inclusion in the database. The insights gained from developing the online portal and database for the Philippines can be used to inform the development of a regional database for Southeast Asia towards reducing marine litter.
- Natural and anthropogenic climate variability sgnals in a 237-year-long coral record from the PhilippinesInoue, Mayuri; Fukushima, A.; Chihara, M.; Genda, A.; Ikehara, Minoru; Okai, T.; Kawahata, Hodaka; Siringan, F. P.; Suzuki, Atsushi (American Geophysical Union, 2023-11-29)Both proxy and model studies conducted to understand anthropogenic warming have revealed historical variations in sea-surface temperature (SST) since the industrial revolution. However, because of discrepancies between observations and models in the late nineteenth century, the timing and degree of anthropogenic warming remain unclear. In this study, we reconstructed a 237-year-long record of SST and salinity using a coral core collected from Bicol, southern Luzon, Philippines, which is located at the northern edge of the western Pacific warm pool. The SST record showed volcanic cooling after several volcanic eruptions, including the 1815 Tambora eruption, but the pattern of change differed. Decadal SST variations at Bicol are connected to Pacific Decadal Variability (PDV). Therefore, it is suggested that the PDV conditions at the time of the eruption may have influenced marine conditions, such as the degree and duration of cooling and/or salinity, after the eruptions. Although there were discrepancies in SST variations among the modeled, observed, and proxy SST data from the late nineteenth to early twentieth centuries, SST data from the late twentieth century showed globally coherent anthropogenic warming, especially after 1976. In particular, summer SST in the northwestern Pacific has become more sensitive to anthropogenic forcing since 1976.
- BFAR Administrative Circular No. 252-1: Series of 2020. Amended rules and regulations governing distant-water fishing by Philippine-flagged fishing vessels operating in other coastal states.(Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, 2020-02-03)