The project kicked off with a week-long cruise in Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park where 10 previously established coral monitoring stations were surveyed, including the ship grounding sites of Ming Ping Yu and USS Guardian.

In 2013, the grounding sites of the two vessels left fields of rubble, an environment where little to no coral could recruit. Upon consistent monitoring, Dr. Licuanan found that some plots, specifically in the USS Guardian are recovering. “Our projections on recovery rates at the USS Guardian site appears accurate. The impact plots should look like how it was before the grounding in four years. One Ming Ping Yu plot is also doing well,” expounds Dr. Licuanan.

On June 3 to 10, the research team established monitoring stations in Arena atoll, and Cawili, Calusa, and Dondonay islands, all part of the Cagayancillo group of islands 178 nautical miles off the coast of Puerto Princesa, Palawan and approximately four hours away from Tubbataha.

“The Cagayancillo reefs are interesting as most sites we visited have coral cover levels of oceanic reefs and atolls yet also have the diversity of inshore fringing reefs,” says Dr. Licuanan. During his surveys, he also observed that the corals in the Arena atoll are most likely prone to temperature fluctuation because of the surge of warm water from the lagoon as the tide changes. This brings him to a hypothesis that Arena might have climate-resilient corals. “I suspect it will be tested in the next few weeks as the seas are expected to get warmer in the region,” he adds, “I wish we can revisit those reefs sooner."