Coral reef monitoring and mapping system for Bataan-Mindoro shoreline

• Main Authors: Barba, Miguel Anton F., Ravago, John Carlo S., Vicencio, Charles Stephen A.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2011
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/11914
• Institution: De La Salle University

Coral reefs occupy less than a percent of the ocean floor, however, it is considered to be the most biologically diverse ecosystem where 25% of all marine species are living (Washington, 2006). At present there is a continuous global coral bleaching event happening due to EI Niño and it was recorded that over 16% of world’s coral reefs have been severely damaged where 20% of those destroyed shows no signs of recovery (Wilkinson, 2004). This global activity is due to the gradual increase of temperature brought by the El Niño an effect brought on by 2climate change3. Bleaching is the whitening of the coral reefs due to the changing of sea temperature. In response to the bleaching, different countries from all around the world try to monitor coral bleaching and help these corals recover from the bleaching (Wilkinson, 2003). Monitoring of coral reefs must be done on a regular basis and on a specified period of time. This entails gathering data and information about the ecosystem of the corals. Through the use of ICT, open source development tools, careful process analysis of the coral reef bleach and status reporting and rapid prototyping, proponents of this project developed a web-based application to support the said activities. The research project is also intended to support the major tasks of Reed Check Philippines, a dedicated NGO formed to keep the coral reeds healthy by monitoring the its conditions. The research project covered the areas of Bataan, Batangas and Mindoro. The system supports the translation of the Reef Check divers’ sightings to meaningful, understandable graphical reports; enhances the process through mapping, incident reporting and comparison of multiple reports over time. It assists in analyzing the situation by using graphs that can be interpreted easily at first glance. The graphs are designed for Reef Check’s presentation to the government, LGUs and other interested party so that these organizations can easily interpret what is happening to the coral reefs and have an estimation of damage if it is happening. The lead scientist and some divers of Reef Check Philippines evaluated the system to have great potential for deployment.