while staring at you: On where to dive for miracles

I always tell visitors when I tour them around Silliman University's Marine Institute, "The coral reef in Apo Island is amazing. There are already fishes of different colors swimming aruond you, even if the water is only up to you waist!"

When I see interested faces, I elaborate on the story of the Apo Island, the best little island just off Dumaguete, a few hours from Cebu City. They ooh and aah at the thought of me with goggles and a snorkel with a sunburned back from noontimes spent looking at fish and living, breathing corals. Then they leave.

And I am left to wonder if I got my message across, if they remembered Apo Island as something more than a dive site for foreigners before heading back to Bohol or Manila or Dipolog or Cebu.

Sure, it is an underwater marvel with its almost 25-year old marine sanctuary. It has resorts-slash-lodges. There are hordes of scuba equipment-toting foreigners, and a dive shop, and gorgeous beaches and sunsets.

But marine sanctuaries and sunsets are nothing new in this country of abundant natural beauty. So what sets Apo Island apart?

For starters, the 72-hectare volcanic island has marine life diversity comparable to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. It wouldn’t be a surprise if you see a shimmering wall of a thousand jacks (a species of tuna), a lot of clownfish, green and hawksbill turtles, sea snakes and as you go deeper, thresher sharks, bumphead parrotfish and Napoleon wrasse.

And second, the island is one of the world’s premier examples of a successful community-managed marine reserve.

Silliman marine biologists led by Magsaysay-awardee Dr. Angel Alcala in 1982 approached Apo community leaders with the idea of a marine sanctuary after they themselves witnessed the effects of rampant dynamite fishing. The community leaders agreed, went to work establishing it, and the result is what I am harping on so enthusiastically about now.

Long-time Silliman Marine Institute volunteer Tommy Schultz in an article for the July 2008 Mabuhay Magazine wrote that the residents didn’t really pay much attention to the off-limits area at first since there was really no fish there. But after around five years, a small school of jacks returned. And the beautifully alive marine life began.

Now, if you visit Apo Island, you’ll see families selling souvenir shirts to visitors (such as international environmental organizations, local government units and diving enthusiasts), making sure the proper diving fees are paid, and patrolling the sanctuary.

They run everything in a communal manner too, from their community bakery to the cooperative, from deciding what time to turn off the electricity on the island to the management of the community-run lodge. The children also start learning about coastal resources management from their elementary years.

What’s more, Barangay Captain Mario Pascobello is a coral reef activist, helping in the establishment of a turtle breeding conservation program that rewards community members who protect turtle nests from poachers.

Dumaguete businesswoman and diver Sanda Fuentes said, “The marine sanctuary has proven to be a successful and sustainable undertaking. Over the years, fishermen claim they get higher fish catch in areas where it is allowed. There are measures in place to regulate the tourism activities on the island to ensure that the conservation efforts are supported by the divers, visitors and locals alike.”

“I got into diving because of Apo Island,” she admitted. “As kids, my brother and I used to snorkel at the sanctuary, trek up to the lighthouse and camp on the beach on family weekend trips. It was only a matter of time before we and our friends would go back to the island to dive.”

I know she’s telling the truth. I have been hooked into thinking that Apo Island is a miracle both underwater and on the shore; as have others, and so will you when you finally go there and find out for yourself.