JAGNA. - THERE’s more than meets the eye in the usual tourism sights and other sceneries in Bohol. Aside from the usual underwater marine forest of beauty found in the sea floor off some of the popular dive sites in Bohol, there are other beauty of nature to behold. One of these attractions is the existence of a black forest discovered in Jagna town. Another is the uncommon presence of the gentle ocean giant whale sharks that only a few tourists have experienced while cavorting a few hundred meters off Pamilacan island in Baclayon. Unknown to many, Jagna town boasts of its rare black coral life-forms that grow a few hundred meters off the coastal barangay of Cantagay, according to Alessadro Ponzo, a marine biologist of Physallus group.

He said that barangay and municipal officials are contemplating to protect these marine assets. One of the steps is to enlarge the size of “no-take zone” in the marine protected area (MPA) in this barangay. And later on, this could be transformed into regulated tourist attraction in scuba dive or plain snorkeling with a fee, not only to generate taxes but for conservation and protection efforts, he said. Asked if these black corals are still in good or excellent condition, he said they could be. He added however that an inventory of these sea assets is needed. Ponzo said that these black corals must be protected at all times from poaching and illegal harvesting because they are rich source of jewelry-making industry worldwide. Some of these raw materials are used as medicine. Smuggling of these black corals worth millions of dollars was reported recently.

Barangay chairman Tanie Gaas of Pamilacan, an island barangay off Baclayon town, confirmed in an interview of the presence of whale sharks, a gentle kind of sea mammal. He said that these marine mammals always frequent here a few hundred meters of the island’s fish sanctuary apparently for foraging. Ponzo, who has been scouring Bohol seas for marine research and conservation for quite sometime, confirmed this, saying that these mammals should also be protected to the fullest. Gaas said he also learned that these sea mammals are reportedly being fed by tourists while swimming and frolicking with them. Ponzo said if he has his way he should discourage the man-made feeding of these creatures as what is happening now in Oslob, Cebu province, where thousands of tourists flock almost everyday to see and experience the whale sharks. He said that feeding whale sharks by man would probably distort their feeding pattern and would make them dependent in the long run. He said that whale sharks are regular frequenting the area not far from where the fish sanctuary of Pamilacan island mostly during the full moon weekdays all year round apparently because of the presence of the rich plankton food they feed on. (RVO)