Coastal Zones

Biography

Biography: El John Engaño

Abstract

Oil is one of the major pollutants in the marine ecosystem which has short and long-term effects upon its contact with marine organisms especially corals. Coral organisms are sensitive to environmental changes which can affect their breeding and growth, thus, making them bioindicators. For instance, the effect of this pollutant is manifested by the dramatic deterioration of coral reefs in the coastal municipality of Bolinao in Northwestern Philippines. This study aimed to provide benchmark information on the juvenile stage of Favites colemani,one of the coral species in Bolinao. In this study, a controlled amount of two-day old Favites colemani larvae were subjected to different concentrations of water accommodated-fraction (WAF) of diesel fuel oil condensate for 48-hours while surviving larvae were exposed to Crustose Coralline Algae (CCA) for 24 hours to test their competency. Results showed that there is a significant difference between the survival of the two-day old Favites colemani larvae within 24 and 48 hours of exposure in diesel fuel oil condensate WAF; while there is no significant difference on the settlement rate of larvae exposed to CCA. These results showed that time serves as an important determinant of the survivability of corals since the possible response of the early life stage of corals is dependent on how long these are exposed to oil contamination. Therefore, looking into the response of said corals gives an insight on what to expect when oil spill occurs and what possible courses of actions are needed to prevent further degradation of coral organisms.