GENERAL SANTOS CITY -- Environmental stakeholders are pushing for the declaration of the city's coastal waters as a critical habitat of whale sharks or "butandings."
City Councilor Shandee Llido said Wednesday they are working on the passage of an ordinance that will properly protect the habitat of the whale sharks in the area.
She said the move was based on a recommendation from the Task Force Butanding-GenSan, which spearheads efforts to protect at least 16 whale sharks that have been spotted within the Sarangani Bay.
The task force has tasked Llido, Sarangani Bay protected area superintendent Joy Ologuin and Sarangani-Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office technical services division head, Dr. Rosalinda Cortez, to lead the crafting of the proposed ordinance.
"This is because of some alarming findings of the task force research team of some propeller injuries and small wildlife deaths due to entanglement with fishing lines and nets," the task force said in a statement.
The "butanding" research team is composed of volunteer environmental advocates and personnel from Sarangani's Environmental Conservation and Protection Center, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Region 12, the Protected Area Management Office of the Sarangani Bay Protected Seascape, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources and the General Santos City Tourism Council.
Dr. Roy Operario Mejorada, head of the research team, said the highly-migratory whale sharks were sighted in Sarangani Bay due to the abundance of sardine fishes, which is locally known as “lupuy.
Since January, the team has documented 14 new whale sharks, specifically spotted while surface feeding in the waters off Purok Silway here and in Kiamba, Sarangani.
These were officially tagged as P1597, P1598, P1599, P1601, P1603, P1604, P1605, P1606, P1607, P1608, P1609, P1614, P1615 and P1616.
In 2014, two whale sharks tagged as P640 and P641 were documented off the coasts of this city, making their current total count to 16.
Mejorada said they are conducting a daily monitoring of whale shark sightings and documenting their behavior.
“We are taking relevant data to better understand why they are here and contribute scientific information to better understand their biology," he said.
He said the data that they gather will be utilized in the drafting of ordinances for the conservation and protection of the whale sharks. (PNA)
