Lost Magic

EL MAGIC was like a paradise to us underwater macro photography nuts. It's vast expanse of table and branching corals played host to various critters, big and small.

El Magic was also a spot where the coral-eating crown of thorns flourished. For several days just over two years ago, a small group of divers belonging to the Aquamarine Protection and Preservation Alliance (Appa), a loose organization of Davao and Samal-based divers concerned with conserving marine life, staged crown of thorns clean-ups there and could harvest almost a thousand in just two dives.
At one time, there were just the three of us -- Appa president Peewee Galindez, Maricar Pleños, and myself and we were able to gather six sacks full of crown of thorns.

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But that was over two years ago in late 2007...

As there were other unexplored dive spots to explore of the coast of the Island Garden City of Samal, El Magic Resort, a resort run by a cooperative of residents just a few hundred meters from the ferryboat landing in Babak, was not visited for quite some time.

Last July 10, Appa thought of revisiting El Magic to gather crown of thorns anew, this time with Naval Forces of Eastern Mindanao Naval Reserve Command's Commodore Roberto Rubia and several other friends.

The dive plan was simple. Drop from the boat just off El Magic and swim north where the branching corals are.

We paddled on and on, knowing fairly well that we have long paddled past the waters of El Magic, but not one single branching corals could be seen.

What were once like terraces of branching and table corals are now nothing but rubbles with overgrowths of algae and soft corals.

The Magic we knew is now gone, and that was just over two years ago.

With no corals to feast on, the crown of thorns too were no longer there. And so what was supposed to be a crown of thorns clean-up became just a garbage clean-up, where ten sacks were gathered from El Magic and off Paradise Island Beach Resort.

Plastics, so many disposable diapers, a lady's bag and a helmet were just among the garbage underwater, not counting the discarded nets that have wrapped around corals and strangled them.

How many spots have lost their corals? We will never know, but they will keep on disappearing if we continue with our destructive ways.