Kim's Quest #23: One Calm Morning at Tañon Strait

I have been promoting Cebu since I joined Steem, but I guess I already mentioned in one of my posts that I am not originally from Cebu. I was born in Amlan, Negros Oriental. I grew up there, but we transferred here in Cebu when I was in high school. I have grown to love Cebu, but my heart always belongs to the place where I spent my childhood years.

When my grandmother died three weeks ago, we decided to go home to Amlan. I haven't gone home for about 4 years already because of my board exam and work. I find it refreshing when I visit my relatives because the life there is so different from the life in the city. I think I should showcase my hometown in the near future. To be honest, I explored Cebu more than my hometown. Negros in general has a lot to offer. I just haven't explored it yet.

This post is a series of photos as an appreciation for the body of water that separates the two islands that has been part of my life. One shaped my childhood, while the other opened opportunities for me to see the world.

I was thinking of what to post next because I felt uninspired. Although I still have a lot of reserved travel posts, I didn't have the drive to post them yet. Then I realized I took a number of photos of Tañon Strait while I was on a boat going to Negros. I immediately checked them and felt inspired by the calmness of the sea. So, here we are.

Tañon Strait is the Philippines' largest marine protected area that's 5 times larger than the famous Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park. Connecting Visayas Sea in the north and Bohol Sea in the south, it is located in between the islands of Negros and Cebu. The place where I took the photo was in Santander, Cebu, near the southernmost tip and narrowest part of the Strait. Although the strait is narrow, the water is deep and reaches up to 500 meters.

Tañon Strait is known for its dolphin and whale watching with boat operations in Bais City as the most famous. When I was in college, we attempted to have dolphin watching in Bais City, but something happened to our boat while we were still halfway to the dolphin watching site. One of my friends panicked so we requested for another boat, but did not push through with the activity. I was very sad then because I was not able to see the dolphins, but on the brighter side, I was able to swim in the middle of the Strait. I guess not everybody can swim in the middle of the sea. One of these days, I will definitely go back and do dolphin watching and enjoy in Manjuyod Sandbar.

We had island hopping in Moalboal, Cebu a few years ago and while going to Pescador Island, we saw a pod of dolphins swimming alongside our boats. Moalboal is located in the southwest of Cebu and is actually part of Tañon Strait Protected Seascape. Although not famous for dolphin watching, you can actually see dolphins, if you're lucky, when you do island hopping in Moalboal especially in the morning.

The strait is home to 14 species of dolphins and whales, including spotted dolphins, spinner dolphins, dwarf sperm whales, and pygmy killer whales. That's half of the 27 species of dolphins and whales in the Philippines. Critically-endangered dugong, chambered nautilus, and giant diamond-backed squid can also be found in Tañon Strait. Its waters also boasts 70 species of fish, 26 species of mangroves, 20 species of crustaceans, and 18,830 hectares of corals.

The water was so calm that morning that it made my heart at ease, but it also made me realize that a lot of things are going on both above and underwater. I remember when I was in college, one of our teachers approached our group that there's a funding to do benthic studies in Tañon Strait to determine the impact of the coastal cities and towns on the ecology of the strait. Sadly, it was not pursued.

Because of its enormous size, smaller but better known protected areas like Moalboal, Pescador Island, Bantayan Island, and many more are actually within Tañon Strait. Its size also makes Tañon Strait vulnerable. Due to conflicting and often weak policies of overlapping coastal towns and cities, the strait is threatened by commercial fishing (which is supposed to be illegal in the area), unsustainable fishing methods, and pollution from industrial establishments.

It is only recently that a comprehensive conservation plan was formed by the stakeholders of the seascape. I hope that the strait will be properly conserved so that the future generations can still see its beauty. I think sustainable eco-tourism can greatly help in the conservation efforts, as well as information dissemination.

I hope that this post will serve its purpose. As I considered myself as a stakeholder, it is my prerogative to share about the place that's close to my heart. I wanted to do it in a medium that I think I'm good at. If you like this post, please don't hesitate to comment down below.

Kim Ybañez

_{Welcome to Kim's small corner in the Steem blockchain. He is a chemical engineer by profession, but a blogger by passion. He is a wanderlust and an adventure seeker. Join his quests as he visits secluded destinations, climbs mountains, tries new and exotic dishes, and explores his country (The Philippines) and the rest of the world (it will just follow since he's still a poor, corporate slave with tons of bills to pay and two siblings to support in college).}