PHL scientists survey marine life at Benham Rise

Filipino marine science experts and divers reached on Tuesday the southern part of the Benham Rise, an undersea plateau to the east of Luzon the United Nations recognized in 2012 as part of the Philippines' territory.

 

The research expedition is on an ecological survey mission.

Bebet and Ting has touched Benham's bottom. 120% coral cover.

— BenhamRiseProgram (@msi_cruise) May 6, 2014
 
 
 

They anchored near the Benham Bank, the shallowest section of the plateau at less than 50 meters deep.

Good weather and calm seas welcomed the expedition at the Benham Bank.

First transect south of Benham Bank. Relatively calm seas.

— BenhamRiseProgram (@msi_cruise) May 5, 2014
 
 
 

Hours later, two members of the survey team dove into the shallow waters and found what they estimated to be 120 percent coral cover.

 

On a research vessel of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), the survey mission set sail for the bank last May 3 and made their way to the Pacific via the seas and straits off the coasts of Southern Luzon and the Bicol region, passed Catanduanes and headed out into the ocean.

 

Dr. Hildie Nacorda of University of the Philippines' Marine Science Institute (MSI) leads the composite survey team of scientists from the BFAR, UP Los Baños, Mindanao, and Baguio, as well as from Xavier University in Mindanao. 

 

Joining the scientists are student volunteers from the Ateneo de Manila University and MSI.

 

The expedition is expected to last two weeks.

 

Back in 2012, the MSI also led the initial Benham Rise survey mission, which saw the participation of a research vessel from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, MSI's foreign research partners and a representative of the Philippine Navy. That mission “ investigated the effects of Pacific Ocean currents on the productivity of the seas in the eastern Luzon area.”

 

Mineral and gas deposits are believed to be locked within the Benham Rise.  — Kim Luces/Earl Victor Rosero/KG, GMA News