Rainbow Warrior under sail.
Our ship Rainbow Warrior was in the Philippines, documenting
thepotential impacts of global warming on coral reefs in a World
Heritagesite. We were operating with a government chart which
claimed tobe up to date, but showed us to be 1.5 miles away from
the reef we hitaround 7am local time.
"This incident is very regrettable. Within minutes after
ithappened, we called up the marine park ranger station to inform
themabout the accident," said Red Constantino of Greenpeace
Southeast Asia.Marine park rangers, assisted by Greenpeace,
immediately conducted anassessment of the damaged reef.
The park officials' final assessment of damage covered a total
area of 32 meters by 3 meters (105 x 10 feet) of the reef.
The fine was set at 384,000 pesos (US$6,857).
"This accident could have been avoided if the chart was
accurate. We feel responsible, however, and this amount will be
transferred onWednesday 2 November," said Constantino.
The grounding did not cause any major damage to the ship nor
serious delays to the ship's expedition.
Healthycoral on the left, bleached coral on the right. The animal giving thecolony its colour has already died from increased water temperature,and the remainder of the colony almost inevitably follows.
"We appreciate the work that Greenpeace continues to do for
theenvironment. We also appreciate the immediate action they took
toget the full assessment of the damage," said Tubbataha Park
ManagerAngelique Songco.
Greenpeace and the Tubbataha Protected Area Management board
bothagreed there is a serious need of updated maps and precise
maritimecharts of the Tubbataha Reefs to avoid similar
accidents.
The expedition to the Tubbataha Reefs is part of the global
effort ofGreenpeace to document what is at stake should global
warming worsen.
The Rainbow Warrior is on the "Asia Energy Revolution Tour"
ofAustralia, China, Philippines and Thailand to call for an urgent
breakfrom coal and to promote a massive shift to clean, renewable
energy.
Without that shift, the rest of the coral reef will face
complete destruction.
Read a first-hand account
Pam, our crewmember blogger aboard the Rainbow Warrior, posted this account of what happened.