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| Baltazar Island is right in the Verde Island Passage Marine Corridor and is home to new Sawshark species and underwater caves. |
Diving at Baltazar Island
Being in the periphery of the Verde Island Passage Marine
Corridor that teems with concentrations of marine biodiversity, there are a lot
of unexplored sections of coral reefs, steep walls and underwater caves and
canyons, Marinduque is among the top scuba dive destinations in the country. Here lies Baltazar Island, one of the famous Tres Reyes Islands.
The entire Verde
Island Passage Marine Corridor, a busy sea lane, covers portions of the coastal
waters of Batangas, Oriental Mindoro, Occidental Mindoro, Marinduque and
Romblon. This site has been dubbed by the scientists as "the world’s blue
water version of the Amazon River basin."
A published Conservation International (CI) report stressed
its importance to marine conservation because habitat threats in the
Philippines could result in mass extinctions of species similar to what is
occurring in the Amazon River Basin. "The Philippines can therefore be
considered as the marine counterpart of this famous terrestrial center of
biodiversity", the report stated.
CI said the Passage “has arguably the highest concentration
of marine species of any region in the world’s oceans, including whale sharks
(Rhincodon typus) and giant clams (Tridacna gigas).”
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| Specimen of Sawshark, Pristophorus lanae caught northwest of Baltazar Island |
