Marissa Floirendo’s Tubbataha treasure

Marissa Floirendo has always loved the sea.  Growing up in Davao, the ocean was literally in her parents’ backyard and it’s no wonder she became a top maritime cinematographer at a young age.

For the past 20 years, one of Marissa’s favorite dive sites has been the Tubbataha Reef, located in the middle of the Sulu Sea.  With over 97,000 hectares, it  is Southeast Asia’s only purely marine  UNESCO World Heritage Site. The reef’s ecosystems support a high diversity of sea life that includes several hundred species of coral (comprising half of all the coral species worldwide), 600 species of  fish, as well as breeding colonies for seabirds and turtles. The high diversity of marine life is almost incomparable elsewhere.

President Corazon Aquino proclaimed it as a national marine park in 1988  and  increased boundaries were signed by President Gloria Arroyo in 2006 to include additional areas that would be protected by sea rangers to safeguard its ecosystem and prevent illegal activities such as fishing and the collection of marine life.
Together with Teresa “Tet” Lara,  Marissa’s diving buddy, they have accumulated thousands of photos from their regular  annual trips to this diverse marine sanctuary and this was the impetus  to publish a photo book, Tubbataha: A National Treasure.  Contributors include marine experts Dr. Al Licuanan and Dr. Perry Aliño, conservation and wildlife expert Dr. Teri Aquino, fisheries specialist Dr. Hazel Arcel, ornithologist Arne Jensen, Yasmin Arquiza’s reef reporter, Tubbataha’s area superintendent Angelique Songco with the foreword by National Geographic photographer David Doubilet.

During the recent book launch at the Manila Polo Club, Marissa explained that  the Tubbataha Reef was discovered by amateur divers in the late 1970s and the best time to go is during the  summer
months (from March to June) because that is when the waters are calmest.  It is also listed among the top 10 world’s best dive sites by CNN Travel.

As we congratulated Marissa, she enthused:  “I want to give back to Tubbataha and to the people who have put in effort to bring this place back to how it was before, and have made this possible in our lifetime.  It is important that we keep this marine site safe for all human beings who love nature.”

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For information, check out tubbatahanationaltreasure on Facebook or email tubbatahanationaltreasure@gmail.com.

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