Vote for Tubbataha Reef

I appeal to you all to please vote Tubbataha Reef as one of the new 7 wonders of the world. Other entries from the Philippines are Bohol's Chocolate Hills and Puerto Princesa's Subterranean River National Park.

The word “tubbataha” is a combination of two Samal words which means “a long reef exposed at low tide”. This reef is made up of two coral atolls divided by an eight-kilometer (5 miles) wide channel. The South Atoll, the smaller of the two is five kilometers in length and three kilometers in width; while the North Atoll, the larger of the two is 16 kilometers (10 miles) long and five kilometers (3 miles) wide.

Vivid corals cover more than two-thirds of the area and the waters around the reef are places of refuge for numerous marine lives. The seemingly diverse ecosystem of this sanctuary rivals the Great Barrier Reef – having 300 coral species and 400 fish species.

In 1993, the United Nations designated Tubbataha as one of the two World Heritage Sites found in the Philippines. The other site is the Banaue Rice Terraces in Ifugao.

Tubbataha has become a popular site for seasoned sports divers because of its coral “walls” where the shallow coral reef abruptly ends giving way to great depths. These “walls” are not only wonderful diving spots but they are also wonderful habitats for many colonies of fish. There are giant jacks, hammerhead sharks, barracudas, manta rays, palm-sized moorish idols, parrot fishes, and moral eels living in the sanctuary. Tubbataha is even home to the hawksbill sea turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) which are endangered species.

Aside from being a marine sanctuary, Tubbataha is also renowned for being a bird sanctuary. A lighthouse islet, at the southern tip of the South Atoll, supports a large number of seabirds which nest there. Around the Tubbataha, there are tens of thousands of masked red-foot boobies, terns, and frigate birds resting during their annual migrations. To minimize any external intrusions, the Philippine Coast Guard maintains a small monitoring station on one of the many permanent sand bars.