JOEY3 LIVE

It was a sad death of a magnificent creature of the sea. A whale shark (known locally as butanding) was found floating off the Manila Yacht Club along Roxas Boulevard yesterday, its belly filled with nails and bits of plastic.
Having ingested so many indigestible items was the probable cause of death.
For some time now, people who run and/manage resorts along the Cavite shoreline have been complaining that the big shipping lines dump their garbage at sea, just before entering Manila Bay waters. Some of their debris float towards shore rendering beaches unsafe for swimming.

Never mind the biodegradable stuff like food waste which can’t do permanent harm to the waters. It is the non-biodegradable items such as plastic or foil packaging that can inflict serious damage to the waters and the sea life. The dead whale shark is a case in point.
It is sad to note that there are still many local companies that are not too friendly to the environment. The dumping of the trash by the shipping lines is nothing more than a cost-saving measure. The trash from passengers has to be collected before the ships sail again. This is an additional expense. To dump them overboard is to save the cost of collecting the garbage.
There is a total disregard for the damage done to the environment.
There are laws that ban such vile acts against Mother Nature, but the problem is one of enforcement. In order to prevent the shipping lines from committing such illicit acts, the Philippine Navy or Coast Guard will have to watch over each and every ship plying our seas. This is physically impossible, of course. The Navy and Coast Guard simply do not have the manpower.
Still, this crime against nature cannot be allowed to continue, nor go unpunished. One possible action that the government can do is conduct spot checks on the ships, especially the ones that carry passengers rather than cargo. The amount of trash gathered per audited ship when they reach the Port of Manila should determine the average. Any ship that arrives without the usual volume can be presumed to have dumped their waste at sea.
This is just one suggestion. There are probably other courses of action which the government and the private sector can do to preserve our waters.

Tags: butanding, Manila Bay, Manila Yacht Club, whale shark