JavaScript is off. Please enable to view full site.

Pollution killing off coral under Phu Quoc sea in Vietnam

Pollution killing off coral under Phu Quoc sea in Vietnam

Monday, September 28, 2015, 16:39 GMT+7

Many coral reefs under the sea of Phu Quoc Island, off southern Vietnam, have disappeared due to climate change and water pollution over the past several years, the local conservation agency has said.

>> An audio version of the story is available here

The pollution of the sea water environment is considered the main cause, Nguyen Hong Cuong, director of the Phu Quoc Marine Conservation Zone Management Board told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.

“Along with tourism development, garbage and wastewater have been discharged into the sea, causing contamination that has ruined coral reefs,” Cuong said.

Shrimp, fish, and “banh long” (actinopyga mauritiana) exploitation activities to the west of the island have been detrimental to the marine environment and thereby destroyed coral and other aquatic animals there, Cuong added.

Climate change is warming the water on the Phu Quoc seabed, especially since April 2010, killing a lot of coral reefs around the island, said Nguyen Van Tien, a local diver, told Tuoi Tre.

Statistics showed that 56.6 percent of the Phu Quoc coral reefs had died by that time, with 90 percent of the coral in certain locations destroyed, Tien said.

Last year, data indicated that the volume of newly-detected coral reefs was less than that of dead coral.

“Now coral can only be found in the waters north of Phu Quoc and some far locations to the south of the island,” another diver said.

Coral reefs are seen less and less at the depth of six meters from the surface downward, the diver said.

A driver who guides foreign tourists to take tours of coral under the sea said that 100 percent of them expressed displeasure at the great loss of coral that has not been protected properly.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!

Tuoi Tre News

More

Read more

;

Photos

VIDEOS

‘Taste of Australia’ gala dinner held in Ho Chi Minh City after 2-year hiatus

Taste of Australia Gala Reception has returned to the Park Hyatt Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City's District 1 after a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Vietnamese woman gives unconditional love to hundreds of adopted children

Despite her own immense hardship, she has taken in and cared for hundreds of orphans over the past three decades.

Vietnam’s Mekong Delta celebrates spring with ‘hat boi’ performances

The art form is so popular that it attracts people from all ages in the Mekong Delta

Latest news