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It all began sometime in April 2010 that about 7 of us witnessed three finned fish swimming in front of Lemlunay Dive Resort, in Maasim. In our awe, we forgot to take our cameras or our phone cameras to take a shot.  However, since the sighting was probably there for a good 5 minutes, I thought of borrowing Paul Partridge's telescope.  It was evident what we saw a pod of 3 black finned whale, and there were white marking by the eye.  I thought I saw the killer whale.  Yup, the orca -- ok, yes, I thought through the telescope I saw a "Shamu".

Immediately after, I connected with a friend from WWF, no other than Lory Tan, CEO and Vice Chairperson of World Wildlife Fund in the Philippines.  In the midst of this confirmation, we pinned down a date --  May 22-24 for the Marine Mammal Training for Sarangani.

On May 22 we were joined by the group from DENR Regional team, Bureau of Fisheries, Municipal Environmental Officers, the General Santos City Environmental Officers, Staff and On the job trainees of Environmental Conservation & Protection Center, Philippine Coast Guard, Sarangani Tourism group, NGOs and volunteers from Manila and Cetecean experts on the field. We had the privilege of having sessions Dr. Jom Acebes, Elson Aca, whale boy A.G. Sano, and Lory Tan.  

The training confirmed that Sarangani Bay is indeed abundant with whales and dolphins. In the next 2 days, we expect to identify what we have in the Bay.  Our survey is definitely a discipline because we were at Lemlunay by 5 am and ready to board the pump boat.  Our schedule was set for us to be  out from 5 am until 3 pm in the afternoon.  We had to bring our binoculars, sun block and get ready to be as observant as possible. Each one had to take 1 hour turns to be watchers.

(Photo by Toby Martin)

Sarangani Bay indeed did not disappoint us. On the first day of our survey we found Frigid Birds flying around and taking their fish fresh from the ocean.  We see the ecosystem at work when a fisherman speeds toward where birds are flocking.  Fishing a bigger fish is almost sure... because where there are smaller fish, bigger ones are swimming around and eating the smaller ones.  Sarangani Bay is filled with this rich biodiversity and action!

But nothing gets your adrenalin higher than seeing the actual marine mammal right in the wild.  The first sightings was a huge pod of about 15-20 Risso's dolphins... What was wonderful was seeing a mother and calf swimming.. Other dolphins breaching (or jumping up in mid-air), and the others were so playful they even waved using their fluke (tail).  It was an amazing sight!

Sarangani in 2 days had a total of six sightings in different locations from the mouth to inside the bay.  The species confirmed in 2 survey days were the Pygmy Sperm whale, Dwarf Sperm whale, and the Risso's dolphins.  As for the Orcas they were not sighted in those 2 days. However, its not the end of the its story.  Dr. Jom Acebes a cetecean expert, proceeded to Balut island. On her approach, she confirmed a sighting of three orca whales.  Many don't believe what we are saying, but more and more there are sightings of orcas in the Philippines. There are also confirmed sightings in Negros Oriental.  

It tells us that the Philippines including Sarangani Bay could be a more probable and safe areas for these marine mammals to thrive.  It tells us that we need to protect them, we need to keep our waters healthy for them exist among us.  For Sarangani, this discovery is a definite treasure.  We hope that by early next year we can offer whale and dolphin watching as a tourism activity for tourists to learn and enjoy!

Written by: Michelle Solon