Scuba diving-related fatalities in the Philippines from 2008 to 2022 as reported in online news media.

The present study aims to investigate the demographics and characteristics of scuba diving fatalities in the Philippines which can help in the identification of local trends and ultimately in the development of appropriate preventive measures. Data on scuba diving-related fatalities in the Philippines from 2008 to 2022 were manually retrieved from online news media sources. Information on age, sex, nationality, certification, purpose, and causative factors, whenever possible were collected and analysed. A total of 39 fatalities were identified having a median age of 43.5 (range 20-80). Majority of victims were males (n = 30), and of foreign ethnicity (n = 26). Asphyxia was identified as the possible disabling injury in almost half of the cases (n = 17). The causes of death based on autopsies were determined only for few cases which included drowning (n = 2), heart attack (n = 1), and traumatic injuries from a dynamite blast (n = 1). Potential vulnerable groups were identified to be the ageing population and foreign tourist divers. In the absence of an existing database, this preliminary report provides the best available evidence at this time concerning scuba diving fatalities in the Philippines.

An investigation of aquatic oil spills in the Philippines from 2000 to 2021.

As an archipelago, the Philippines is heavily engaged in domestic and foreign shipping activities which makes it highly vulnerable to oil pollution. It is the purpose of this present paper to make a follow-up review of the oil spill situation in the Philippines which provides analysis and evaluation of aquatic oil spills in the past 22 years. Results showed that the frequency and volume of oil spills generally occur in areas with high maritime traffic and experienced short-term decreases on periods affected by economic recessions. The sources and causes of oil spills are discussed while examining the possible influences of the changing climate. While, these had been identified, there is a gap in the incident reporting of oil spills. It is recommended that data records on oil spill incidents in the Philippines be systematic, consistent and comprehensively entail information not limited to date, locality, source, cause, and spillage amount.

A new distributional record of the black coral Antipathes cf. griggi in Mactan Island, Philippines.

The black coral Antipathes cf. griggi was reported for the first time outside the Hawaiian Archipelago. This short report provides details and short description of the newly recorded species in Mactan Island, Philippines.