Thailand has closed a host of popular dive sites to tourists indefinitely to allow coral reefs to recover from widespread bleaching caused by warmer sea temperatures, authorities said yesterday.
Eighteen areas in seven marine parks are off-limits, according to an order by the Thai National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department.
“Diving in all the spots is to be halted indefinitely until the reef has fully recovered,” department official Songtham Suksawang said.
The ban, effective in seven of 26 marine parks, mainly covers sites in the Andaman Sea on the west coast. It also applies to snorkeling.
Songtham said the authorities would limit the number of people visiting certain other reefs at the same time.
Coral on Thailand’s east and west coasts is thought to have been damaged by last year’s unusually high sea temperatures caused by El Nino, as well as excessive human activity near the reefs, a statement by the department said.
The ban was imposed in certain areas that “have widespread bleaching of more than 80 percent to allow the reef to rehabilitate,” it added.
Sea temperatures were said to be about 2oC higher than normal in the affected regions.
A study by Australia’s Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies in October said reefs in Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean were dying from the worst bleaching in over a decade after sea temperatures across the region rose in May last year.
Bleaching is caused by the warm water sweeping over the reefs, shocking the corals and causing them to shed the algae that nourish them. If corals fail to regain their algae, they starve to death.
Scientists say corals are vital to marine life because they provide habitats for a vast variety of creatures and absorb large levels of poisonous carbon dioxide.
Reefs are also a big draw for tourists looking to explore the wealth of underwater life.
Thailand is a popular destination for divers, with many resort islands offering excursions to the reefs strung along the country’s more than 3,000km of coastline.
The ban affects certain areas in the popular national parks of Similan and Phi Phi, as well as sites in Tarutao, Chao Mai, Chumphon, Phetra and most of Surin.
Penalties for non-compliance will run to fines and jail sentences, and authorities have also vowed to step up patrols to stop illegal fishing.
Anchoring sites at spots not affected by the closures would also be increased to reduce damage done by boats to reefs.
Authorities said the coral bleaching would be closely monitored while the ban is in place.
A fire caused by a burst gas pipe yesterday spread to several homes and sent a fireball soaring into the sky outside Malaysia’s largest city, injuring more than 100 people. The towering inferno near a gas station in Putra Heights outside Kuala Lumpur was visible for kilometers and lasted for several hours. It happened during a public holiday as Muslims, who are the majority in Malaysia, celebrate the second day of Eid al-Fitr. National oil company Petronas said the fire started at one of its gas pipelines at 8:10am and the affected pipeline was later isolated. Disaster management officials said shutting the
DITCH TACTICS: Kenyan officers were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch suspected to have been deliberately dug by Haitian gang members A Kenyan policeman deployed in Haiti has gone missing after violent gangs attacked a group of officers on a rescue mission, a UN-backed multinational security mission said in a statement yesterday. The Kenyan officers on Tuesday were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch “suspected to have been deliberately dug by gangs,” the statement said, adding that “specialized teams have been deployed” to search for the missing officer. Local media outlets in Haiti reported that the officer had been killed and videos of a lifeless man clothed in Kenyan uniform were shared on social media. Gang violence has left
US Vice President J.D. Vance on Friday accused Denmark of not having done enough to protect Greenland, when he visited the strategically placed and resource-rich Danish territory coveted by US President Donald Trump. Vance made his comment during a trip to the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, a visit viewed by Copenhagen and Nuuk as a provocation. “Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance told a news conference. “You have under-invested in the people of Greenland, and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this
Japan unveiled a plan on Thursday to evacuate around 120,000 residents and tourists from its southern islets near Taiwan within six days in the event of an “emergency”. The plan was put together as “the security situation surrounding our nation grows severe” and with an “emergency” in mind, the government’s crisis management office said. Exactly what that emergency might be was left unspecified in the plan but it envisages the evacuation of around 120,000 people in five Japanese islets close to Taiwan. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has stepped up military pressure in recent years, including
RSS