Asian Diver and Scuba Diver No. 2/2017 Volume 146 | Page 10

A summary of what’s been brewing beneath (and above) the surface lately
WHAT BUBBLED
8
The planned development of a
“Nickelodeon undersea attraction and
resort” in Palawan, Philippines, has
alarmed locals and environmentalists.
The details surrounding the proposed
park remain vague, causing even
more concern.
The announcement came from
Nickelodeon’s parent company, Viacom,
which stated that it would be working with
Coral World Park Undersea Resorts Inc.
(“Asia’s first underwater resort developer”)
to build a 100-hectare undersea attraction,
inspired by Nickelodeon characters like
SpongeBob SquarePants and the Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Such a project would undoubtedly
have a massive impact on the marine
environment in what is one of the world’s
most biodiverse marine ecosystems.
NICKELODEON UNDERWATER
PARK SPARKS OUTRAGE
Despite the fact that the Coral World
Park initiative touts itself as the “largest
marine reserve and coral conservation
programme in Asia”, their governing
foundation has no known track record of
marine conservation.
A petition against the development
has been launched and can be found
at www.bataris.org.ph/petitions/no-to-
nickelodeon-s-underwater-theme-park-
in-palawan
SHARK FINS ARE BIG BUSINESS
IN SINGAPORE
A new report by the wildlife trade monitoring
group, TRAFFIC, has found that between
2012 and 2013, Singapore was the world’s
second-largest trader of shark fins by value.
Hong Kong takes the top spot.
The report draws on statistics from
the year 2012–13, during which Singapore
exported USD40 million, and imported
USD51.4 million worth of shark fins. More
than 66 percent of the fins were found to
have come from Namibia, Uruguay and
Spain. More than 72 percent of Singapore’s
shark fin exports went to Hong Kong.
Hopefully in more recent years these
numbers have dropped, as an increasing
number of airlines flying through Singapore
now refuse to carry shark fins as cargo, in
light of sharks’ plummeting numbers.