DIVE HAPPY

A huge, pristine reef has been discovered off Thailand's coast in the Andaman Sea, but there's already concern about ensuring its turtle population remains undisturbed

The Nation, via CDNN, reports a new coral reef has been discovered off the coast of Phang Nga, the coastal province of Thailand that lies above Phuket. Phang Nga was badly affected by 2004's tsunami and the reef was discovered with the help of local fishermen by a survey team from WWF Thailand's Marine and Coastal Conservation Unit. It sounds huge - some 4 square kilometres! - and plans are already being put in place to protect the reef from divers and overfishing in the future - at the moment, the reef's location is being kept a secret.

"The fish living there include such rare species as the parrot fish Chlorurus rakaura, which was first discovered in Sri Lanka and has never before been seen in Thai waters. The reef also has a species of the sweetlips fish, the Plectorhincus macrospilus, which was previously known only from the Similan Islands," he explained.

The Thai chapter of the leading international environmental group first heard about the coral reef from local fishermen, Songpol said.

"We discovered [the new reef] after talking with local fishermen while we were conducting a survey for our Green Coast project," he said, referring to the group's tsunami recovery project for indigenous marine life and local fishing communities.

"The discovery helps us understand why sea turtles in the Andaman Sea use the Thai Muang area as their major nest site: the reef is a source of food for turtles and their offspring," Songpol said.

It would be amazing to dive this untouched reef, and it sounds like there is so much to see and explore, but the turtle population of Thailand is dwindling so rapidly that it might be better to keep this reef wholly offlimits and restrict divers to existing sites. Either that or drastically limit the number of divers allowed to go there each year.