What kind of insensitive human being does this?
Facebook user Vince Tenchavez posted alarming photos on Tuesday of two corals that were defiled at the house reef in Bauan Divers Sanctuary (BDS).
The suspected culprit? A guy named Charlie.
“Charlie, whoever you are, take that stick, banger, or whatever you used to write on these beautiful corals – and shove it up your…,” Tenchavez started in the post. He ended it with the hashtag #FindingCharlie.
The photos show two separate corals that were vandalized. One had the name “CHARLIE” engraved while the other had the year “2018.”
UGH. Just so you can say Charlie wuz here?
“We found these on September 23, 2018 at around 40ft depth at the house reef of Bauan Divers Sanctuary – in an area where my group and the BDS staff are working hard to propagate coral life by building coral propagation units,” Tenchavez stated.
“And some idiot comes along and does this. Can’t believe a scuba diver has that low of an EQ and an absence of concern for marine life to do this. We believe this was done either September 22 or 23.”
Coral reefs are home to millions of species and they take a long time to grow. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), some can take up to 10,000 years to fully form.
Tenchavez told Coconuts Manila through Facebook Messenger that they’ve checked the BDS guest list but no one with the name Charlie was checked in last weekend.
He shared that they believe the vandal was a diver from a different resort that went on a boat dive at the BDS house reef. “There were several boats with several divers diving there over those 2 days (Saturday & Sunday). So it’s actually very difficult to find out who this person is,” he said.
He added that if that person already posted the “masterpiece” on social media, someone would’ve noticed by now.
“But as of today, no one has reported [it to us] yet. From the looks of it, he used a tank banger or pointer to write on the corals. It’s a steel stick/rod used by divers,” Tenchavez said. “He wrote on 2 separate corals that are beside each other.”
He said that he also talked to a marine biologist and that there’s a chance that the coral reefs that were vandalized will die.
“A coral can get stressed, sick, and eventually die. Even touching or stepping on them can cause them to die because they are very fragile. All the more if the coral was damaged like the one Charlie did. It can take years for that to recover and that’s IF it can recover,” he told Coconuts.
“But the parts that were damaged/written on looks like it will not recover anymore and will be dead already.”
He also called out Charlie’s buddies who didn’t stop him. He said in the post, “And to Charlie’s dive buddies who witnessed him do this but did nothing to stop him, shame on you as well. You all should know better.”
Tenchavez reminded netizens in his post that vandalism wasn’t anything cool or cute, because “doing this stupid thing kills the coral which took decades, even hundreds of years, to grow. So please don’t even think about doing this.”
The Facebook post had over 17,000 likes (mostly angry reactions amounting to 10,000) and 7,100 shares as of this article’s posting. Netizens did not mince words as they called Charlie out.
Facebook user Nur Halimatun Binti Mohamad wrote: “Please find Charlie.. Smack his face for being stupid to [the] highest level.”
Richene Mae Arligue Mirador added: “Charlie should’ve just drowned so fish could have something to eat, and that they can make a home out of his skeleton.”
A certain Charlie Belvis said: “To all..In behalf of all the other CHARLIE(s) who has (sic) nothing to do with this act, I am Sorry. For the one CHARLIE who did this… Damnyou!”
Twitter users also used the hashtag #FindingCharlie to express their dismay:
Twitter user @dpanteria wrote: “To that ‘Charlie’ who vandalized the coral reefs in Batangas days ago. I wanna tell you that you’re an asshole. No excuse can justify what you did. And I.. hate you. #FindingCharlie”
To that “Charlie” who vandalized the coral reefs in Batangas days ago. I wanna tell you that you’re an asshole. No excuse can justify what you did. And I.. hate you. #FindingCharlie
— Rhen.. (@dpanteria) September 26, 2018
@kariz0502 said, “Charlie’s stupid.”
Bobo ni Charlie. #findingCharlie https://t.co/ubtSWLg3Wb
— Kariz F. Desola (@kariz0502) September 26, 2018
“Let’s help find Charlie and let him know that he is an asshole,” wrote @tolentinojil.
Let’s help find Charlie and let him know that he is an asshole. 🖕🏻🖕🏻🖕🏻 https://t.co/43hAuePlGb#FindingCharlie
— Jil Tolentino (@tolentinojil) September 26, 2018
Charlie, wherever you are, you’re in big trouble.
