2011 Philippine Biodiversity Expedition* 
Part 1: Planning, Science and Surreality 
Richard Ross 
Steinhart Aquarium, California Academy of Sciences, 55 Music Concourse Drive, 
San Francisco, CA 94118. Email: rross@calacademy.org 
Researchers from the California Academy of Sciences have been visiting an area called the 
Verde Island Passage off the coast of Batangas Province on Luzon Island, Philippines for almost 
20 years. Research by scientists during that period suggested that this area is the “center of the cen¬ 
ter” of marine biodiversity, and perhaps home to more documented species than any other marine 
habitat on Earth; there can be more species of soft corals at just one dive site in this area than in all 
of the Caribbean. Thus it was only natural that when the Steinhart’s 212,000 gallon reef tank was 
designed, the Academy decided to represent the reefs of Luzon. Ever since, Steinhart biologists 
have traveled to this area in small groups with the objective of acquiring first hand knowledge of 
the environments they hope to recreate in San Francisco. 
The 2011 Philippine Biodiversity Expedition, however, was a trip of a completely different 
magnitude: the largest expedition in the Academy’s history covering both land and sea. Consisting 
of a Shallow Water team, Deep Water team and a Terrestrial/Fresh Water team, the 2011 Philippine 
Biodiversity expedition, funded by a generous gift from Margaret and Will Flearst, was the most 
comprehensive scientific survey effort ever conducted in the Philippines. Joining the expedition 
were over eighty scientists from the Academy, the University of the Philippines, De La Salle Uni¬ 
versity, the National Museum of the Pliilippines and the Philippines Bureau of Fisheries and Aquat¬ 
ic Resources, as well as a team of Academy educators whose mission was to share the expedition’s 
findings with local community and conservation groups as the Expedition was happening. 
As part of the Shallow Water team Bart Shepherd, Matt Wandell and I surveyed and further 
documented the underwater sites that served as the inspiration for the Steinhart’s Pliilippine Coral 
Reef exliibit. We also responsibly collected coral, cephalopods and other invertebrates for captive 
propagation, research and display at our Golden Gate Park facility. As the only public aquarium 
permitted to collect stony corals in the Philippines, we were to obtain these unique species for 
study, captive culture research, distribution to other institutions as well for display at the aquari¬ 
um. i 
Planning 
On previous trips to the Philippines, Steinhart biologists had been given special permission to 
collect and export small numbers of small coral fragments, most of them collected as ‘found frags’. 
The 2011 Expedition would continue tliis tradition, albeit with some modifications. In order to 
reduce stress on the organisms, we planned to adopt KenNedimyer’s work with the Coral Restora¬ 
tion Foundation (http.fAvww.coralrestoration.org/) to create a system for holding our coral frag¬ 
ments offshore until transport. We mocked up the system using materials that we could travel eas¬ 
ily with, or that we could find in the field - silicone airline tubing, zip ties, dive weights and empty 
* This article was first published in Reefi Magazine and with minor modifications is reprinted here with pennission. 
The original publication is available online: http://www.reejsmagazine. com/fonun/reefs-magazine/117948-phillipine-hiodi- 
versity-expedi t ion -pa rt-2-a.html 
’ http://wwMKyoiitube.com/watch?feature= player embedded&v^2JswElAclU. This video by Bart Shepherd shows 
some of the reefscapes we encountered on the 2011 Philippine Biodiversity Expedition 
39 
