3 Sillimanians Editors of Book on Endangered Marine Mammals

Three Sillimanians have contributed as editors of a recently launched book citing the endangered species of marine mammals in the Philippines. 

The book, Red List Status of Marine Mammals in the Philippines, contains full and updated accounts of research work on the ecology, distribution, threats and conservation status of 26 species of marine mammals in the Philippines. It is the output of the Philippine Red List Assessment for Marine Mammals conducted since 2009 and updated May this year. 

Sillimanians Dr. Louella L. Dolar, Ms Moonyeen Nida R. Alava and Ms Edna R. Sabater are three of the five editors that helped put out the book. Dr. Dolar, who used to be with the Institute of Environmental and Marine Sciences of Silliman (known before as the Marine Laboratory), obtained her degree in Biology from Silliman in 1980. Ms Ava also finished both her undergraduate and master's degree in Biology from Silliman in 1983 and 1993, respectively, and had also served the University. Ms Sabater, on the other hand, completed her Master of Science in Biology from Silliman in 2008, and was a project staff at IEMS involved in various researches around the country on both coastal resources management and marine biodiversity.  

Red List Status of Marine Mammals in the Philippines contains texts, photos, maps and illustrations that provide relevant organizations, advocacy groups and individuals with science-based information needed by policy makers in their actions to address the decline in Philippine marine biodiversity.

Two of the species feared to be on the verge of extinction are the dugong and the Irrawaddy dolphin. The book highlights the declining populations of both species in the country. Both are currently considered critically endangered — a classification for species at high risk of disapperance in their natural or wild habitat. 

The book is a collaboration of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources-National Fisheries Research and Development Institute, Sulu-Sulawesi Seascape Initiative of Conservation International-Philippines, Marine Wildlife Watch of the Philippines, Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, and the marine mammal researchers of the Philippines.