Showing posts with label Pamilacan Island. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pamilacan Island. Show all posts

Saturday, July 18, 2020

'Dolphin therapy' at the island of dolphins

Pods of dolphins found in the sea waters off Garcia Hernandez town in Bohol province. Photo courtesy:  Jervin Galido

When "Dolphin therapy" became a "fad" in 2005, yours truly, frequently visited the Pamilacan Island to see the friendly mammals. 

 

I have had depression that a friend told me to see dolphins. 

 

My friend said that dolphins have reputation for their healing powers over the last couple of decades.

 

There are reports dolphins can use their natural ultrasound to zap tumors, heal muscle injuries and stimulate the brains of disabled children. Dolphins have relieved chest pain and restored faulty vision.

 

That explained that there are many facilities scattered around the world that offer various forms of dolphin-assisted therapy for people with mental and physical ailments. 

 

Essentially, it’s an expensive opportunity to swim with dolphins.  In the USA and Mexico, the program includes five 40-minute sessions with a single dolphin in a pool over three days. The cost is $575.



Parents of children with severe autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy or other disabilities spend thousands of dollars on such dolphin-based treatments in hopes that the animals can reach their kids in ways that psychiatrists, physical therapists or medications never could.

 

But I didn't shell out money to see the dolphins in a facility. I had experienced them in their own natural habitat. 

 

Although my friend told me that I could swim with dolphins at Pamilacan Island, but it didn't offer therapy. 

 

Some experts said that the appeal of dolphin therapy is based more on mystical beliefs than on any real results. 

 

There’s no real research to support dolphin therapy, but I believe the animals bring joy, confidence and self-esteem to children and adults. 

 

During my visits to Pamilacan Island, swimming with dolphins had improved my feelings of well-being while reducing anxiety. 

 

When I learned that pods of dolphins re-appeared in Garcia Hernandez town last week, I am happy because their appearance means abundance of foods from our seas. 

 

The presence of dolphins in the sea waters off Barangay Cayam enticed residents to look for them in the open sea. 

 

Those who had a close encounter with the  dolphins  have been posting photos and videos of animals enjoying the newly quiet sea in the social media. 

 

Ruel Baguhin, 37, considers the presence of dolphins in the municipality as “rare” and “surprising” since the last time residents have seen the aquatic mammals was some decades ago.

 

Residents have been spotting bottlenose and spinner dolphins as well as orcas or killer whales starting last June 29.

 

The presence of dolphins in the waters off Barangay Cayam prompted residents to look for them in the open sea.

 

Those who had close encounters with the dolphins posted photos and videos of the sea mammals on social media.

 

According to National Geographic, orcas or killer whales are considered the largest among the dolphins and are among the world’s most powerful predators. They are recognized through their distinctive black-and-white colors.

 

John Brian Galendez, 29, a resident of West-Lungsodaan in Garcia Hernandez town, saw “hundreds” of dolphins last Saturday afternoon.

 

He said he and friends spotted them at around 5 p.m.

 

“It was my first time seeing dolphins here although I learned that some fishermen have had sightings of them in the past,” Galendez said.

 

The Bohol Sea is said to be one of the breeding grounds of whales and dolphins.

 

Whales and dolphins sightings were popular in the seas of Jagna, Garcia Hernandez, Lila and Pamilacan Island in Baclayon town, known as the highway of the whales and dolphins. 

 

However, it diminished in early 1990s due to rampant whale and dolphin hunting.

 

Since then sightings of these creatures became rare.

 

An outcry from local and foreign conservationists triggered the ban on the hunting of dolphins and whales. 

 

The Philippines, one of the first countries in Southeast Asia with policies protecting marine mammals, banned the catching, selling, or transporting of dolphins and whales since 1992 through Fisheries Administrative Order 185.

 

In 1998, the Animal Welfare Act was also put in place. In 2001, the Fisheries Administrative Order 208 on the conservation of rare, threatened, and endangered fishery species, which includes whales and dolphins.

 

Does dolphin therapy work? I don't know. 

But I feel better. 

 

 

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Sunday, February 7, 2016

‘Pinoy Aquaman’ completes historic swim in Pamilacan

Wake-uppers:
Seen: Spotted in Bohol last Friday was former Ilocos Norte Governor Chavit Singson. According to VRS, Singson visited Anda town for a possible business venture.

Scene:  Feng shui experts encourage everyone to throw away all the old stuff in our house to make room for new blessings for the Chinese New Year (Feb. 8). They also recommend wearing red to attract luck and fortune.

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'Pinoy Aquaman’ Ingemar Patiño Macarine has a goal: To swim the English Channel, Catalina Channel and Marathon Island to promote clean seas, environmental tourism and climate change awareness.

Macarine has been swimming his whole life. Born in a small coastal town of Placer in Surigao del Norte in Mindanao, he spent nearly every day of his childhood swimming.

“I love the seas. Never did I fear swimming in the open water. And I think my life is very connected with water,” Macarine, who is an election officer of Tubigon town in Bohol province, said.

He was eight years old when he first dreamed about the possibility of swimming across the Surigao Strait. 

ENVIRONMENTAL AND TRI-ATHLETE lawyer Ingemar Macarine:
 ‘I want our children to enjoy the same clean seas and beaches. 
That is my environmental advocacy.’ Contributed Photo
"I learned to swim when I was in Grade 2. My friends and I just enjoyed swimming near the seashores. I told my friends, 'I wonder if anybody could swim over there," Macarine recalled. 

In his college days, he was a varsity swimmer at the Silliman University in Dumaguete City. 

Macarine said he especially wants to connect with and educate young people, the importance of clean seas. He also wants to raise awareness about climate change.  

Open-ocean swimming is among the toughest sporting disciplines in the world, said Macarine.  

His first open water swim was on Dec. 30, 2013. He was the first person to swim successfully from Basul Island to Lipata, Surigao City. 

“My first open water swim was unforgettable because that was my first time to swim against a strong current.  Three of my companions gave up. I was the only one who successfully crossed it,” he said. 

But for Macarine his latest challenge in Pamilacan Island in Bohol province last Jan. 31, was "the hardest and toughest yet".  He completed the gruelling 14-kilometer journey for 5 hours and 59 minutes.

He said strong currents kept pulling him off course so he had to change direction at least 14 times.

“It’s very challenging. This is my toughest swim because of strong current and waves. I had no choice but to use backstroke. The current changed several times and I had really a very hard time swimming against the current,” said Macarine.

The Pamilacan swim was his second in Bohol since he swam the 13.4-km stretch from Balicasag Island to mainland Panglao Island in 2014 during the first anniversary of the 7.2 magnitude earthquake. He did it to immortalize the Boholanos who had perished during the earthquake.

LAWYER  Ingemar Macarine says that his Pamilacan swim was the “hardest and toughest yet.’ 
Contributed Photo
Swimming in the open water is very safe so long as you have an escort boat, he said. 

Macarine said he follows the Marathon Swimming Federation Rules and performs his solo swimming without floating aid or help from any human or sea vessel.

The swim isn't easy.

"You need to be brave," he said. "And focus on what you’re doing."

At one point, he had been stung by jellyfishes. Sometimes, strong currents and big waves would somehow hinder his target.  Through it all, he held his mantra close: "Psalm 23...The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures: he leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul: he leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me...” His family-wife Raquel, and children- Lance, 6; and Colyn, 4, are his inspiration.

He said prior to his swim, he took time to read the Bible and pray.

"I read the Bible when I am in doubt, and of course, for the Lord's guidance. And my favorite is Psalm 23,” he said. 

He has since conquered seas in United States and Philippines.

Macarine had done similar feats in the past. He was acknowledged as the first Filipino to swim the 2.7-kilometer from Alcatraz Island Penitentiary to San Francisco City in April 2014.

He was also the first man to conquer the Babuyan Channel by swimming from Palaui Island to Mainland Sta. Ana, Province of Cagayan with a distance of 7.2 km in 2 hours on June 15,  2014.

He was also the first man to swim from Santa Fe in Bantayan Island to San Remigio in mainland Cebu, covering the distance of 19.99 km. He spent seven hours and 45 minutes to reach mainland Cebu.

He was also the first man who attempted to swim from Visayas to  Mindanao by swimming from San Ricardo, Southern Leyte to Surigao City, Northern Mindanao. Although the swim was unsuccessful, he made a personal record of swimming 23 kilometers in five and half hours in May 2014. 

Macarine was selected as one of the three Heroes of the Environment for 2015 by the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF). 

“I am so happy that I can inspire more people to care more for the marine environment,'" he said.

At 39, Macarine said he is in good health, and just wants to do his part in bringing about peace and friendship, as well as clean seas.

“I want our children to enjoy the same clean seas and beaches. That is my environmental advocacy,” he said, “Clean seas are very important today for the future generations.”


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Thanks for your letters, all will be answered. Comments welcome at leoudtohan@yahoo.com, follow leoudtohan at Twitter /Facebook.