Hinatuan Enchanted River

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Hinatuan Enchanted River
Enchanted River
Hinatuan enchanted river.jpg
Data
location on the island of Mindanao
muzzle in the Pacific Ocean Coordinates: 8 ° 27 ′ 32 "  N , 126 ° 21 ′ 24"  E 8 ° 27 ′ 32 "  N , 126 ° 21 ′ 24"  E

length 1 km

The Hinatuan River or Hinatuan Enchanted River is a short river in Mindanao , Philippines, fed by an underground spring . It is located in the municipality of Hinatuan in the south of the Surigao del Sur province and flows into the Pacific Ocean after around 1000 meters over the Bay of Hinatuan . The name Enchanted River to German about enchanted river , go and whose poem on the diplomatic Modesto Farolan Rio Encantado back. According to locals, Engkanto represent the origin of the name, mystical fairies and nymphs that are said to live there. The water gets the striking deep blue color in the source area through the refraction of light by the smallest particles in the deep water, the so-called Rayleigh scattering .

tourism

The Hinatuan Enchanted River is one of the main attractions for tourism in Mindanao with around 700 daily visitors a day, and up to 1000 on weekends. Visitors from the more distant cities such as Davao City or Butuan are often offered tours to the Hinatuan Enchanted River combined with a visit to the Tinuy-an waterfall, which is only about 50 kilometers away . Due to the mass of visitors, voices have recently been raised to limit the number of daily visitors in order to preserve the river and the biodiversity that occurs there in the long term. A study by the tourism authority DOT (Department of Tourism) showed that the ecologically compatible capacity is almost 150 daily visitors. In 2016 , Congressman Johnny Pimentel, who is from Surigao del Sur, tabled two motions in Parliament to designate both the Hinatuan Enchanted River and the Tinuy-an Waterfall as protected areas under the NIPAS Act to protect them from destructive exploitation. In early 2017, the Enchanted River was closed to visitors from January to March to give the ecosystem some time to regenerate after a previously prepared scientific assessment provided critical results. Visitors, especially swimmers, caused the limestone to crumble from the side walls, and the underground spring was noticeably spilled and the flow of water decreased so much that salt water could penetrate from the sea and threatened to destroy the ecosystem of the spring. During the closure, most of the loose rock was removed and the original state of the spring was restored. Since the reopening, swimming is no longer permitted in the main pool, but only in the adjacent drainage area.

exploration

The origin of the source has not yet been explored. Diver Alex Santos was the first to begin exploring the Hinatuan Enchanted River in 1999. The first major exploration of the underground cave system took place 11 years later by Dr. Alfonso Amores, Bernil Gastardo and Emgee Guillermo. In 2010, the entrance to a cave was discovered at a depth of 30 meters, the chamber and further cave system of which was explored to a depth of 87 meters during further dives in the following years. On June 7, 2014, the diver Alfonso Amores was killed in a diving accident in the Enchanted River .

Web links

Hinatuan Enchanted River website

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Bernil-Filipino Cave Diver: Hinatuan Enchanted River Underwater Cave System (HERUCS) Rapid Source Assessment. In: Filipino Cave Divers. March 14, 2015, accessed September 1, 2017 .
  2. ↑ Inquirer Mindanao: Enchanted in Hinatuan . ( inquirer.net [accessed September 1, 2017]).
  3. ↑ Keith Bacongco: The lost enchantment of Hinatuan's Enchanted River | MindaNews. Retrieved September 1, 2017 (American English).
  4. ^ A b Philippine News Agency: Efforts on to protect Hinatuan's Enchanted River . ( edgedavao.net [accessed September 1, 2017]).
  5. ↑ www.congress.gov.ph: Application (PDF), accessed on September 2, 2017
  6. ↑ Protection eyed for Surigao tourist spots . In: Philstar . ( philstar.com [accessed September 1, 2017]).
  7. ↑ The Philippines' Enchanted River is worth saving! In: SNRD Asia . ( snrd-asia.org [accessed September 2, 2017]).
  8. ^ Preserving a Dying Spring . In: Filipino Cave Divers . ( filipinocavedivers.com [accessed September 2, 2017]).
  9. ^ Cebu doctor killed in diving mishap in Surigao's Enchanted River . In: Inquirer . ( inquirer.net [accessed September 1, 2017]).