Amazing array of marine life in need of protection

View towards Negros Island, Philippines, in the Sulu Sea. The Sulu and Celebes Seas are part of the Coral Triangle, the planet’s richest centre of marine life and coral diversity. — LEODB/Wikimedia Commons

THE nearest, southernmost Philippine island to Sabah is only 50km – or a 30-minute boat ride – from Tawau.

Panguan Island, a 6ha place of blindingly white sand lapped by turquoise blue water that sits in the municipality of Tawi-Tawi, is one of the many hundreds of islands making up the Sulu Archipelago.