As if our oceans haven’t suffered enough at human hands, a new act of vandalism is now damaging a fragile coral reef in the Philippines.Conservation and government officials on the south-central island of Panglao were aghast to discover the words “JUST DIVE” carved into a massive plate coral, located underwater in the typically pristine waters of Napaling Reef.The case was first covered by diving industry publication Divernet, which reports that the anonymous diver who first found the underwater graffiti reported it to the office of the provincial governor, Erico Aris Aumentado.LOCATION: NAPALING, PANGLAO byu/BoholanoChameleon inBoholAumentado had previously established a task force to find and arrest the whoever was writing graffiti on a separate colony of plate coral in September of 2024. In that case, divers had carved names including “Mojak” and “Min” into the flesh of the otherwise healthy coral, prompting Aumentado’s task force to offer a 50,000 peso reward for information leading to the vandals’ arrest.Per Divernet, a local snorkel-guide later copped to the 2024 incident, admitting a female tourist had asked him to carve her name into the magnificent coral. “Yet more corals being vandalized by irresponsible people — [it] seems like there are some who enjoy destroying our natural resources or not understanding our tourism needs,” Aumentado said of the latest incident. “Those who violate [conservation laws] will be punished, including dive-shops and guides.”With the latest vandal evidently still on the loose, it remains to be seen how many more acts of destruction the fragile reefs will have to endure.More on marine life: Experts Alarmed as Jellyfish Spawn in Freshwater LakesThe post Officials Outraged by Coral Reef Vandalized With Underwater Graffiti appeared first on Futurism.