Danajon Islet, also known as Dawahon Islet, is an islet in the Philippines found at the easternmost end of the

Danajon Bank The Danajon Bank is the only double barrier reef in the Philippines, which is a very rare geological formation, which is located in the Camotes Sea. It comprises two sets of large coral reefs that formed offshore on a submarine ridge due to a com ...

. The islet is coterminous with Barangay Dawahon, which is under the jurisdiction of the municipality of Bato in the province of

Leyte Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census. Since the accessibility of land has be ...

. The islet is only , and has a population of about 3,230 as of the 2020 census. The islet is only above sea level, but the

protects it somewhat.

Overview

There is an elementary school, a church, two basketball courts, one small road, and one government medical clinic. The high school children are sent t
Hingotanan Island
away by boat. There is a weekly ferry service from this islet to mainland town of Bato,

, which is away. Other nearby islands includ
Bilanglangan IslandGaus Island
& th

which are to the east. The islet takes its name from the

, the Philippines only double

barrier reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. Co ...

and one of only 6 documented double barrier reefs in the world. A very rare geological formation, it comprises two sets of large coral reefs that formed offshore on a submarine ridge due to a combination of favorable tidal currents and coral growth in the area. Danajon Bank is home to a vast array of commercially valuable

reef fish Coral reef fish are fish which live amongst or in close relation to coral reefs. Coral reefs form complex ecosystems with tremendous biodiversity. Among the myriad inhabitants, the fish stand out as colourful and interesting to watch. Hundreds ...

es,

shellfish Shellfish is a colloquial and fisheries term for exoskeleton-bearing aquatic invertebrates used as food, including various species of molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Although most kinds of shellfish are harvested from saltwater envir ...

crustaceans Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group ...

, and

invertebrates Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...

such as

sea cucumber Sea cucumbers are echinoderms from the class Holothuroidea (). They are marine animals with a leathery skin and an elongated body containing a single, branched gonad. Sea cucumbers are found on the sea floor worldwide. The number of holothuria ...

s and

sea urchin Sea urchins () are spiny, globular echinoderms in the class Echinoidea. About 950 species of sea urchin live on the seabed of every ocean and inhabit every depth zone from the intertidal seashore down to . The spherical, hard shells (tests) of ...

s. Its extensive

seagrass Seagrasses are the only flowering plants which grow in marine environments. There are about 60 species of fully marine seagrasses which belong to four families (Posidoniaceae, Zosteraceae, Hydrocharitaceae and Cymodoceaceae), all in the orde ...

beds are nursery and feeding grounds for various species of

rabbitfish Rabbitfishes or spinefoots are perciform fishes in the family Siganidae. The 29 species are in a single genus, ''Siganus''. In some now obsolete classifications, the species having prominent face stripes—colloquially called foxfaces– ...

(''siganid''s) and

sea horse A seahorse (also written ''sea-horse'' and ''sea horse'') is any of 46 species of small marine fish in the genus ''Hippocampus''. "Hippocampus" comes from the Ancient Greek (), itself from () meaning "horse" and () meaning "sea monster" or " ...

s, while its

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evoluti ...

s are spawning habitats for

crustacean Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group ...

s, shrimps, and various fishes.

Aquaculture

The main and only cash crop for the locals living on the islet is ''guso'' ('' Eucheuma cottonii'') which is a

seaweed Seaweed, or macroalgae, refers to thousands of species of macroscopic, multicellular, marine algae. The term includes some types of '' Rhodophyta'' (red), ''Phaeophyta'' (brown) and ''Chlorophyta'' (green) macroalgae. Seaweed species such as ...

, which is grown in the shallow waters of the Danajon Bank, upon which the islet sits. There are two large 1,000 feet bamboo docks, for the drying of the ''guso'' before it is sold. The ''guso'' is either sold in

Cebu Cebu (; ceb, Sugbo), officially the Province of Cebu ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Sugbo; tl, Lalawigan ng Cebu; hil, Kapuroan sang Sugbo), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, and consists of a main island and 167 ...

Cagayan de Oro Cagayan ( ), officially the Province of Cagayan ( ilo, Probinsia ti Cagayan; ibg, Provinsiya na Cagayan; itv, Provinsiya ya Cagayan; fil, Lalawigan ng Cagayan), is a province in the Philippines located in the Cagayan Valley region, covering ...

, after it is transported there.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Danajon Islet
@

OpenStreetMap OpenStreetMap (OSM) is a free, open geographic database updated and maintained by a community of volunteers via open collaboration. Contributors collect data from surveys, trace from aerial imagery and also import from other freely licensed g ...

* Detailed Map o
Dawahon_[Danajon
/nowiki>_Islet.html" ;"title="anajon">Dawahon [Danajon
/nowiki> Islet">anajon">Dawahon [Danajon
/nowiki> Islet
Danajon Bank & islands facts & figures)
(a downloadable PDF)
Dawahon Island
fishermen’s information environment, awareness and coping mechanisms for typhoon-induced risks. Islands of Leyte (province)

Overview

Aquaculture

See also

References

External links