Sogod Bay is a large bay in the southern part of

Leyte Island 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 ...

in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. An extension of the

Bohol Sea The Bohol Sea, also called the Mindanao Sea, is a sea located between the Visayas and Mindanao islands in the Philippines. It lies south of Bohol and Leyte and north of Mindanao. Siquijor and Camiguin are its two major islands. The major citi ...

, the bay is surrounded by the province of

Southern Leyte Southern Leyte ( ceb, Habagatang Leyte; Kabalian: ''Habagatan nga Leyte''; war, Salatan nga Leyte; tl, Timog Leyte), officially the Province of Southern Leyte, is a province in the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its capital ...

, and the namesake municipality of Sogod is located at the head of the bay.

Panaon Island Panaon Island is a small island in the Philippines, in the province of Southern Leyte. It lies south of Leyte, separated from Dinagat to the east, and Mindanao to the southeast by Surigao Strait. The Mindanao Sea lies to the southwest. Panaon ...

forms part of the eastern side of Sogod Bay, while Sarangani or Limasawa Island is at the mouth of the bay.

Ecology

The bay is home to a variety of fishes, is therefore a major fishing ground for the nine municipalities surrounding the bay. Mangko (''

Euthynnus affinis ''Euthynnus affinis'', the mackerel tuna, little tuna, wavyback skipjack tuna, kawakawa, or tongkol is a species of ray-finned bony fish in the family Scombridae, or mackerel family. It belongs to the tribe Thunnini, better known as the tunas. ...

'') is its major fishery resource. Seasonal influx of Mangko has provided food and livelihood to the people of Sogod and nearby municipalities. A study of Sogod Bay by

Silliman University Silliman University (also referred to as Silliman or SU) is a private university, private Research institute, research university in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental, the Philippines. Established in 1901 as Silliman Institute by the Presbyte ...

in 1994 mentioned that there are seven finfish species that are

pelagic The pelagic zone consists of the water column of the open ocean, and can be further divided into regions by depth (as illustrated on the right). The word ''pelagic'' is derived . The pelagic zone can be thought of as an imaginary cylinder or wa ...

and are harvested when they enter the bay. Recently, there have been reports of

whale shark The whale shark (''Rhincodon typus'') is a slow-moving, filter-feeding carpet shark and the largest known extant fish species. The largest confirmed individual had a length of .McClain CR, Balk MA, Benfield MC, Branch TA, Chen C, Cosgrove J, D ...

sightings in the bay.

The Subangdaku River is a major tributary of Sogod Bay, emptying into the bay at the municipality of Sogod. Human activity within the rivers watershed, such as

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their envi ...

ing and rechanneling, has disturbed the river and bay's

ecology Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...

, and is also causing rapid

siltation Siltation, is water pollution caused by particulate terrestrial clastic material, with a particle size dominated by silt or clay. It refers both to the increased concentration of suspended sediments and to the increased accumulation (temporary or ...

. These activities were mentioned in the Silliman University study that identified sand and gravel mining, rechanneling, and sand harvest near the river's mouth, as causes of degraded habitats and major water quality issues of the area. The same report mentioned mining as one of the harmful practices that the bay should be protected from, and it recommended regulating quarrying and rechanneling with competent planning based on scientific evidence and monitoring.

References

External links

* {{Commons category-inline Bays of the Philippines Landforms of Southern Leyte