---
title: "Officials Outraged by Coral Reef Vandalized With Underwater Graffiti"
description: "A diver discovered the heinous piece of vandalism on a magnificent colony of plate coral, and not for the first time."
date: "2025-11-09"
modified: "2025-11-09"
authors:
  - name: "Joe Wilkins"
    job_title: "Correspondent"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jwilkins"
url: "https://futurism.com/science-energy/coral-reef-graffiti-vandalism"
categories:
  - "Biology"
  - "Environment"
  - "Science & Energy"
---

# Officials Outraged by Coral Reef Vandalized With Underwater Graffiti

![A diver discovered the heinous piece of vandalism on a magnificent colony of plate coral, and not for the first time.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/coral-reef-graffiti-vandalism.jpg>)
*BoholanoChameleon*

As if our oceans haven't suffered enough at [human hands](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/oceans-plastic-pollution-unprecedented-levels>), 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](<https://philippinetravels.ph/napaling-reef/>).

The case was first covered [by diving industry publication ](<https://divernet.com/scuba-news/conservation/depths-of-idiocy-coral-graffiti-diver-on-loose/>)*[Divernet](<https://divernet.com/scuba-news/conservation/depths-of-idiocy-coral-graffiti-diver-on-loose/>)*, which reports that the anonymous diver who first found the underwater graffiti reported it to the office of the provincial governor, Erico Aris Aumentado.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Bohol/comments/1ojvkmo/location_napaling_panglao/

Aumentado had previously established a [task force](<https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/593154/aumentado-orders-probe-into-vandalism-of-virgin-island-corals>) 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 Lakes](<https://futurism.com/science-energy/freshwater-jellyfish-invasive>)*

## Author
At Futurism, I focus on the intersection of technology and power — examining the economics, history, and politics behind today’s dystopian headlines. As a writer, I’m interested in topics ranging from AI’s impact on labor to startups nobody asked for. My prior work includes bylines in Jacobin, Verso, and Blue Labyrinths. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Forbes, The Guardian, MIT Technology Review, Time, The Nation, Mother Jones, The Verge, and Wired. I grew up in Michigan, attending Central Michigan University as well as Ball State University, where I earned a master of music. I now live in Brooklyn with my girlfriend and our cat Ziti. On weekends, you can find me hunched over a cold pint arguing geopolitics with the other transplants.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/joeonhere.bsky.social>)