Vote Tubbataha Reef in the New Seven Wonders of the World

The 96,000-hectare Tubbataha Reef, touted as Asia's best marine park, has been nominated as one of the Seven New Wonders of the World.

The reef, which can be in the Philippines, lies on the Cagayan Ridge, a line of extinct underwater volcanoes which starts from the north at the Sultana Shoal and ends in the south at the San Miguel Islands. It is located 92 nautical miles southeast of Puerto Princesa City in Palawan, and 80 nautical miles southwest of Cagayancillo, the municipality that exercises political jurisdiction over it. Cagayancillo is a 6th class municipality in the province of Palawan. As per the 2000 census, it has a population of merely 6,348 people in about 947 households.

The Tubbataha Reef was proclaimed as a National Marine Park on August 11, 1988 and inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage in 1993, in recognition of its outstanding universal value in terms of marine life species diversity and richness.

The name Tubbataha comes from the dialect of the Samal, seafaring people of the Sulu region, and means “long reef exposed at low tide”. However, among the fisher folk of Cagayancillo, it was known as “Gusong”, literally means “coral reef”.

The first recorded visit to Tubbataha was made by naturalist Dean Worcester in 1911. He took notice of the north islet , or the so-called Bird Island as a low, flat, sandy island about 400 meters long and 75 meters wide. Seventy years later, when ornithologist Robert Kennedy visited the island, he noted that it had shrunk in size by almost 70 per cent – just one indicator of how dynamic the forces of nature are at Tubbataha.

Tourists come from across the Philippines and around the world to experience the Tubbataha's natural beauty and amazing dive opportunities. Each visitor to Tubbataha Natural Marine Park pays a Conservation Fee of Php3,000 (about US$75). According to the Lonely Planet guide, Tubbataha offers “some of the best diving you are ever likely to come across anywhere in the world”.

You can vote for Tubbataha Reef by following this link: http://www.new7wonders.com/nature.