The Samar Sea is a small sea within the

Philippine 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 ...

archipelago, situated between the

Bicol Region Bicol, known formally as the Bicol Region or colloquially as Bicolandia ( bcl, Rehiyon kan Bikol; Rinconada Bikol: ''Rehiyon ka Bikol''; Waray Sorsogon, Masbateño: ''Rehiyon san Bikol''; tl, Rehiyon ng Bikol), is an administrative region o ...

Luzon Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, ...

and the

Eastern Visayas Eastern Visayas ( war, Sinirangan Kabisay-an; ceb, Sidlakang Kabisay-an; tl, Silangang Kabisayaan or ''Silangang Visayas'') is an administrative region in the Philippines, designated as Region VIII. It consists of three main islands, Samar, ...

. It is bordered by the islands of

Samar Samar ( ) is the third-largest and seventh-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 1,909,537 as of the 2020 census. It is located in the eastern Visayas, which are in the central Philippines. The island is divided in ...

to the east,

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 ...

to the south,

Masbate Masbate, officially the Province of Masbate ( Masbateño: ''Probinsya san Masbate''; tl, Lalawigan ng Masbate), is an island province in the Philippines located near the midsection of the nation's archipelago. Its provincial capital is Masbate ...

to the west, and Luzon to the north. The sea is connected to the

Philippine Sea The Philippine Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean east of the Philippine archipelago (hence the name), the largest in the world, occupying an estimated surface area of . The Philippine Sea Plate forms the floor of the sea. Its ...

to the north via

San Bernardino Strait The San Bernardino Strait ( fil, Kipot ng San Bernardino) is a strait in the Philippines, connecting the Samar Sea with the Philippine Sea. It separates the Bicol Peninsula of Luzon island from the island of Samar in the south. History During ...

, to

Leyte Gulf Leyte Gulf is a gulf in the Eastern Visayan region in the Philippines. The bay is part of the Philippine Sea of the Pacific Ocean, and is bounded by two islands; Samar in the north and Leyte in the west. On the south of the bay is Mindana ...

to the southeast via San Juanico Strait, to the

Visayan Sea The Visayan Sea is a sea in the Philippines surrounded by the islands of the Visayas. It is bounded by the islands Masbate to the north, Panay to the west, Leyte to the east, and Cebu and Negros to the south. The sea is connected to several b ...

to the southwest, and to the

Sibuyan Sea The Sibuyan Sea is a small sea in the Philippines that separates the Visayas from the northern Philippine island of Luzon. It is bounded by the island of Panay to the south, Mindoro to the west, Masbate to the east, and to the north Marinduque a ...

to the northwest via

Masbate Pass Masbate, officially the Province of Masbate ( Masbateño: ''Probinsya san Masbate''; tl, Lalawigan ng Masbate), is an island province in the Philippines located near the midsection of the nation's archipelago. Its provincial capital is Masbat ...

and

Ticao Pass Ticao Pass is the strait that separates Ticao Island from the Bicol Peninsula in the Philippines. It connects the Burias Pass in the north with the Samar Sea in the south. Along with the Burias Pass, the waters of the Ticao Pass are proposed to b ...

. It contains

Biliran Biliran, officially the Province of Biliran ( Waray-Waray: ''Probinsya han Biliran''; ceb, Lalawigan sa Biliran; tl, Lalawigan ng Biliran), is an island province in the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region (Region VIII). Biliran is ...

Island, the islands of Almagro, Maripipi, Sto. Nino, Daram, and

Tagapul-an Tagapul-an, officially the Municipality of Tagapul-an ( ceb, Lungsod sa Tagapul-an; war, Bungto han Tagapul-an; tl, Bayan ng Tagupul-an), is a 5th class municipality in the province of Samar, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has ...

. The Samar Sea has experienced a significant degradation of marine resources, that is even characterized as " ecocide". Before 1981, there were 50 commercial fish species, but within 10 years, it was reduced to only 10 due to

overfishing Overfishing is the removal of a species of fish (i.e. fishing) from a body of water at a rate greater than that the species can replenish its population naturally (i.e. the overexploitation of the fishery's existing fish stock), resulting in the ...

and destructive fishing methods (like dynamite fishing). Average daily catch has reduced from 30 kg/day in the 1960s, to 8 kg/day in 1981, to 3.5 kg/day in 1991. Having depleted the large predatory fish, fishermen turned to smaller species, allowing jellyfish populations to explode.

Deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then land conversion, converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban area, urban ...

of surrounding lands has led to increased silt from denuded mountains that choke coral reefs. Only some 5% of reefs are considered to be in a healthy condition. Another result of the increased silt are

red tide A harmful algal bloom (HAB) (or excessive algae growth) is an algal bloom that causes negative impacts to other organisms by production of natural phycotoxin, algae-produced toxins, mechanical damage to other organisms, or by other means. HABs are ...

s, causing paralytic shellfish poisonings. The first red tide in the Philippines occurred in the Samar Sea in 1983 and thereafter continued to occur at irregular intervals.

References

{{List of Philippine seas Seas of the Philippines Geography of the Visayas Maritime Southeast Asia