Greenpeace Fined for Coral Reef Damage

Greenpeace has been fined nearly $7,000 after its flagship Rainbow Warrior II ran aground at the Philippines’ Tubbataha Reef Marine Park, damaging a coral reef.

The environmental organization apologized to the Philippines for the damage done to more than 1,700 square feet of the reef, Channel NewsAsia reported Friday.

The 180-foot schooner was in the area to promote climate change awareness when the incident occurred Monday.

Yes, we admit we are human too. We apologize that this thing happened, Greenpeace Southeast Asia campaign manager Von Hernandez said at a Manila news conference.

At the same time, he said that these things happen quite frequently at Tubbataha.

The 123-square-mile coral formation in the Sulu Sea in the central Philippines is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.

Hernandez said that by paying the fine and making an act of contrition, we hope we have set a positive example, as far as this thing is concerned.

Greenpeace blames the accident on what it called inaccurate navigational charts provided by the Philippine government.