Kending presently only has two sewage plants, hardly adequate to deal with the amount of waste created. As a result, large quantities of untreated waste are dumped into the ocean, and organic matter containing nutrient salts over-nourishes the algae, which in turn suffocates the coral and results in bleaching.
目前墾丁只有 2 座污水處理廠，遠不足以消化當地製造的大量污水，由於污水未經處理排放入海後，水中有機質含有豐富的營養鹽，會使藻類大量生長而覆蓋珊瑚，造成白化。