Guest guest Posted September 3, 2002 Report Share Posted September 3, 2002 ***************************Advertisement*************************** eCentral - Your Entertainment Guide http://www.star-ecentral.com ***************************************************************** This message was forwarded to you by yitzeling. Comment from sender: This article is from thestar.com.my URL: http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2002/9/3/features/hrstrand & sec=f\ eatures ________________________ Tuesday, September 03, 2002 Stranding mystery THE sight of a huge whale struggling to return to sea while conservationists rallied to its aid must have tugged at the heartstrings of many who come across such incidents which are highlighted in the media. Lest we think that this is a phenomenon which only happens in the West, various species of whales, dolphins, porpoises and dugongs have been stranded on our beaches as well. In fact, as early as 1931, strandings had been recorded and skeletal specimens described in scientific literature such as the Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, the Sarawak Museum Journal and Bulletin of the Raffles Museum. Marine mammal strandings remain one of the mysteries of the animal kingdom. Scientists have come up with various theories to explain the phenomenon: animals fleeing from predators may become disoriented; natural occurrences like earthquakes can cause stress and shock to the animal; the animal may seek shallow waters to nurse its illness and get stranded when the tide ebbs, or it could be a suicide pact as in the case of mass strandings. A group of local marine biologists is working on establishing a stranding network to assist these helpless animals or in the unfortunate event of death, the carcasses could be picked up, buried, and the skeleton exhumed later to facilitate scientific research. “Recently the Fisheries Department has agreed to develop a National Stranding Network on Marine Mammals and Whale Shark to manage and monitor stranding and by-catch, and increase public awareness of endangered mammals,” says Saifullah A. Jaaman, deputy director of the Borneo Marine Research Institute (BMRI) of Universiti Malaysia Sabah. The Terengganu-based Turtle and Marine Ecosystem Centre under the Fisheries Department will coordinate operations in the peninsula. Even before the setting up of a national network, the institute had been documenting strandings in Sabah and Sarawak through its Marine Mammal and Whale Shark Research and Conservation Programme which was introduced in 1996. Stranding hotbed During the five-year survey period from 1996 to 2001, the team from BMRI had investigated 18 strandings. The mammals were discovered floating near the shore, beached or caught in fishing nets. Half of the strandings involved dugongs. Most of them were reported in the north-west coast of Sabah and in the waters off Labuan. The carcasses of the herbivorous dugong which feeds on seagrass were left to decompose naturally or buried so that they could be retrieved later by the Fisheries Department or Sabah Parks. According to researcher Yuhana Lah-Anyi in her paper, Marine Mammal Strandings and Skeletal Specimens in East Malaysia co-authored with Saifullah, other species found stranded were three false killer whales, a Bryde & #8217;s whale, sperm whale, Cuvier & #8217;s beaked whale, a bottlenose dolphin and two Irrawaddy dolphins. In the course of their survey, the team also recorded strandings reported by fishermen and coastal villagers. It would appear that Sabah is a hotbed for strandings with 34 cases involving dolphins, whales and dugongs, while Sarawak reported 16 strandings of these mammals. Surveys in Sabah revealed two mass strandings in the 1980s: eight dugongs on Pantai Sawangan in Kuala Penyu, Sabah, and six unidentified whales on the same beach. Most of the carcasses were in various stages of decomposition. As recent as 1998, seven unidentified dolphins were stranded near Kg Kobong on Pulau Banggi, off Kudat in Sabah, after a storm. Villagers shoved four of the dolphins back to the sea, while three others died. In most cases, there were tell-tale signs such as missing flukes or deep cuts on the dorsal fins and other parts of the body which might have been inflicted by boat propellers. It & #8217;s not grim news all the way though. In 1997, a 2.34m baby false killer whale beached on muddy grounds off Kg Tinagat in Tawau, Sabah, was helped back to the open seas by rescuers from the Sabah Department of Wildlife. Rescue network Saifullah reckons that many incidents of strandings go unreported due to lack of awareness among village folk. Hence the need for a stranding network to facilitate immediate reporting that could help save the animals. If the animals are already dead, then tissue samples, the skin and blubber can be collected for DNA analysis to facilitate identification of the species. “Half of the fishermen interviewed in the coastal areas of Sabah and Sarawak were not aware that marine mammals are totally protected and should not be harmed,” says Saifullah, underscoring the importance of establishing a national network. Due to the lack of awareness, coastal communities would not hesitate to slice off parts of the dead animal for their purported medicinal properties or in instances of by-catch, the animals were not released but killed for their meat. “It is important to galvanise the support of local communities,” stresses Saifullah. “Villagers who live along stranding zones like beaches and river banks should be included into the network. They serve as our eyes and ears, and are in the best position to alert us to any strandings.” With BMRI & #8217;s relentless campaign to raise public awareness, the message is slowly getting across. There has been more feedback from diving schools and fishermen in certain communities. There is greater interest among biology graduates too to pursue research on marine mammals, with special emphasis on conservation. Most marine mammals are categorised as endangered by the World Conservation which is better known by its French acronym IUCN. Skeletal clue The institute has also been approached by a private collector of skeletal remains to help in the identification of his collection in 2000. Saifullah identified the complete skeleton to be that of a Sei whale by examining its skull. Eight years ago, the man had retrieved the skeleton from a stranded whale in Dent Haven beach at Lahad Datu, southeast of Sabah. Earlier skeletal examinations had confirmed the existence of mammoth species such as the blue whale, minke whale and the sperm whale. Recent investigations of five skeletal specimens under the institute & #8217;s Marine Mammal and Whale Shark Research and Conservation Programme has raised the possibility that the humpback and sei whale, and small-toothed whales such as the false killer whale and pygmy sperm whale were once found in the waters off Sabah and Sarawak. & #8211; By Hilary Chiew / Pictures by Saifullah A. 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