(MY) special feature on declining marine mammals

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The Star Online

Tuesday, September 03, 2002

 

Declining numbers

 

By HILARY CHIEW

 

WHEN Jamirin (not his real name) caught a dolphin in his fishing net in Marudu

Bay off the east coast of Sabah in July last year, he decided to keep the

animal as a pet because it was so adorable. So he went around enquiring about

the proper procedure for applying for a permit to keep the dolphin.

 

Word got to the Fisheries Department and a marine scientist was sent to

investigate the matter. However, when Saifullah A. Jaaman, deputy director of

Borneo Marine Research Institute of Universiti Malaysia Sabah, arrived at the

scene, the dophin had already died.

 

The bottlenose dolphin had been tied to a pole by its fluke for two weeks, and

had refused food offered by its captor. It was in shallow water and there were

bruises around its fluke.

" I think it died of stress. The poor creature must have struggled to free

itself. It is a wild animal, so even if it is allowed to swim but kept in

captivity, it would struggle until it is exhausted, " says Saifullah.

 

No legal action was taken against Jamirin. Under the state's Wildlife

Conservation Enactment 1997, those found keeping protected animals or killing

them can be liable to a maximum fine of RM20,000 and two years' imprisonment.

 

Three fishermen in Semporna, Sabah, paid the price for violating the law. The

trio of Sea Bajau fishermen were each sentenced to 12 months' jail for killing

12 dolphins three years ago. The case was later dubbed " the wedding hunt " .

 

" The spinner dolphins were caught near Ligitan Island, " says Saifullah. " The

Pelauh (local name for the nomadic Sea Bajau) had gone out to sea in the hope

of catching two of the mammals for use as wedding gifts, according to their

matrimonial custom.

 

" The hunters harpooned an adult which eventually led them to a pod (group) of

dolphins which tried to save their injured friend. Overcome by greed, the

fishermen bombed the area to net the rest of the pod. That explained the

external injuries on the animals, including three juveniles which were not

harpooned. "

 

Their overloaded banca, a traditional watercraft used by the sea gypsies,

aroused the suspicion of the patrolling Police Field Force who thought they

were smugglers.

 

The shocking discovery was referred to the wildlife authorities which

subsequently prosecuted the fishermen, resulting in the first conviction of

its kind in the country.

 

" During the Sessions Court trial in Tawau, the fishermen claimed they did not

know that dolphins were a protected species. They said they caught these

animals to be served as a delicacy for a wedding party and as a dowry for

the bride.

 

" Killing a shark, dugong, dolphin or whale, at least once in a man's life, is a

traditional Pelauh ritual that signifies a person's manhood. " I believe the

hunt is still on but no arrest has been made since this landmark case. As the

practice is rooted in the culture of the Pelauh, it is difficult to stop

them, " explains Saifullah who has been researching marine mammals in Sabah and

Sarawak for the past six years.

 

Surveys on coastal communities in Sabah and Sarawak reveal that marine mammals

such as dolphins and dugongs are becoming increasingly scarce in Sabah

waters. Back in the 1970s and 1980s, sightings of these mammals were a daily

affair for fisherfolk.

 

The two reported incidents of human impact on marine mammals in Sabah waters

highlight the urgency to engage local communities in conservation programmes

in spite of the plethora of regulations to protect these animals.

 

Protection of all cetaceans and dugongs in Malaysian waters and within the

200 nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone is provided for under the Fisheries

Act 1985 and the Fisheries Regulations 1999 (Control of Endangered Species of

Fish).

 

Sabah and Sarawak have their own state laws which reflect the federal

legislation and include specific regulations for management of wildlife within

state jurisdiction like the Sarawak Wildlife Protection Ordinance 1998 and

the Sabah Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997.

 

These laws prohibit any person from catching, killing, possessing, consuming,

or importing and exporting any marine mammal found in Malaysia.

 

According to Saifullah, a survey between May 1997 and October 2000 reveal that

only half of the 234 groups of fishermen interviewed in the coastal regions

of Sabah and Sarawak were aware of the regulations.

 

Sensitising stakeholders

 

As has been demonstrated time and again with other conservation issues, the

future lies in sensitising stakeholders and educating the public through

awareness programmes.

Unlike the Land Bajau who hunt for deer, the Sea Bajaus rely on marine

mammals for their source of red meat.

 

The stateless status of the nomadic Pelauh poses another problem to

community-based conservation efforts in resolving the conflict caused by

indigenous hunting practices and the need to conserve the animal.

 

" Their inclusion into any conservation programme can be misconstrued as

endorsing and legalising their presence in Malaysia. But if they are excluded

and later run foul of the law, the action may be misunderstood as

victimisation.

 

" Their nomadic nature also makes it difficult to keep track of their

whereabouts or do follow-ups, " says Saifullah.

 

The current nationwide crackdown on illegal immigrants and the heightened

security surveillance in Sabah waters may serve as a temporary check on the

problem of illegal hunting of marine mammals.

 

Since 1990s, says Saifullah, the practice of indigenous hunting has been

reduced to a " catch on sight " activity where fishermen carry their harpoons

with them at all times so as not to miss out on any encounter.

 

" If the captured animal is too big to be loaded onto the boat, the fishermen

will drown the animal by turning it upside down since marine mammals breathe

through their nostrils. The dead animal is then towed to shore, " explains

Saifullah. " In some instances, the animal is butchered at sea. "

 

Saifullah reckons that indigenous utilisation must be sustainable although the

traditional rights of the people to natural resources are recognised. But what

happens when the supposedly traditional practice finds its way into the open

market, fuelled by the appetite for exotic meat?

A kilogram of dugong meat can fetch between RM5 and RM10 in Kudat, Sandakan and

Semporna in Sabah, while a whole dugong can fetch as much as RM400,

depending on its weight. In Sarawak, some fishermen in Kuching have been

selling dolphin meat for between RM2 and RM6 per kilogram to local villagers.

 

" To date there have been three recorded seizures - the 12 dolphins from the

'wedding hunt' in Semporna, an accidentally caught dugong at Kudat market and

finless porpoise meat that was being sold at a fish market near Kuching, "

Saifullah points out.

 

Apart from its meat, dugong parts are being sought after for their purported

medicinal and mystical uses.

 

Dugong teardrops are used by traditional medicine men for concocting love

potions, while the tusks and sternum bones are believed to cure asthma, poor

eyesight and high fever. They are also shioned into amulets to guard orchards

from wild boars.

 

Deadly entanglement

 

Incidental catches of dugongs, finless porpoises and dolphins, particularly

the Irrawaddy dolphins, are known to occur regularly in gillnets and kelong

(fish trap), and to a lesser extent in trawl nets.

In Sabah and Sarawak, a preliminary survey shows that at least one mammal is

being caught every year in every village surveyed - a figure that may be

unsustainable for some resident populations.

" Out of 150 groups of fishermen interviewed in Sabah, 35 reported that they

have accidentally caught dugongs in their fishing nets, at least once in

the last five years, " reveals Saifullah.

 

In Sarawak, all six groups of fishermen interviewed in Limbang and Lawas also

admitted having accidentally caught the mammal once in the Bay of Brunei.

 

The nasty practice of fish-bombing which had destroyed colonies of coral reefs

in Sabah waters had also taken its toll on marine mammals, affecting their

orientation, and in some cases, injuring or killing them.

 

The increasing popularity of boating as a sport poses a new threat to marine

mammals which risk being hit by these mean machines.

 

" Some of the dugongs which were washed ashore on the beaches of Kota Kinabalu

in Sabah, and Pasir Gudang in Johor, bore signs that they were hit by boat

propellers. In addition to these risks, increased navigation is likely to have

an effect on dugong behaviour, forcing them to leave busy areas or modify

their feeding habits, " adds Saifullah.

 

Degrading habitat

 

Saifullah acknowledges that little assessment has been done on cetacean

habitats and related problems in Malaysian waters. Nevertheless, he adds, some

problems are to be expected.

" Large tracts of coastlines are either under development or gazetted for future

development.

 

Coastal development and land reclamation have resulted in the destruction of

important habitats such as seagrass beds, coral reefs and mangroves that many

marine creatures depend on.

 

" Untreated industrial, agricultural, mining and urban wastes carried by

run-offs contaminate the marine environment. These pollutants can accumulate in

marine mammals through the food chain, and this problem has not been examined

in Malaysia, " notes Saifullah.

 

Land use patterns in Sabah and Sarawak also pose an indirect threat to marine

mammals.

 

 

Logging and the subsequent conversion of forests into large-scale oil palm

plantations along rivers have resulted in an increase in the discharge of

effluents into the sea, changing the dynamics of the marine ecosystem.

 

Declining fish stocks caused by the cumulative effects of pollution and

over-fishing has led to increasing competition for fish between fishermen and

smaller cetaceans in the coastal waters of

Malaysia.

 

On bigger cetaceans like the various species of whales which have been sighted

in Malaysian waters, Saifullah says more field work would be carried out in

future for further identification and to determine their behaviour,

distribution and migratory patterns.

 

 

The Star Online

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 in 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's whale, sperm whale, Cuvier'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'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'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'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. - By Hilary

Chiew / Pictures by Saifullah A. Jaaman

 

The Star 3 Sep, 2002 >

 

Tuesday, September 03, 2002

 

Nurturing respect for sea

mammals

 

THE Bajau Laut or Sea Bajau of Sabah have a

long-standing association with marine mammals.

Living off the sea, they count on in-shore species

such as dolphins and dugongs for their source of

food and medicine.

 

These sea gypsies are divided into several sub-ethnic

groups, some of which have settled down in fishing

villages in north-eastern and eastern Sabah, and in

the smaller islands that dot the Sabah coastline.

 

Unlike other ethnic groups in Sabah and Sarawak

who believe that dolphins are man's friend at sea and

should not be harmed in anyway, the Sea Bajau

have, for generations, hunted dolphins for their red

meat.

 

The sluggish dugong and gentle dolphins are

traditionally speared or harpooned. Over the past

few years, the introduction of destructive fishing

methods like dynamite bombing has decimated the

slow-growing mammals' population.

 

" The fishermen used to hunt at night using spears

and rowing boats. On many occasions, a pawang or medicine

man would be engaged to help in locating the dugong.

The pawang will chant spells to lure the animal to the

surface, "

discloses Saifullah A. Jaaman, deputy director of Borneo

Marine

Research Institute of Universiti Malaysia Sabah.

 

" When they managed to catch a dugong, the pawang

will slaughter it and skin the animal before taking the

carcass home. The Sea Bajau regard dugong meat

as a delicacy - a meat far more delicious than beef. "

 

 

Saifullah has been documenting the interaction

between the Sea Bajau and marine mammals for the

past three years.

 

Due to the dwindling population of dugongs, many

traditional medicine men find themselves out of

business, but this does not stop them from spinning

tales of cures afforded by the animal parts.

 

Interestingly, the Suluk, a sub-ethnic group of Sea

Bajau, revere the dugong as their ancestor and thus

refrain from killing or consuming the meat of this

herbivorous marine mammal.

 

The headman of Kampung Perpaduan on Pulau

Banggi, an hour's ferry ride from Kudat in Sabah,

claims that he is the third generation of Suluk since a

pregnant woman from his tribe turned into a dugong.

 

Referring to the animal as duyung, a generic

name among the Sea Bajau, Ragaban Mursal

explains that a heavily-pregnant woman

was transformed into a dugong while munching

on the fruit of the seagrass.

 

" She had such a craving for the fruits and was

enjoying them so much that she did not realise

the tide was rising. And when she finally did, her

bottom was mysteriously stuck to the rock and she

could not escape. By the time the search party

reached her, her lower body had taken the form of a

tail.

 

" Similarly, the dolphins had rescued our ancestors

when their boat capsized. So they are our friends.

From then on, our forefathers resolved that they

would not harm the dugong and dolphin for the next

seven generations, " says Ragaban, 53.

 

Due to their beliefs, the Suluks release any

incidentally caught or stranded dugong and dolphin,

and bury carcasses of these animals whenever they

come across one.

 

While other groups embrace the same beliefs,

ironically that does not stop them from hunting these

animals. One such sub-group is the Bajau Ubian

who hold hunting parties.

 

According to Ragaban, a Suluk would persuade

other Sea Bajaus to release their catch or stop

hunting the mammals. When these requests fall on

deaf ears, clashes often erupt.

 

The community elders regret that the tribal custom is

no longer upheld by the younger generation, who,

enticed by monetary gains, are hunting dugongs for

its tusks and bones.

 

Ragaban recalls that dolphins were a common sight

when he was a boy, illustrating the abundance of

these animals in waters around the group of islands

bordering the Philippines.

 

" Now it is so difficult to even see one, " sighs

Ragaban whose daily exercise is a swim in the sea.

 

At Kampung Kaligau in the north-eastern corner of

Pulau Banggi, Aning Siamag - a Suluk-Ubian

descendant - has no regrets about foregoing dugong

or dolphin meat although they are highly valued as a

delicacy.

 

He says he does not hunt like most of his Bajau

Ubian tribesmen because he believes humans and

animals should co-exist in harmony.

 

" I believe that if we make life easy for these animals,

we will be blessed manifold. So whenever I haul up

a dugong or dolphin in my net, I will release it.

Besides, these animals are becoming rarer by the

day.

 

" Duyung meat is being sold at the Kudat market.

This is illegal because the animal is now protected by

law. The authorities will raid the stalls if they get any

tip-offs, " says the informed fisherman, signalling hope

for the conservation cause.

 

These days, the fisherman-turned-conservationist has

been assisting in the collection of field data for the

Marine Mammal and Whale Shark Research and

Conservation Programme initiated by the Borneo

Marine Research Institute.

 

Aning, 31, who is also a participant of the

government's poverty eradication scheme through

seaweed farming, says he has been given a map and

a notebook to jot down sightings of any marine

mammal, especially the dugong.

 

Such information will help the programme to

determine the foraging ground and movement

corridor of the docile marine mammal to support the

institute's proposal to the authorities to declare the

waters off Kudat as a marine protected area.