Sinar Harapan, Senin, 28 September 2009
OLEH: AUGY SYAHAILATUA, PHD
JAKARTA - Dalam dua dekade terakhir, diperkirakan 35 persen hutan mangrove dunia dikonversikan menjadi areal permukiman penduduk, industri kayu, pertambakan dan lokasi pariwisata. Kebanyakan kegiatan konversi ini terjadi di daerah tropis, termasuk Indonesia. Degradasi kawasan mangrove tidak terlepas dari campur tangan penduduk bumi, yang hampir 90 persen mendiami daerah pesisir. Diperkirakan, laju degradasi hutan mangorve di Indonesia sebesar 200.000 hektare (ha)/tahun. Padahal ekosistem pesisir seperti estuaria, mangrove, padang lamun, dan terumbu karang sangat diperlukan sebagai pengaman daerah pantai dari gempuran ombak atau membendung laju sedimentasi dari daratan.
Luas hutan mangrove di Indonesia diperkirakan mencapai 4,5 juta ha, dan yang merupakan kawasan lindung dan konservasi alam seluas 1.099.400 ha atau 31 persen. Penyebarannya hampir merata di seluruh pesisir, namun yang cukup potensial di beberapa pulau seperti Sumatera (19%), Jawa (1,1%), Kalimantan (28%), Sulawesi (1,5%), Maluku (2,8%), Nusa Tenggara (0,1%) dan Papua (38%).
Dari 39 jenis mangrove yang ditemukan di Indonesia, jenis yang sering dijumpai adalah Rhizopora, Bruguiera, Avicennia dan Excoecaria. Sedangkan jenis yang sering dimanfaatkan oleh masyarakat adalah Rhizopora atau dikenal dengan nama bakau. Bagi masyarakat kita, kayu bakau sering dimanfaatkan sebagai bahan bangunan, kayu bakar, alat penangkap ikan (sero), dan dijadikan arang. Bahkan arang telah diekspor ke Malaysia sejak beberapa tahun yang lalu.
Bahan pengawet tanin juga dihasilkan dari pohon bakau, yang biasanya digunakan nelayan untuk mengawetkan jaringnya. Dalam industri kayu (plywood) bahan perekatnya dapat berasal dari kayu bakau, dan juga kayu bakau dijadikan material dalam pembuatan chipboard. Hasil kajian dua pakar perikanan Indonesia, Martosubroto dan Naamin, mengungkapkan adanya hubungan yang positif antara luas hutan mangrove dan hasil tangkapan udang. Walaupun hasil ini masih perlu dikonfirmasi lagi, tetapi secara logika banyak daerah mangrove di Indonesia merupakan penghasil udang, seperti pantai timur Sumatera, Cilacap, timur dan selatan Kalimantan, dan pantai selatan Papua. Semua lokasi ini memiliki hutan mangrove yang potensial.
Jenis-jenis udang yang terdapat di daerah mangrove antara lain udang windu, udang jerbung, udang putih, dan udang api-api. Di samping itu, jenis ikan belanak dan bandeng serta kepiting bakau (Scylla spp) banyak dijumpai di daerah mangrove. Selama ini, fungsi hutan mangrove lebih ditonjolkan sebagai jalur hijau (green belt) pantai. Indonesia pun telah memiliki aturan tentang jalar hijau, seperti SK Dirjen Perikanan Tahun 1975, supaya jalur hijau hutan mangrove minimal selebar 400 meter, sedangkan oleh SK Dirjen Kehutanan tahun 1978 ditetapkan jalur hijau selebar 50 meter di sepanjang pantai atau sepuluh meter di sepanjang jalur sungai/jalan.
Sejauh mana implementasi dari kedua keputusan ini tidak diketahui secara pasti, namun kenyataan yang dihadapi hutan mangrove banyak yang dikonversikan menjadi tambak udang, dan sudah mencapai lebih dari 390.000 ha di tahun 1997. Di Kalimantan Timur, khususnya Delta Mahakam, dampak konversi ini sangat jelas, di mana luasan mangrove 3.200 km2 pada tahun 1986 telah menyusut tinggal 15 persen di tahun 2001, dan diperkirakan kerugiannya sekitar Rp 349.900.000 per tahun. Penyusutan ini akibat pemanfaatan untuk pertambakan udang.
Peranannya dengan ekosistem pesisir lain sangat jelas, yaitu sebagai penghasil zat hara bagi kesuburan perairan, sehingga tingkat produktivitas primer mangrove cukup tinggi selain padang lamun. Peranan ini sekaligus menjadikan hutan mangrove dan perairan di sekitarnya merupakan daerah pemijahan, asuhan, mencari makan dan perlindungan bagi biota laut seperti udang, kepiting dan ikan. Kepiting merupakan biota laut dominan di daerah mangrove, yang memakan daun mangrove dan serasah lainnya. Kebiasaannya ini sangat berperan dalam membentuk detritus dan daur unsur hara, demikian juga dengan anelida dan nematoda yang hidup dalam redimen hutan mangrove.
Rekomendasi
Manfaat dan fungsi mangrove sangat jelas bagi kehidupan manusia, ekosistem pesisir dan biota laut. Penurunan daya dukung hutan mangrove akibat pemanfaatan lahan dan pembabatan pohon mangrove akan sangat mengurangi fungsi ekologinya, termasuk hubungan dengan ekosistem pesisir lain dan manusia. Namun, di Indonesia pembuktian dampak pengrusakan hutan mangrove secara ilmiah masih sangat terbatas. Padahal, pembuktian ini sangat diperlukan untuk meyakinkan pemerintah, pemangku kepentingan dan masyarakat tentang besarnya efek yang dihasilkan dari pembabatan mangrove yang tidak terkendali. Dengan demikian, proses pembelajaran akibat pembabatan mangrove dan perusakan ekosistem pesisir lainnya seperti estuaria, padang lamun dan terumbu karang belum dapat dilaksanakan secara maksimal.
Tendensi penelitian sebaiknya diarahkan ke lokasi-lokasi mangrove yang potensial, namun mengalami banyak degradasi akibat aktivitas manusia, seperti di pantai timur Sumatera, Kalimantan timur dan Papua. Sehingga, dapat dilakukan studi komparatif antara kondisi mangrove yang baik dan rusak.
Usaha pelestarian hutan mangrove harus terus disosialisasikan dan dilaksanakan, baik secara formal maupun informal. Payung hukum bagi perlindungan hutan mangrove baru mulai disusun pada akhir 2006, tetapi masih perlu waktu untuk merampungkannya.
Untuk itu, semua instansi terkait dapat bekerja sama dalam pelestarian ekosistem ini dan pemangku kepentingan dapat membantu secara aktif. Semua usaha ini dilakukan tidak hanya untuk pemulihan dan meningkatkan peranan hutan mangrove, tetapi juga untuk pelestarian biota laut lainnya yang menjadi salah satu sumber protein hewani bagi masyarakat.
Senin, 07 Desember 2009
Minggu, 06 Desember 2009
MELAUT BERKURANG
Kamis, 3 Desember 2009 | 03:39 WIB
Gesit Ariyanto
Penduduk pesisir dan nelayan terdampak langsung perubahan iklim. Beberapa wujud, di antaranya pasang tinggi, abrasi kian cepat, musim tak terprediksi, serta panen ikan merosot. Nelayan Krui, Lampung Barat, punya kisah. Nelayan generasi sekarang tak bisa menebak musim. Dulu nenek moyang mereka paham betul isyarat langit, posisi bintang. Hanya dengan membaca posisi bintang selatan (berbentuk ikan pari), mereka mengetahui awal musim barat dan timur.
”Sekarang tidak,” kata Edy Hamdan (45), nelayan tradisional Krui, pada pertemuan iklim gagasan Civil Society Forum (CSF). Posisi edar bintang memang masih teratur, tetapi waktu datangnya angin barat dan timur tak lagi bisa diprediksi.
”Empat tahun terakhir memang tak terduga,” kata Arif Iwanda, pengepul ikan di Krui. Setidaknya 40 nelayan bermitra dengannya. Sering kali angin berubah dalam hitungan hari. ”Nelayan singgah sebelum tiba di tujuan sudah biasa. Badai tiba-tiba datang,” kata Arif. Beberapa tahun lalu Arif bisa mengumpulkan ikan rata-rata 2 ton dalam sehari pada musim melaut. Kini jauh dari itu.
Data Koalisi Rakyat untuk Keadilan Perikanan (Kiara) tahun 2008 menunjukkan, hari melaut nelayan rata-rata hanya 180 hari atau 6 bulan. Akibatnya, keluarga nelayan pun kian terjerat utang.
Kisah nelayan di atas sejalan dengan analisis Badan Meteorologi, Klimatologi, dan Geofisika (BMKG). ”Kondisi berubah di laut empat tahun terakhir dan itu merata,” kata Edvin Aldrian, Kepala Pusat Perubahan Iklim dan Kualitas Udara BMKG.
Kelebihan energi
Menurut Edvin, pemanasan global membuat atmosfer kelebihan energi yang bertanggung jawab atas munculnya badai tropis dengan ekor kian panjang.
Arah angin pun berubah cepat. Pemanasan global juga membuat kemarau basah, yang tak bersahabat bagi nelayan serta menyebabkan terbentuknya awan konveksi di atas lautan. Ini menarik massa udara di sekitarnya yang mendatangkan hujan dengan gelombang tinggi. Pada kondisi normal, kata Edvin, musim kemarau bersifat kering—ini mendukung aktivitas nelayan. Fakta Krui merupakan kecenderungan nasional. ”Di pantura Jawa sama,” kata Subandono Diposaptono, Kepala Subdirektorat Pengelolaan Pesisir dan Lautan Terpadu pada Departemen Kelautan dan Perikanan, sekaligus anggota tim peneliti untuk perubahan iklim di pesisir nasional.
Kawasan pesisir—titik pertemuan laut dan seluruh limpahan daratan—amat rentan. Di saat curah hujan tinggi—ditambah kerusakan lingkungan di kawasan hulu—akan kebanjiran.
Perpaduan kenaikan muka air laut dengan perubahan pola angin mendatangkan gelombang tinggi, yang juga menggenangi kawasan pesisir dalam waktu lama (rob). ”Pesisir Demak dan Pekalongan di Jawa Tengah dulu tergenang beberapa hari dalam setahun. Kini hampir tiada bulan tanpa rob,” katanya.
Sumber: kompas
Gesit Ariyanto
Penduduk pesisir dan nelayan terdampak langsung perubahan iklim. Beberapa wujud, di antaranya pasang tinggi, abrasi kian cepat, musim tak terprediksi, serta panen ikan merosot. Nelayan Krui, Lampung Barat, punya kisah. Nelayan generasi sekarang tak bisa menebak musim. Dulu nenek moyang mereka paham betul isyarat langit, posisi bintang. Hanya dengan membaca posisi bintang selatan (berbentuk ikan pari), mereka mengetahui awal musim barat dan timur.
”Sekarang tidak,” kata Edy Hamdan (45), nelayan tradisional Krui, pada pertemuan iklim gagasan Civil Society Forum (CSF). Posisi edar bintang memang masih teratur, tetapi waktu datangnya angin barat dan timur tak lagi bisa diprediksi.
”Empat tahun terakhir memang tak terduga,” kata Arif Iwanda, pengepul ikan di Krui. Setidaknya 40 nelayan bermitra dengannya. Sering kali angin berubah dalam hitungan hari. ”Nelayan singgah sebelum tiba di tujuan sudah biasa. Badai tiba-tiba datang,” kata Arif. Beberapa tahun lalu Arif bisa mengumpulkan ikan rata-rata 2 ton dalam sehari pada musim melaut. Kini jauh dari itu.
Data Koalisi Rakyat untuk Keadilan Perikanan (Kiara) tahun 2008 menunjukkan, hari melaut nelayan rata-rata hanya 180 hari atau 6 bulan. Akibatnya, keluarga nelayan pun kian terjerat utang.
Kisah nelayan di atas sejalan dengan analisis Badan Meteorologi, Klimatologi, dan Geofisika (BMKG). ”Kondisi berubah di laut empat tahun terakhir dan itu merata,” kata Edvin Aldrian, Kepala Pusat Perubahan Iklim dan Kualitas Udara BMKG.
Kelebihan energi
Menurut Edvin, pemanasan global membuat atmosfer kelebihan energi yang bertanggung jawab atas munculnya badai tropis dengan ekor kian panjang.
Arah angin pun berubah cepat. Pemanasan global juga membuat kemarau basah, yang tak bersahabat bagi nelayan serta menyebabkan terbentuknya awan konveksi di atas lautan. Ini menarik massa udara di sekitarnya yang mendatangkan hujan dengan gelombang tinggi. Pada kondisi normal, kata Edvin, musim kemarau bersifat kering—ini mendukung aktivitas nelayan. Fakta Krui merupakan kecenderungan nasional. ”Di pantura Jawa sama,” kata Subandono Diposaptono, Kepala Subdirektorat Pengelolaan Pesisir dan Lautan Terpadu pada Departemen Kelautan dan Perikanan, sekaligus anggota tim peneliti untuk perubahan iklim di pesisir nasional.
Kawasan pesisir—titik pertemuan laut dan seluruh limpahan daratan—amat rentan. Di saat curah hujan tinggi—ditambah kerusakan lingkungan di kawasan hulu—akan kebanjiran.
Perpaduan kenaikan muka air laut dengan perubahan pola angin mendatangkan gelombang tinggi, yang juga menggenangi kawasan pesisir dalam waktu lama (rob). ”Pesisir Demak dan Pekalongan di Jawa Tengah dulu tergenang beberapa hari dalam setahun. Kini hampir tiada bulan tanpa rob,” katanya.
Sumber: kompas
Kiara: Abaikan Usul Perdagangan Karbon Laut
By Republika Newsroom
Selasa, 01 Desember 2009 pukul 05:08:00
JAKARTA--Saat hutan masyarakat dikapling dan dijadikan lahan untuk proyek Reducing Emissions From Deforestrasion And Degradation (REDD), mayoritas hak dasar warga terampas. Kini isu perdagangan karbon di laut coba diupayakan dengan dalih peran laut Indonesia sebagai penyerap karbon.
Sekretaris Jenderal Koalisi rakyat untuk Keadilan Perikanan (Kiara), M. Riza Damanik menyatakan, mestinya pemerintah belajar pada sitausi yang terjadi di sektor hutan. “Bukan malah sebaliknya menjual laut Indonesia dalam format perdagangan karbon,” ujarnya, Senin (30/11). Ironisnya, laut tropis Indonesia justru tergolong sebagai pelepas karbon.
Tingginya temperatur permukaan laut lebih dominan sehingga mengakibatkan tekanan parsial CO di permukaan laut lebih tinggi dari atmosfer. Hal ini mengakibatkan perairan tropis berfungsi sebagai pelepas karbon dibandingkan dengan laut di lintang menengah dan tinggi. Studi mengenai peranan lautan global, pada prinsipnya memandang proses penyerapan karbon antropogenik secara keseluruhan dan bukan pada tingkat regional.
“Inilah yang membedakan dengan kemampuan hutan sehingga laut tidak tepat untuk masuk dalam mekanisme perdagangan karbon,” ujarnya. Dengan acuan ilmiah inilah delegasi Indonesi harus menghindari perbincangan mekanisme perdagangan karbon di laut. “Ada upaya lain yang lebih bijak dan berspektif kemanusiaan,” ungkapnya. Terlebih, Indonesia adalah negara kepulauan yang memiliki tingkat kerentanan tinggi akibat perubahan iklim.
Pada 2007, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) menyebutkan dalam laporannya bahwa perubahan ikllim berdampak pada ekosisem di antaranya bakau, rawa, dan tata ekosistem wilayah pesisir rendah. “Selain itu juga berdampak pada pulau-pulau kecil yang pada akhirnya memperburuk kondisi masyarakat miskin akses, anak-anak kecil, dan kelompok lansia,” katanya.
Setali tiga uang laporan FAO juga menegaskan bahwa perubahan ikllim berdampak pada sektor perikanan di antaranya tingkat pengasaman air laut yang kian tinggi. Naiknya temperatur laut, lanjut Riza, berdampak pada masyarakat pesisir yang tak terlindungi, meningkatkan kerentanan dan meminggirkan warga di pulau-pulau kecil. “Semua ini terjadi akibat keterbatasan adaptasi infrastruktur kritis, ketersediaan sumber daya alan yang menipis dan tata ekosistem pesisir yang rusak,” ujar Riza.
Berpijak pada kedua laporan otoritatif tersebut, KIARA mendesak pemerintak untuk tidak lagi menempatkan pemorelahan dana iklim. “Melainkan lebih mengedepankan keselamatan nelayan dan masyarakat yang tinggal di wilayah pesisir dan pulau-pulau kecil,” ujarnya. KIARA memandang penting bagi Presiden untuk tidak mengajukan atau melibatkan laut Indonesia sebagai solusi mengatasi persoalan perubahan iklim melalui skema perdagangan karbon.
“Gagasan ini dikhawatirkan justru akan menghadirkan malapetaka kemanusiaan yang lebih besar bagi bangsa Indonesia,” tuturnya. KIARA juga menyayangkan keterlibatan makelar karbon pada level nasional yang terus menggiring Indonesia untuk masuk dalam jebakan inisasi perdagangan karbon di laut. c09/ahi
Sumber: Republika
Selasa, 01 Desember 2009 pukul 05:08:00
JAKARTA--Saat hutan masyarakat dikapling dan dijadikan lahan untuk proyek Reducing Emissions From Deforestrasion And Degradation (REDD), mayoritas hak dasar warga terampas. Kini isu perdagangan karbon di laut coba diupayakan dengan dalih peran laut Indonesia sebagai penyerap karbon.
Sekretaris Jenderal Koalisi rakyat untuk Keadilan Perikanan (Kiara), M. Riza Damanik menyatakan, mestinya pemerintah belajar pada sitausi yang terjadi di sektor hutan. “Bukan malah sebaliknya menjual laut Indonesia dalam format perdagangan karbon,” ujarnya, Senin (30/11). Ironisnya, laut tropis Indonesia justru tergolong sebagai pelepas karbon.
Tingginya temperatur permukaan laut lebih dominan sehingga mengakibatkan tekanan parsial CO di permukaan laut lebih tinggi dari atmosfer. Hal ini mengakibatkan perairan tropis berfungsi sebagai pelepas karbon dibandingkan dengan laut di lintang menengah dan tinggi. Studi mengenai peranan lautan global, pada prinsipnya memandang proses penyerapan karbon antropogenik secara keseluruhan dan bukan pada tingkat regional.
“Inilah yang membedakan dengan kemampuan hutan sehingga laut tidak tepat untuk masuk dalam mekanisme perdagangan karbon,” ujarnya. Dengan acuan ilmiah inilah delegasi Indonesi harus menghindari perbincangan mekanisme perdagangan karbon di laut. “Ada upaya lain yang lebih bijak dan berspektif kemanusiaan,” ungkapnya. Terlebih, Indonesia adalah negara kepulauan yang memiliki tingkat kerentanan tinggi akibat perubahan iklim.
Pada 2007, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) menyebutkan dalam laporannya bahwa perubahan ikllim berdampak pada ekosisem di antaranya bakau, rawa, dan tata ekosistem wilayah pesisir rendah. “Selain itu juga berdampak pada pulau-pulau kecil yang pada akhirnya memperburuk kondisi masyarakat miskin akses, anak-anak kecil, dan kelompok lansia,” katanya.
Setali tiga uang laporan FAO juga menegaskan bahwa perubahan ikllim berdampak pada sektor perikanan di antaranya tingkat pengasaman air laut yang kian tinggi. Naiknya temperatur laut, lanjut Riza, berdampak pada masyarakat pesisir yang tak terlindungi, meningkatkan kerentanan dan meminggirkan warga di pulau-pulau kecil. “Semua ini terjadi akibat keterbatasan adaptasi infrastruktur kritis, ketersediaan sumber daya alan yang menipis dan tata ekosistem pesisir yang rusak,” ujar Riza.
Berpijak pada kedua laporan otoritatif tersebut, KIARA mendesak pemerintak untuk tidak lagi menempatkan pemorelahan dana iklim. “Melainkan lebih mengedepankan keselamatan nelayan dan masyarakat yang tinggal di wilayah pesisir dan pulau-pulau kecil,” ujarnya. KIARA memandang penting bagi Presiden untuk tidak mengajukan atau melibatkan laut Indonesia sebagai solusi mengatasi persoalan perubahan iklim melalui skema perdagangan karbon.
“Gagasan ini dikhawatirkan justru akan menghadirkan malapetaka kemanusiaan yang lebih besar bagi bangsa Indonesia,” tuturnya. KIARA juga menyayangkan keterlibatan makelar karbon pada level nasional yang terus menggiring Indonesia untuk masuk dalam jebakan inisasi perdagangan karbon di laut. c09/ahi
Sumber: Republika
Kamis, 03 Desember 2009
EKOSISTEM PADANG LAMUN HILANG,MASA DEPAN EKOSISTEM PESISIR GLOBAL TERANCAM
Selasa, 21 Juli 2009 09:44
cience Daily. Sebuah tim peneliti internasional memperingatkan bahwa cepatnya penurunan ekosistem padang lamun (seagrass) di seluruh bagian dunia akan mengancam keberadaan jangka panjang dari ekosistem pesisir. Hasil analisis dan temuan ini menunjukkan bahwa 58% ekosistem padang lamun dunia terus mengalami penurunan.
Hasil assesment yang dipublikasikan di Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, menunjukkan bahwa kecepatan penurunan padang lamun meningkat menjadi 7% sejak 1990-sebelumnya 1% sebelum tahun 1940-. Berdasarkan 215 studi dan 1.800 pengamatan mulai 1879, tampak bahwa tingkat kehilangan populasi lamun sama dengan tingkat penurunan terumbu karang dan hutan hujan tropis.
Hasil studi ini menyebutkan tingkat kehilangan lamun ini sebesar 42 kilometer persegi per tahun sejak 1980, dan menekankan juga penyebab utama degradasi ini ialah dampak langsung pembangunan pesisir, dan dampak tidak langsung dari penurunan kualitas air.
Tingginya frekuensi “sindrom pesisir” telah menyebabkan hilangnya ekosistem lamun di seluruh dunia, ” jelas Dr.Willliam Dennison dari University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science.”Kombinasi antara pertumbuhan pemukiman, pengembangan di sepanjang garis pantai, dan penurunan sumberdaya alamiah telah menekan ekosistem pesisi kepada kondisi tidak seimbang. Secara global, setiap 30 menit kita kehilangan padang amun seluas lapangan sepak bola.
Hilangnya setiap luasan ini tentunya berakibat hilangnya pula fungsi dan manfaat dari ekosistem ini, seperti menyediakan lokasi pemijahan bagi berbagai jenis ikan dan kekerangan. Bahkan lebih dari itu, konsekuensi yang ditimbulkan bahkan berpengaruh pada ekosistem disekitarnya, karena lamun juga merupakan penghasil biomassa energi serta berbagai jenis satwa ke ekosistem terumbu karang.
Dengan 45% populasi dunia yang hidup di 5% daratan di pesisir, tekanan yang diterima ekosistem padang lamun semakin intensif.”kata Dr. Tim Carruthers dari University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. Keberadaan lamun sangat mempengaruhi kondisi fisik,kimia dan biologi lingkungan dari perairan pesisir. Komposisi unik dari tumbuhan semi pasang surut ini, mentransisikan aliran air dan dapat membantu mitigasi dampak dari masukan polusi dari nutrien dan sedimen. Dalam suatu lingkungan pesisir yang lengkap, ekosistem padang lamun berada di antara ekosistem mangrove dan ekosistem terumbu karang.
Penelitian ini sendiri merupakan bagian dari Global Seagrass Trajectories Working Group yang didukung oleh National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) di Santa Barbara, California, dibawah National Science Foundation.
sumber: Dirjen Kelautan, Pesisir DAN Pulau-Pulau Kecil
Selasa, 21 Juli 2009 09:44
cience Daily. Sebuah tim peneliti internasional memperingatkan bahwa cepatnya penurunan ekosistem padang lamun (seagrass) di seluruh bagian dunia akan mengancam keberadaan jangka panjang dari ekosistem pesisir. Hasil analisis dan temuan ini menunjukkan bahwa 58% ekosistem padang lamun dunia terus mengalami penurunan.
Hasil assesment yang dipublikasikan di Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, menunjukkan bahwa kecepatan penurunan padang lamun meningkat menjadi 7% sejak 1990-sebelumnya 1% sebelum tahun 1940-. Berdasarkan 215 studi dan 1.800 pengamatan mulai 1879, tampak bahwa tingkat kehilangan populasi lamun sama dengan tingkat penurunan terumbu karang dan hutan hujan tropis.
Hasil studi ini menyebutkan tingkat kehilangan lamun ini sebesar 42 kilometer persegi per tahun sejak 1980, dan menekankan juga penyebab utama degradasi ini ialah dampak langsung pembangunan pesisir, dan dampak tidak langsung dari penurunan kualitas air.
Tingginya frekuensi “sindrom pesisir” telah menyebabkan hilangnya ekosistem lamun di seluruh dunia, ” jelas Dr.Willliam Dennison dari University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science.”Kombinasi antara pertumbuhan pemukiman, pengembangan di sepanjang garis pantai, dan penurunan sumberdaya alamiah telah menekan ekosistem pesisi kepada kondisi tidak seimbang. Secara global, setiap 30 menit kita kehilangan padang amun seluas lapangan sepak bola.
Hilangnya setiap luasan ini tentunya berakibat hilangnya pula fungsi dan manfaat dari ekosistem ini, seperti menyediakan lokasi pemijahan bagi berbagai jenis ikan dan kekerangan. Bahkan lebih dari itu, konsekuensi yang ditimbulkan bahkan berpengaruh pada ekosistem disekitarnya, karena lamun juga merupakan penghasil biomassa energi serta berbagai jenis satwa ke ekosistem terumbu karang.
Dengan 45% populasi dunia yang hidup di 5% daratan di pesisir, tekanan yang diterima ekosistem padang lamun semakin intensif.”kata Dr. Tim Carruthers dari University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. Keberadaan lamun sangat mempengaruhi kondisi fisik,kimia dan biologi lingkungan dari perairan pesisir. Komposisi unik dari tumbuhan semi pasang surut ini, mentransisikan aliran air dan dapat membantu mitigasi dampak dari masukan polusi dari nutrien dan sedimen. Dalam suatu lingkungan pesisir yang lengkap, ekosistem padang lamun berada di antara ekosistem mangrove dan ekosistem terumbu karang.
Penelitian ini sendiri merupakan bagian dari Global Seagrass Trajectories Working Group yang didukung oleh National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) di Santa Barbara, California, dibawah National Science Foundation.
sumber: Dirjen Kelautan, Pesisir DAN Pulau-Pulau Kecil
Selasa, 24 November 2009
Kerusakan Terumbu Karang Masih Tinggi di Sumut
Medan, (Analisa)
Tekanan terhadap kerusakan terumbu karang di Sumatera Utara masih tinggi akibat cara tangkap ikan yang ilegal, seperti penggunaan sianida dan bom.
Kondisi ini diperparah dengan masih adanya alat tangkap yang tidak ramah terhadap kehidupan karang, seperti pukat.
“Untuk menekan kerusakan dan memelihara ekosistem terumbu karang. khususnya di Nias, Nias Selatan dan Tapanuli Tengah, bukan hanya meningkatkan kesadaran masyarakat, tetapi harus ada penerapan dan penegakan hukum,” kata Kepala Seksi Pembenihan dan Budidaya Ikan Dinas Kelautan dan Perikanan Sumut Erna Dewi di sela-sela pembentukan Forum Jurnalis Bahari Indonesia (Forjubi) Sumut di Medan, Sabtu (17/10).
Menurutnya, kondisi tersebut tidak boleh dibiarkan sehingga perlu ditingkatkan sosialisasi tentang upaya melindungi dan melestarikan ekosistem terumbu karang. Sumut merupakan salah satu daerah di Indonesia yang memiliki terumbu karang yang besar.
Erna yang juga Kuasa Penggunaan Anggaran Coral Reef Rehabilition and Management Programe (Coremap) menegaskan, sanksi hukum dinilai sangat perlu untuk menumbuhkan kesadaran masyarakat pentingnya menjaga ekositem terumbu karang dan efek jera bagi pelakunya.
Meski terumbu karang di perairan Nias, Nias Selatan dan Tapanuli Tengah masih cukup tinggi tetapi harus diakui sudah ada perbaikan menyusul kesadaran yang mulai tumbuh di tengah masyarakat khususnya nelayan tradisional.
“Dinas Kelautan dan Perikanan (DKP) secara rutin melakukan evaluasi kondisi terumbu karang yang memberikan banyak keuntungan kepada manusia, hewan dan alam sekitarnya.
Pekan depan, evaluasi akan dilakukan di perairan Nias,” ujarnya. Lebih lanjut dikatakannya, selain untuk menjaga produksi ikan dan biota laut lainya, ekositem terumbu karang juga sangat berperan dalam menangani terjadinya pemanasan global yang menjadi isu lingkungan dunia saat ini.
Forjubi Sumut Terbentuk
Sementra itu, Forum Jurnalis Bahari Indonesia (Forjubi) Sumut yang beranggotakan para jurnalis media cetak dan elektonik yang peduli terhadap kelestarian terumbu karang terbentuk.
Untuk periode pertama, Forjubi Sumut yang menjadi Ketua adalah Defri Yenni, wartawan Medan Bisnis. Forum ini diharapkan dapat memudahkan penyebaran informasi tentang konservasi terumbu karang di Sumatera Utara khususnya dan Indonesia pada umumnya.
(msm)
Source: Harian Analisa
Tekanan terhadap kerusakan terumbu karang di Sumatera Utara masih tinggi akibat cara tangkap ikan yang ilegal, seperti penggunaan sianida dan bom.
Kondisi ini diperparah dengan masih adanya alat tangkap yang tidak ramah terhadap kehidupan karang, seperti pukat.
“Untuk menekan kerusakan dan memelihara ekosistem terumbu karang. khususnya di Nias, Nias Selatan dan Tapanuli Tengah, bukan hanya meningkatkan kesadaran masyarakat, tetapi harus ada penerapan dan penegakan hukum,” kata Kepala Seksi Pembenihan dan Budidaya Ikan Dinas Kelautan dan Perikanan Sumut Erna Dewi di sela-sela pembentukan Forum Jurnalis Bahari Indonesia (Forjubi) Sumut di Medan, Sabtu (17/10).
Menurutnya, kondisi tersebut tidak boleh dibiarkan sehingga perlu ditingkatkan sosialisasi tentang upaya melindungi dan melestarikan ekosistem terumbu karang. Sumut merupakan salah satu daerah di Indonesia yang memiliki terumbu karang yang besar.
Erna yang juga Kuasa Penggunaan Anggaran Coral Reef Rehabilition and Management Programe (Coremap) menegaskan, sanksi hukum dinilai sangat perlu untuk menumbuhkan kesadaran masyarakat pentingnya menjaga ekositem terumbu karang dan efek jera bagi pelakunya.
Meski terumbu karang di perairan Nias, Nias Selatan dan Tapanuli Tengah masih cukup tinggi tetapi harus diakui sudah ada perbaikan menyusul kesadaran yang mulai tumbuh di tengah masyarakat khususnya nelayan tradisional.
“Dinas Kelautan dan Perikanan (DKP) secara rutin melakukan evaluasi kondisi terumbu karang yang memberikan banyak keuntungan kepada manusia, hewan dan alam sekitarnya.
Pekan depan, evaluasi akan dilakukan di perairan Nias,” ujarnya. Lebih lanjut dikatakannya, selain untuk menjaga produksi ikan dan biota laut lainya, ekositem terumbu karang juga sangat berperan dalam menangani terjadinya pemanasan global yang menjadi isu lingkungan dunia saat ini.
Forjubi Sumut Terbentuk
Sementra itu, Forum Jurnalis Bahari Indonesia (Forjubi) Sumut yang beranggotakan para jurnalis media cetak dan elektonik yang peduli terhadap kelestarian terumbu karang terbentuk.
Untuk periode pertama, Forjubi Sumut yang menjadi Ketua adalah Defri Yenni, wartawan Medan Bisnis. Forum ini diharapkan dapat memudahkan penyebaran informasi tentang konservasi terumbu karang di Sumatera Utara khususnya dan Indonesia pada umumnya.
(msm)
Source: Harian Analisa
250 Lumba-lumba Pemberi Tanda Gempa
PADANG, KAMIS — Sejumlah 250 lumba-lumba menjadi pemberi tanda terjadinya gempa berkekuatan 7,4 skala Richter di Kabupaten Talaud, Provinsi Sulawesi Utara, Kamis (12/2).
Sekitar 12 jam sebelum gempa besar yang terjadi pukul 00. 35, sebanyak 250 lumba-lumba itu sudah bermigrasi bersama dari Talaud ke sekitar daratan Filipina di utara Pulau Sulawesi.
Ade Edward dari Ikatan Ahli Geologi Indonesia mengatakan, peristiwa migrasi ini dirilis sejumlah televisi. Sebelumnya, para ahli juga pernah menduga bahwa lumba-lumba bisa menjadi salah satu sistem peringatan dini yang alami.
"Fakta ini perlu ditelusuri secara ilmiah. Hal ini tentu sangat menggembirakan bagi masyarakat di daerah rawan gempa-tsunami," kata Ade yang mengaku telah mendiskusikan fenomena ini dengan sejumlah ahli.
Dia berharap, pemerintah daerah di Provinsi Sumatera Barat menyikapi fakta ini dengan menambah alat pemantau di laut yang bisa menangkap pergerakan lumba-lumba. Daerah yang terutama membutuhkan peringatan dini adalah daerah di sepanjang pantai barat Sumatera serta di Mentawai. (ART)
Source: kompas.com
Kamis, 22 Oktober 2009
Ikan Hiu Tutul Terdampar di Tuban
TUBAN, KOMPAS.com - Seekor ikan hiu jenis tutul dengan panjang lebih dari 4 meter, Senin (19/10) terdampar di pantai utara Tuban. Hiu itu saat subuh sempat tersangkut pukat nelayan bernama Khasim, warga Desa Kaliuntu, Kecamatan Jenu, Kabupaten Tuban, sekitar 10 mil dari bibir pantai. Khasim tidak berani melepas pukat yang melilit tubuh hiu itu karena takut diserang.
Hiu itu pun ditarik ke tepi pantai, setelah tidak bisa bergerak dia melepas pukat dan mengikat ikan itu dengan tali tambang plastik atau tampar. Ikan itu pun terombang-ambing ombak dan menjadi tontonan warga. Berat bagian ekornya saja diperkirakan mencapai 500 kilogram..
Setelah dua jam berada di bibir pantai, ikan hiu pemakan plankton itu dilepas kembali oleh warga ke tengah laut untuk menjaga ekosistem laut. Seorang nelayan Wakid terluka bagian tangan kanannya karena terkena gigi ikan hiu saat melepasnya ke tengah laut.
Diduga kondisinya lemas dan tidak mampu melawan ombak, Senin siang, akhirnya hiu itu ditemukan mati terdampar di bibir pantai. Nelayan lainnya Edo Hermansyah menyatakan hiu itu akan dikuburkan oleh warga. Awalnya hiu itu tersangkut pukat. "Ekornya terluka bekas terkena tampar," katanya.
Sumber: www.kompas.com
Minggu, 11 Oktober 2009
LUMBA - LUMBA : DI LAUT PERSAHABATAN TAMAT
Potongan Daging Lumba - Lumba di Pasar (GATRA/Abdul Aziz)LUMBA-lumba sebagai sahabat manusia tampaknya hanya mitos belaka. Setidaknya itulah yang berlaku di Bagan Siapiapi, Riau. Nelayan yang semula bersahabat dan enggan mengusik mamalia laut itu, karena dipercaya suka menolong manusia, kini berubah sikap. Satwa cerdas yang kerap dilatih untuk beratraksi di berbagai tempat wisata itu diburu. Dagingnya dipercaya berkhasiat sebagai obat kuat.
Adalah Forum Kelompok Pelestarian Sumber Daya Alam (KPSA) Riau yang melansir maraknya perburuan lumba-lumba di perairan sekitar Bagan Siapiapi, Ahad dua pekan lalu. Menurut Ketua KPSA, Bismark Tampubolon, tiap pekan tak kurang dari lima ekor lumba-lumba ditangkap. Hewan itu kemudian dijual kepada nelayan Singapura, Malaysia, dan Thailand. "Harganya Rp 500.000 per ekor yang berukuran 100 kilogram," kata Bismark.
Belakangan, daging lumba-lumba juga dijajakan di pasar lokal, khususnya di Bagan Siapiapi, Kabupaten Rokan Hilir, sekitar 300 kilometer selatan Pekanbaru. Peminatnya rupanya terus meningkat dari waktu ke waktu. Tidak mengherankan, demikian kata sejumlah pedagang di Pasar Bagan Hulu, pasar ikan terbesar di kota itu, daging lumba-lumba laris manis.
Udin, 30 tahun, pedagang ikan di Bagan Hulu, mengaku membeli daging lumba-lumba dari nelayan seharga Rp 10.000 per kilogram. Daging siap masak itu ia jual lagi seharga Rp 15.000 hingga Rp 16.000. Bandingkan dengan harga daging tongkol yang cuma Rp 8.000 hingga Rp 10.000 per kilogram. "Karena hasil tangkapan nelayan terbatas, seminggu saya cuma bisa menjual 250 kilo daging lumba-lumba," kata Udin.
Maraknya penjualan daging lumba-lumba itu membuat gerah Andreas Heri Kahuripan. Ketua Lembaga Pengkajian Hutan Indonesia (LPHI) wilayah Riau itu mengaku sangat prihatin. "Hewan itu banyak diburu di perairan Pulau Halang, Pulau Sinaboi, dan Teluk Lumba-lumba," kata Andreas.
Para cukong, menurut Andreas, kemudian membawanya ke Pulau Jemur, enam jam dengan perahu motor dari Bagan Siapiapi. Dari sana, hewan tangkapan itu diangkut ke Singapura. Mereka kabarnya mengekspor daging lumba-lumba itu ke Malaysia, Cina, bahkan Eropa. Selain dagingnya, bagian yang dipercaya berkhasiat, antara lain, sirip ekor dan hati. Tapi hingga kini, tak ada hasil penelitian yang membuktikannya.
Iskandar, seorang nelayan di Bagan Siapiapi, menuturkan bahwa lumba-lumba biasanya tak pernah ditangkap meski tersangkut jaring. "Hewan itu bikin kesal, sebab jika tersangkut, merusak jaring," katanya. Celakanya, lumba-lumba yang sudah terluka biasanya tak berumur panjang. "Besok atau lusanya pasti ditemukan mati," kata Iskandar.
Lima tahun terakhir, ujar Iskandar, banyak bandar dari Singapura datang ke Bagan Siapiapi memesan daging lumba-lumba. Harganya pun menggiurkan. Sejak itulah, perburuan marak dilakukan. Masyarakat pun mulai mencoba-coba daging mamalia ini. "Dagingnya ternyata bisa memanaskan badan," kata Syahminan, warga Bagan Siapiapi.
Yang cemas bukan hanya LPHI. Kepala Dinas Perikanan Rokan Hilir, Amrizal, pun ketar-ketir. Soalnya, lumba-lumba termasuk hewan yang dilindungi. Karena itu, lembaga swadaya masyarakat Greenpeace pernah memprotes nelayan Jepang yang sering memotong ekor lumba-lumba jika terjerat jaring. Sebab, hewan yang terluka dan cacat itu pasti tak berumur panjang.
Lumba-lumba yang hidup di perairan Bagan Siapiapi diduga punya wilayah jelajah hingga ke Teluk Benggala di sisi utara Lautan Hindia hingga Laut Cina Selatan dan Laut Jawa. "Kami akan melakukan sosialisasi untuk menghentikan perburuan lumba-lumba," kata Himawan, Koordinator Perlindungan Satwa, Balai Konservasi Sumber Daya Alam Riau.
Bahtrim, pengurus Lembaga Adat Melayu Bagan Siapiapi, menyatakan bahwa masyarakat Sungai Rokan sebenarnya diharamkan makan daging lumba-lumba. Pria 60 tahun, warga Jalan Bahagia, Bagan Siapiapi, itu menuturkan sebuah legenda tentang Cik Sulaeman. Konon, pahlawan Sungai Rokan itu pernah ditolong oleh lumba-lumba ketika berperang di laut melawan penjajah Portugis, enam abad silam. "Sejak itu, Cik Sulaeman melarang anak-cucunya membunuh lumba-lumba," kata Bahtrim. Sejauh itu pula lumba-lumba hidup aman, bersahabat dengan para nelayan.
Apa lacur, kini nelayan Sungai Rokan hanya menganggap cerita itu sebagai dongeng lama.
Sumber: Gatra.Com
Populasi Lumba-Lumba Terancam
Populasi Lumba-Lumba Terancam
PUNDUH PIDADA (Lampost): Populasi lumba-lumba kembali terancam setelah sejumlah kapal nelayan asal Banten melakukan aksi perburuan lumba-lumba di sepanjang pesisir Teluk Pedada hingga ke Teluk Kiluan.
Berdasarkan informasi yang berhasil dihimpun Lampung Post di sejumlah lokasi pesisir Teluk Pedada, Selasa (15-9), menunjukkan jika aktivitas perburuan lumba-lumba masih terlihat. Bahkan, dari kejauhan terlihat aktivitas nelayan sedang mengangkat seekor lumba-lumba.
Dirhamsyah, kelompok masyarakat pengawas setempat, menyebutkan terdapat satu kapal nelayan yang masih sering beroperasi. Yaitu, kapal Jaya Mulya asal Labuhan, Banten. "Sejak hari Minggu (13-9), kapal itu sering terlihat mengitari perairan Teluk Pedada sampai ke Teluk Kiluan. Ada warga kami yang melihat dua ekor lumba-lumba di kapal mereka," kata Dirhamsyah.
Jika dihitung sejak Minggu (13-9) lalu, kata dia, sudah sekitar 10 ekor lumba-lumba yang berhasil diburu kawanan nelayan spesialis pemburu lumba-lumba untuk diekspor tersebut. "Di tengah laut, kami sering melihat darah lumba-lumba," kata dia.
Selain kapal nelayan asal Banten yang masuk melalui Selat Sunda, kapal lain yang juga sering melakukan perburuan dengan modus bom berhulu ledak besar juga dilakukan nelayan asal Gudanglelang, Telukbetung.
Umumnya, para nelayan pemburu spesialis lumba-lumba ini beroperasi di titik-titik populasi lumba-lumba. Seperti di Teluk Pedada, Pulau Hiu, dan Pulau Tungkalit, di sekitar perairan pulau dan Teluk Kiluan.
Populasi lumba-lumba diketahui sangat banyak. Terlebih, pada bulan-bulan seperti saat ini, tingkat populasi semakin tinggi. Karena, lumba-lumba yang dikenal sebagai hewan penjelajah ini berdatangan dari berbagai perairan.
"Ini sedang musim kawin. Jadi, umumnya mereka berkumpul di titik-titik populasi untuk mencari pasangannya," kata Riko Stefanus, aktivis dari LSM Cikal.
Butuh Bantuan
Dirhamsyah juga mengaku sudah berkali-kali meminta bantuan kepada petugas patroli kelautan maupun Marinir setempat untuk mengawasi perburuan lumba-lumba itu. Namun, tidak pernah mendapatkan respons.
"Kami sempat mengejar satu kapal nelayan yang biasa memburu lumba-lumba. Tapi, ketika perahu kami semakin dekat, para nelayan justru mengarahkan senpi rakitan kepada kami untuk menjauh dari kapal mereka," kata dia.
Riko Stefanus dari Cikal berharap petugas patroli maupun dinas terkait segera merespons aksi perburuan yang terus mengancam populasi lumba-lumba di Teluk Lampung ini.
"Dulu, sebelum marak perburuan, populasinya masih membutuhkan banyak perlindungan. Kondisi ini ditambah dengan maraknya perburuan, jumlahnya kian menyusut. Kemungkinan, banyak lumba-lumba yang bermigrasi karena titik populasi lumba-lumba ini pun ada yang dipasang perangkap," kata dia. n SWA/D-3
Sumber: Lampung Post
PUNDUH PIDADA (Lampost): Populasi lumba-lumba kembali terancam setelah sejumlah kapal nelayan asal Banten melakukan aksi perburuan lumba-lumba di sepanjang pesisir Teluk Pedada hingga ke Teluk Kiluan.
Berdasarkan informasi yang berhasil dihimpun Lampung Post di sejumlah lokasi pesisir Teluk Pedada, Selasa (15-9), menunjukkan jika aktivitas perburuan lumba-lumba masih terlihat. Bahkan, dari kejauhan terlihat aktivitas nelayan sedang mengangkat seekor lumba-lumba.
Dirhamsyah, kelompok masyarakat pengawas setempat, menyebutkan terdapat satu kapal nelayan yang masih sering beroperasi. Yaitu, kapal Jaya Mulya asal Labuhan, Banten. "Sejak hari Minggu (13-9), kapal itu sering terlihat mengitari perairan Teluk Pedada sampai ke Teluk Kiluan. Ada warga kami yang melihat dua ekor lumba-lumba di kapal mereka," kata Dirhamsyah.
Jika dihitung sejak Minggu (13-9) lalu, kata dia, sudah sekitar 10 ekor lumba-lumba yang berhasil diburu kawanan nelayan spesialis pemburu lumba-lumba untuk diekspor tersebut. "Di tengah laut, kami sering melihat darah lumba-lumba," kata dia.
Selain kapal nelayan asal Banten yang masuk melalui Selat Sunda, kapal lain yang juga sering melakukan perburuan dengan modus bom berhulu ledak besar juga dilakukan nelayan asal Gudanglelang, Telukbetung.
Umumnya, para nelayan pemburu spesialis lumba-lumba ini beroperasi di titik-titik populasi lumba-lumba. Seperti di Teluk Pedada, Pulau Hiu, dan Pulau Tungkalit, di sekitar perairan pulau dan Teluk Kiluan.
Populasi lumba-lumba diketahui sangat banyak. Terlebih, pada bulan-bulan seperti saat ini, tingkat populasi semakin tinggi. Karena, lumba-lumba yang dikenal sebagai hewan penjelajah ini berdatangan dari berbagai perairan.
"Ini sedang musim kawin. Jadi, umumnya mereka berkumpul di titik-titik populasi untuk mencari pasangannya," kata Riko Stefanus, aktivis dari LSM Cikal.
Butuh Bantuan
Dirhamsyah juga mengaku sudah berkali-kali meminta bantuan kepada petugas patroli kelautan maupun Marinir setempat untuk mengawasi perburuan lumba-lumba itu. Namun, tidak pernah mendapatkan respons.
"Kami sempat mengejar satu kapal nelayan yang biasa memburu lumba-lumba. Tapi, ketika perahu kami semakin dekat, para nelayan justru mengarahkan senpi rakitan kepada kami untuk menjauh dari kapal mereka," kata dia.
Riko Stefanus dari Cikal berharap petugas patroli maupun dinas terkait segera merespons aksi perburuan yang terus mengancam populasi lumba-lumba di Teluk Lampung ini.
"Dulu, sebelum marak perburuan, populasinya masih membutuhkan banyak perlindungan. Kondisi ini ditambah dengan maraknya perburuan, jumlahnya kian menyusut. Kemungkinan, banyak lumba-lumba yang bermigrasi karena titik populasi lumba-lumba ini pun ada yang dipasang perangkap," kata dia. n SWA/D-3
Sumber: Lampung Post
Sabtu, 10 Oktober 2009
Whale Shark Mampir di Suramadu
SURABAYA, Seekor hiu tutul ( Whale shark)ditemukan nelayan dalam kondisi mati di Selat Madura. Ikan sepanjang tujuh meter itu sempat menjadi tontonan ratusan warga Surabaya dan sekitarnya. "Penemuan ikan tersebut membawa berkah tersendiri bagi kami, karena pendapatan dari melaut sedang sepi-sepinya," kata nelayan penemu ikan tersebut, Rofii, di Kelurahan Tambak Wedi, Surabaya, Sabtu (3/1).
Lokasi penemuan ikan itu, katanya, berada sejauh tiga mil ke arah timur dari perairan di kolong Jembatan Tol Suramadu. Penemuan itu berawal ketika ia dan temannya bernama Salam berangkat melaut pada Jumat (2/10) pukul 08:30 WIB. "Tepat pukul 09:00 WIB, tiba-tiba kami melihat seekor hiu tutul terapung. Waktu itu kami belum bisa memastikan ia mati atau hidup," ujarnya.
Lalu, ia kembali ke tepi laut dan meminta tolong kepada sejumlah rekannya. Setelah mereka memastikan bahwa ikan yang ditengarai anak hiu dengan berat satu ton tersebut langsung dibawa ke tepi laut. "Tak tanggung-tanggung ada lima unit kapal motor berukuran kecil atau sebanyak 40 orang nelayan berkenan menarik ikan tersebut," katanya.
Setelah ditemukan pukul 09:00 WIB, ia mengaku, ikan itu sampai di tepi laut pada pukul 24:00 WIB. Setibanya di tepi laut, pihaknya mendirikan pagar pembatas dari bambu dan ditutupi kain terpal berwarna biru. "Serentak beberapa warga masyarakat Kelurahan Tambak Wedi mengerumuni hiu temuan kami," katanya.
Mukran, nelayan di Kelurahan Tambak Wedi yang ikut membantu menarik ikan itu, menambahkan, penemuan hiu itu merupakan kejadian pertama di kampungnya.
Sementara, masyarakat yang ingin melihat bentuk fisik ikan itu dikenakan tiket masuk Rp 2.000,00 per orang. "Namun, bagi pengunjung usia anak-anak, kami mengenakan biaya Rp 1.000,00 per orang. Sejak ditepikan kemarin hingga hari ini, ada ratusan pengunjung yang penasaran dengan hiu tutul itu," katanya.
Pemberlakuan tiket itu, kata dia, dialokasikan untuk membayar parkir kendaraan dan mengganti bahan bakar minyak (BBM) yang dikeluarkan saat menarik ikan itu. "Saat menarik anak hiu tersebut, kami menghabiskan Rp 35.000,00 atau sekitar tujuh liter solar," katanya.
Selain itu, ia melanjutkan, uang yang terkumpul dari tiket masuk yang dibayarkan pengunjung akan dimasukkan ke kas Koperasi Nelayan Cumi-cumi RW II Kelurahan Tambak Wedi Surabaya. "Di sisi lain, apabila ikannya sudah berbau busuk kami akan membuangnya ke laut. Kemungkinan pekan depan akan kami kembali ke laut," katanya.
Sebelumnya, pengelola koperasi nelayan yang tak jauh dari Koperasi Nelayan Cumi-cumi, telah tiga kali menemukan hiu serupa. Mereka mengaku, sejumlah ikan tersebut kerap muncul menjelang datangnya musim "ketigo" (musim kemarau dalam bahasa Jawa) seperti saat ini. "Saat itu, mereka akan muncul berkoloni dan melintas di perairan ini. Selain hiu tutul, banyak jenis dan ukuran beragam yang sering terlihat oleh para nelayan, semisal hiu hijau dan hiu biru," katanya.
sumber: by Pinky.Ngomers October 3rd, 2009, 18:34
Lokasi penemuan ikan itu, katanya, berada sejauh tiga mil ke arah timur dari perairan di kolong Jembatan Tol Suramadu. Penemuan itu berawal ketika ia dan temannya bernama Salam berangkat melaut pada Jumat (2/10) pukul 08:30 WIB. "Tepat pukul 09:00 WIB, tiba-tiba kami melihat seekor hiu tutul terapung. Waktu itu kami belum bisa memastikan ia mati atau hidup," ujarnya.
Lalu, ia kembali ke tepi laut dan meminta tolong kepada sejumlah rekannya. Setelah mereka memastikan bahwa ikan yang ditengarai anak hiu dengan berat satu ton tersebut langsung dibawa ke tepi laut. "Tak tanggung-tanggung ada lima unit kapal motor berukuran kecil atau sebanyak 40 orang nelayan berkenan menarik ikan tersebut," katanya.
Setelah ditemukan pukul 09:00 WIB, ia mengaku, ikan itu sampai di tepi laut pada pukul 24:00 WIB. Setibanya di tepi laut, pihaknya mendirikan pagar pembatas dari bambu dan ditutupi kain terpal berwarna biru. "Serentak beberapa warga masyarakat Kelurahan Tambak Wedi mengerumuni hiu temuan kami," katanya.
Mukran, nelayan di Kelurahan Tambak Wedi yang ikut membantu menarik ikan itu, menambahkan, penemuan hiu itu merupakan kejadian pertama di kampungnya.
Sementara, masyarakat yang ingin melihat bentuk fisik ikan itu dikenakan tiket masuk Rp 2.000,00 per orang. "Namun, bagi pengunjung usia anak-anak, kami mengenakan biaya Rp 1.000,00 per orang. Sejak ditepikan kemarin hingga hari ini, ada ratusan pengunjung yang penasaran dengan hiu tutul itu," katanya.
Pemberlakuan tiket itu, kata dia, dialokasikan untuk membayar parkir kendaraan dan mengganti bahan bakar minyak (BBM) yang dikeluarkan saat menarik ikan itu. "Saat menarik anak hiu tersebut, kami menghabiskan Rp 35.000,00 atau sekitar tujuh liter solar," katanya.
Selain itu, ia melanjutkan, uang yang terkumpul dari tiket masuk yang dibayarkan pengunjung akan dimasukkan ke kas Koperasi Nelayan Cumi-cumi RW II Kelurahan Tambak Wedi Surabaya. "Di sisi lain, apabila ikannya sudah berbau busuk kami akan membuangnya ke laut. Kemungkinan pekan depan akan kami kembali ke laut," katanya.
Sebelumnya, pengelola koperasi nelayan yang tak jauh dari Koperasi Nelayan Cumi-cumi, telah tiga kali menemukan hiu serupa. Mereka mengaku, sejumlah ikan tersebut kerap muncul menjelang datangnya musim "ketigo" (musim kemarau dalam bahasa Jawa) seperti saat ini. "Saat itu, mereka akan muncul berkoloni dan melintas di perairan ini. Selain hiu tutul, banyak jenis dan ukuran beragam yang sering terlihat oleh para nelayan, semisal hiu hijau dan hiu biru," katanya.
sumber: by Pinky.Ngomers October 3rd, 2009, 18:34
Sabtu, 19 September 2009
A Humback Whale Standed in Pasanggran Beach Tasikmalaya
People of Cipatujah District pasanggrahan, Tasikmalaya in West Java was startled by a stranded giant whale(14/09). Reported on the blog "taselamedia".
Mammals are 11.75 meters long by 4 meters in diameter of belly was estimated weighed 4 tons and the estimated stranded at 03.00 AM in the morning. From the observation characteristics are humpback whale whale (Megaptera novaeangliae)
According to the district head Najmudin Cipatujah SIP Azis said the company has coordinated with related agencies including the Office of Marine and Fisheries and Tourism Department of Tasikmalaya to decide whether the mammal will be consumed or buried.
Based on the results of the study while the pope is usually consume, but only found stranded on the side waiting for this Cipatujah investigation teams from the district veterinarian. "When based on the results of research team of doctors, this fish for the consumption allowed, communities are allowed to take the meat," Azis said.
Giant whales became public spectacle that comes not only from Cipatujah its self, but from CIKALONG, Bantarkalong, KARANGNUNGGAL even from Tasikmalaya town. Not enough to see it, this whale became seizure of all people. With simple tools like machetes and knives, they chop up and cut it up into pieces
Prior allowed him to pieces, the Muspika also briefly held a small meeting. Attended by the health center and Head of Animal Husbandry, Fisheries, and Marine Tasikmalaya Regency, Ir Maman Dali SP. It said the meeting's purpose, to make sure conditions are safe to eat fish residents. The meeting also decided that the fish is safe. As commanded it, people went straight to snatch pieces.
It took long enough to make it really was left out. 12 hours. Asep (40) Sarakan villagers Village / Sub Taselamedia Cipatujah to confess, go fight the fish meat. "Delicious. Delicious unusual because many contain oil. It feels like beef or chicken broilers. not putrid taste at all, "she said. For the handyman like him, really windfall. You see, countless rarely get the special menu. And to make it special, Asep using jerky seasonings such as garlic, onion, coriander, galangal, palm sugar and salt. He believes, "Dendeng Pope" it could stand for the menu next Lebaran Idul Fitri.
a stranded whales in the waters Tasela yesterday, may be a rare phenomenon. By the pope is the pope called the dragon. Public knowledge about whales and dolphins are still lacking. The simplest thing is the assumption that the whales or dolphins are classified as mammals, are still often equated with the fish. Another important thing is how the key actions / events handling these giant mammals terdamparnya.
Putu Liza, a marine mammal researchers say that whales and dolphins (order Cetacean) across the sea (and also the river) with sonar navigation. "If there is interference with their sonar, they can stray. Earthquakes can also make noise sonar, like what happened in Tasmania Australia in early January of this year "he said as reported in these blogs.
He added that many beached whales recorded around the time the sun spots (sun spots) are many. "Usually about 11 years time" he said. There is also a tendency when there is a natural disturbance (sun spots or earthquake), will cause the number of whales that stranded many / groups. "The possibility of stranded whales in Tasikmalaya is possible because of illness, or other navigation problems" says the researcher who is completing research on dolphin dolphins in Australia.
Source: taselamedia
PAUS HUMBAC TERDAMPAR DI TASIKMALAYA
Masyarakat pesisir pantai Pasanggrahan Kecamatan Cipatujah, Tasikmalaya Jawa Barat dikejutkan dengan terdamparnya seekor paus raksasa (14/09). Demikian dilaporkan di blog “taselamedia”.
Mamalia yang memiliki panjang 11,75 meter dengan perut berdiameter 4 meter ini diperkirakan berbobot 4 ton dan perkiraan terdampar pada pukul 03.00 WIB dini hari. Dari pengamatan ciri-ciri paus ini adalah humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae)
Menurut camat Cipatujah Najmudin Azis SIP, pihaknya sudah berkoordinasi dengan dinas terkait diantaranya Dinas Kelautan dan Perikanan serta Dinas Pariwisata Kabupaten Tasikmalaya untuk memutuskan apakah mamalia tersebut akan dikonsumsi atau di kuburkan.
Berdasarkan hasil penelitian sementara paus tersebut biasa dikonsumsi, hanya saja untuk yang ditemukan terdampar di Cipatujah ini pihaknya menunggu hasil pemeriksaan tim dokter hewan dari kabupaten. “ Nanti kalau berdasarkan hasil penelitian tim dokter , ikan ini layakl untuk di konsumsi, masyarakat sekitar diperbolehkan untuk mengambil dagingnya”, ujar Azis.
Paus raksasa tersebut menjadi tontonan masyarakat yang datang bukan hanya dari Cipatujah saja, melainkan dari Cikalong, Bantarkalong, Karangnunggal bahkan dari kota Tasikmalaya. Tak cukup melihatnya, paus ini justru menjadi rebutan semua orang. Dengan peralatan sederhana seperti golok dan pisau, mereka mencincang dan memotong-motongnya berkeping-keping
Sebelum diperbolehkan mencincangnya, pihak Muspika juga sempat menggelar rapat kecil. Dihadiri oleh pihak Puskesmas dan Kadis Peternakan, Perikanan, dan Kelautan Kabupaten Tasikmalaya, Ir Maman Dali SP. Tujuan rapat itu katanya, untuk memastikan kondisi ikan tersebut aman dikonsumsi warga. Rapat pun memutuskan ikan tersebut aman. Seperti dikomando saja, warga pun langsung berebut mencincangnya.
Butuh waktu cukup lama untuk membuatnya benar-benar habis tak tersisa. 12 jam. Asep (40) warga kampung Sarakan Desa/Kecamatan Cipatujah kepada Taselamedia mengaku, ikut berebut daging ikan tersebut. “Enak. Lezatnya luar biasa karena banyak mengandung minyak. Rasanya mirip daging sapi atau ayam broiler. Sama sekali enggak bau kok,”katanya. Bagi bagi buruh serabutan seperti dirinya,benar-benar rezeki nomplok. Soalnya, terhitung jarang sekali mendapatkan menu istimewa tersebut. Dan untuk membuatnya jadi istimewa, Asep menggunakan bumbu dendeng seperti bawang putih, bawang merah, ketumbar, lengkuas, gula merah dan garam. Dia yakin, “Dendeng Paus”nya bisa tahan untuk menu Lebaran Idul Fitri mendatang.
Terdamparnya paus di perairan Tasela kemarin, boleh jadi sebuah fenomena langka. Oleh masyarakat paus ini disebut paus naga. Pengetahuan masyarakat tentang paus maupun lumba-lumba memang masih sangat kurang. Hal paling sederhana adalah anggapan bahwa paus atau lumba-lumba yang tergolong mamalia ini, masih sering disamakan dengan ikan. Hal penting lainnya yang utama ialah bagaimana tindakan/penanganan kejadian terdamparnya mamalia raksasa ini.
Putu Liza, seorang peneliti mamalia laut ini menyebutkan bahwa paus dan lumba-lumba (ordo Cetacean) mengarungi lautan (dan sungai2 juga) dengan navigasi sonar. “Jika ada gangguan terhadap sonar mereka, mereka bisa nyasar. Gempa bumi bisa juga membuat gangguan sonar, seperti yang terjadi di Tasmania Australia awal Januari tahun ini” katanya seperti dilaporkan dalam blog tersebut.
Ia menambahkan bahwa banyak paus yang tercatat terdampar di sekitar saat bintik matahari (sun spots) sedang banyak. “Biasanya sekitar 11 tahunan sekali” katanya. Ada pula kecenderungan bila terjadi gangguan alami (sun spot atau gempa), akan menyebabkan jumlah paus yang terdampar banyak/kelompok .” Kemungkinan paus yang terdampar di Tasikmalaya ini mungkin karena sakit, atau gangguan navigasi lainnya” kata peneliti yang sedang menyelesaikan penelitian tentang lumba-lumba di Australia ini.
Sumber dan foto : http://taselamedia.wordpress.com
Rabu, 16 September 2009
THE INDONESIA GOVERNMENT GAVE PERMISSION WHALE HUNT
Whaling traditionally made by fishermen Lamalera Lembata Island, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), still allowed by the government, despite the Savu Sea was designated as National Park waters for marine mammals. This statement was made Director of Conservation and Marine National Park, the Director General of Marine and Coastal Small Islands Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, Agus Dermawan in Kupang on Monday (June, 29).
He said, Savu Sea water conservation is not merely to preserve the content of these marine areas, but also for the protection and utilization by giving space to all fishermen to conduct activities in the Savu Sea.
However, Agus continued, the government will determine the specific areas in the waters of the Savu Sea as an area closed to fishing activities or other activities, particularly in the area as a place to lay their eggs and developing marine biota biaknya types, including whales.
"This area we will decide together with the involvement of all elements of society and related elements, because it is where the herd of spawning and growing into adults, so in the future we could both take care of," said Agus.
Source: MATA NEWS.com
DEAD BLUE WHALE HUNTED IN LHOKSEUMAWE ACEH
Stomach contents and Fin Taken.
LHOKSEUMAWE. A whale was found dead afterstranded in the coast Pusong, District Banda Sakti, Lhokseumawe. Fishermen suspected whale that died were killed by poachers, This was proven because entrails and fins are cutted.
The weight of this fish is estimated at two tons with a length of 8 meters. Some fishermen claimed, never saw a ship without a flag identity throwing tens of dead whales in waters off line approximately one dozen miles from the coast Pusong, Lhokseumawe. The fish were probably caught at sea, then take the contents of her stomach, among others, liver, lungs, heart and fins to be made of whale oil.
Blue Whale carcass known as Balaenoptera musculus, in a marine mammal belonging to the Baleen Whale. "It is estimated that the whale had been dead four days ago. But until yesterday afternoon washed up on the coast. thats Why was not pleasant aroma. Fishermab try to taken out to sea ," said Rasyidin (34) local fishermen to Metro Aceh, Friday (3 / 7).
In the meantime, he said, for local fishermen unlawful killing of a whale, because it can not be consumed. In addition, this type of rare creatur into the waters of Aceh, even if there are certain that stray like that ever happened in Lancok coast, Sub Blang Mangat, Lhokseumawe, a few months ago. At that time, the herd numbered seven blue whales beached fish shallow local villages. "However, we save the Water Police officers assisted to carry out to sea," he admitted.
From observations at in teh field, in addition to spreading the smell was delicious, the big whale belly like sliced lengthwise. In addition, the contents of her stomach had been taken, then two fins also looked broken. At the location of the children and parents look cool watching that rare fish species. The average of those admitted was curious after hearing the information there is a beached whale in Pusong. (mag-28)
Source: Rakyat Aceh.com
Selasa, 15 September 2009
GREEN GROUPS URGES OIL SPILL ACTION
An environmental action group says the delay in cleaning up an oil spill off Australia's north-west coast shows the shortcomings in the Federal Government's emergency planning for oil spills at sea.
But the Government say the spill, at the West Atlas mobile offshore drilling unit in the Timor sea, is smaller than first thought.
The incident occurred early Friday morning and 69 workers were evacuated from the site when oil and gas began leaking from the rig.
The slick is 14 kilometres long and 30 metres wide and is about 100 kilometres off the Western Australia coast.
Authorities on Saturday declared a 37-kilometre exclusion zone around the rig, which is owned by Norwegian company Seadrill and operated by Thai-based PTTEP Australasia.
John Dee from the environmental action group Do Something says urgent steps need to be taken.
"This is a particularly pristine marine environment and that's what makes this spill so concerning," he said.
"It's teeming with baby turtles at this time of year, it's a migratory whale route, and of course we need to make sure that this spill is contained because the Ashmore Reef is just 150 kilometres away.
"That's why the Government needs to make sure all efforts are made to ensure it's cleaned up as soon as possible."
Resources and Energy Minister Martin Ferguson says the slick is beginning to evaporate naturally and chemical dispersants will be used to speed up that process.
He has told Channel 10 that it poses no threat to the Australian coastline.
"The oil spill is not as big as first thought. It's in the Montara [oil] field," he said.
"The Australian Maritime Safety Authority is on the job. They're in charge of the clean-up and the company itself has flown in the necessary technical advice to work out how they cap the developed well as quickly as possible."
Size assessment
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority says a search and rescue aircraft has just left Darwin to assess whether an oil slick off the Western Australian coast has grown overnight.
The Authority's Tracey Jiggins says a plane was sent out this morning to assess the situation, but it is expected the spill has stayed the same size.
She says a Hercules aircraft carrying chemicals to start dispersing the oil spill has also just left Darwin.
"What they'll do is they'll go out and assess the situation all the safety measurements and things will be put in place to make sure it's safe to go," she said.
"Our information is that the slick has remained quite constant. It appears to be evaporating at the same rate as it's leaking.
"We don't expect that will have changed overnight but we'll have to wait until those aircraft get on scene and feed back information about how it's going this morning."
She says a decision will then be made on how much chemical will be sprayed, with the aircraft allowed to fly within two nautical miles of the rig.
Jose Martins from PTTEP Australasia says any environmental impact will be minimal.
"The oil is dispersing very quickly, so the rate of dispersement [sic] is quite quick," he said.
"Therefore there's no visible endangerment to any wildlife at this stage, and it's quite far from any land. It is a remote location."
Fix 'could take days'
He says a group of experts is trying to work out how to fix the leak.
"Until we can get a proper report ... only then we can tell you what the next stage is and how long this will take to repair," he said.
Mr Martins says the leaking gas poses a major fire risk, making it difficult for anyone to access the site.
"We have engaged international experts and they will be given whatever resources they need to bring the situation under control," he said.
Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/
HUMBACK WHALE DIES IN THAMES
A 28ft (9.5m) humpback whale was found dead in the River Thames near the Dartford Bridge to the east of London early on Saturday morning.
Scientists from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and members of British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) received reports that a whale had been spotted in the Thames on Thursday afternoon, but no further sightings were made until the animal was found dead on Saturday and subsequently recovered by a Port of London Authority (PLA) patrol boat. A post-mortem examination of the juvenile male humpback whale has been conducted.
Rob Deaville, project manager of the UK Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme said “Preliminary results from the post-mortem examination indicate that it may have died as a result of starvation, but further tests are still pending and may provide additional information about what happened to this whale”.
This is the first time that a humpback whale has been found in the Thames. The last humpback whale found stranded around the UK coast line was in 2007 at Port Talbot in Wales.
There have only been 12 strandings of humpback whales in the UK in the last 20 years,
Source ZSL and Kent on Line
Source: http://www.wdcs.org/news_protect.php?select=458
Scientists from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and members of British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) received reports that a whale had been spotted in the Thames on Thursday afternoon, but no further sightings were made until the animal was found dead on Saturday and subsequently recovered by a Port of London Authority (PLA) patrol boat. A post-mortem examination of the juvenile male humpback whale has been conducted.
Rob Deaville, project manager of the UK Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme said “Preliminary results from the post-mortem examination indicate that it may have died as a result of starvation, but further tests are still pending and may provide additional information about what happened to this whale”.
This is the first time that a humpback whale has been found in the Thames. The last humpback whale found stranded around the UK coast line was in 2007 at Port Talbot in Wales.
There have only been 12 strandings of humpback whales in the UK in the last 20 years,
Source ZSL and Kent on Line
Source: http://www.wdcs.org/news_protect.php?select=458
Selasa, 01 September 2009
Dolphin, Humans Share Similar Brain Size
Dolphin, Humans Share Similar Brain Size, Scientists say
Dolphins recognize themselves in mirrors, communicate in symbols
Scientists have determined how brain size has changed in dolphins and their relatives over 47 million years and have found that human and dolphin brain size is similar, according to an October 27 National Science Foundation (NSF) press release.
Dolphin brains are four to five times larger than would be expected for their body size when compared to the average brain size for animals of a similar size. In humans, the measure is seven times larger.
Results of the NSF-funded research were published online this week in the journal The Anatomical Record.
"Essentially, the brains of primates and cetaceans arrived at the same cognitive space while evolving along different paths," said Lori Marino of Emory University in Atlanta. "What the data say to me is that we, as humans, are not that special. Although we are highly encephalized [have large brains], it's not by much compared with cetaceans." Whales, dolphins and porpoises belong to a group of mammals known scientifically as cetaceans.
Dolphins have shown behavioral abilities ascribed in the past only to humans and great apes. The abilities include mirror self-recognition; comprehending artificial, symbol-based communication systems and abstract concepts; and learning and transmitting behaviors described as cultural from one generation to another.
Dolphins' large brains likely enable these capabilities, Marino said.
The study was also funded by the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute in California, a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to scientific research, education and public outreach.
Text of the NSF press release follows:
(begin text)
National Science Foundation
Press release, October 27, 2004
Read more: http://www.america.gov/st/washfile-english/2004/October/20041028134023lcnirellep5.062503e-02.html#ixzz0PvGlnJUS
Dolphins recognize themselves in mirrors, communicate in symbols
Scientists have determined how brain size has changed in dolphins and their relatives over 47 million years and have found that human and dolphin brain size is similar, according to an October 27 National Science Foundation (NSF) press release.
Dolphin brains are four to five times larger than would be expected for their body size when compared to the average brain size for animals of a similar size. In humans, the measure is seven times larger.
Results of the NSF-funded research were published online this week in the journal The Anatomical Record.
"Essentially, the brains of primates and cetaceans arrived at the same cognitive space while evolving along different paths," said Lori Marino of Emory University in Atlanta. "What the data say to me is that we, as humans, are not that special. Although we are highly encephalized [have large brains], it's not by much compared with cetaceans." Whales, dolphins and porpoises belong to a group of mammals known scientifically as cetaceans.
Dolphins have shown behavioral abilities ascribed in the past only to humans and great apes. The abilities include mirror self-recognition; comprehending artificial, symbol-based communication systems and abstract concepts; and learning and transmitting behaviors described as cultural from one generation to another.
Dolphins' large brains likely enable these capabilities, Marino said.
The study was also funded by the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute in California, a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to scientific research, education and public outreach.
Text of the NSF press release follows:
(begin text)
National Science Foundation
Press release, October 27, 2004
Read more: http://www.america.gov/st/washfile-english/2004/October/20041028134023lcnirellep5.062503e-02.html#ixzz0PvGlnJUS
Sabtu, 29 Agustus 2009
Secret film will expose Japan's brutality
FILM MAKERS OUTSMART DOLPHIN KILLERS: SECRET FILM WILL EXPOSE JAPAN'S BRUTALITY
Powered by CDNN - CYBER DIVER News Network
by BOYD HARNELL
Japan's dolphin slaughters
Japanese fishermen drag still living dolphins over the pavement by truck to slaughterhouse facilities where they brutally kill the animals in cruel rituals of sadistic violence celebrated by Japan's racist, anti-western ultranationalist extremists.
TAIJI, Japan (3 Apr 2008) — For the first time ever, graphic feature-length footage of the annual slaughter of some 2,500 dolphins in Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture, has been captured during a unique yearlong covert operation.
The secret filming by members of the U.S. conservation group Oceanic Preservation Society (OPS) — equipped with state-of-the-art technology and financed to the tune of $5 million by Netscape founder Jim Clark — is being turned into a major documentary feature film destined for worldwide release this summer (although distribution in Japan is at present not certain).
The story of how this film of the barbaric killing and subsequent butchering of dolphins was made — together with the resulting sale of their meat that massively exceeds Japanese and international limits for mercury content — is told here, exclusively, for the first time anywhere in print.
The footage of the annual seven-month dolphin "drive fisheries" (as they are known in Japan), and of the brutal practices involved in them — as well as the complicity in the killings by various dolphin trainers and officials from Taiji Whale Museum — is sure to shock the world. But whether Japanese people themselves will be able to see the film and arrive at their own conclusions is still by no means certain.
The annual dolphin slaughter at Taiji, a town with a population of some 3,500 in the beautiful Yoshino Kumano Kokuritsu Koen national park, follows a regular pattern.
First, hunter boats from the Taiji Isana Union (numbering at most 13 skiffs, with two crewmen each) head out to sea and surround pods of dolphins or pilot whales (which are actually large dolphins). Then they drive them into a "capture cove" by banging on long metal bell-ended poles placed in the water to disrupt the dolphins' sonar, causing them to become completely disorientated and panic.
After these animals have spent a night supposedly relaxing in the netted-off capture cove (in an attempt by the whalers to make their meat more tender), they are driven to the neighboring "killing cove." There, behind huge blue tarps strung across the cove to keep prying eyes away — in much the same way that Japanese police cordon off crime scenes — the dolphins meet their gruesome predawn end.
It is a gory spectacle that Taiji has long striven to keep anyone from seeing — and one that is crucially fueled by the lucrative, worldwide dolphin captivity and display industry. Aquarium operators, some of whom have claimed to be saving dolphins' lives by selecting a few as performers, pay up to $150,000 per animal.
The brutal selection process, though — as shown in the OPS footage — causes many of these highly intelligent marine mammals to die of shock or drown.
Meanwhile, cruelty apart, the government-sanctioned slaughter is widely condemned by Japanese scientists, activists and a few Taiji officials, who all cite the serious health issues related to consumption of the dolphins' mercury-tainted meat.
One of the officials OPS filmed was Taiji City Councilman Junichiro Yamashita, who organized certified tests on local dolphin meat bought from retail outlets in the town. The shocking test results revealed mercury and methylmercury levels that were 30 and 16 times, respectively, above advisory levels set by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry. As a result, Yamashita hastily distributed newsletters to Taiji residents warning them to avoid consuming the meat — which he called "toxic waste."
Although a massive blackout of this long-standing butchery of small cetaceans is aided by an apparent self-imposed boycott of the subject by Japan's vernacular and other English-language media, this newspaper has published a 2 1/2-year-long series of exposes that have won it two international press awards from the Humane Society of the United States.
Now, though, the focus is on the meticulously planned $2.5-million covert operation — the cost of which is estimated to double by the time of the film's projected release in June.
From their base in Boulder, Colorado, the OPS group made six trips to Wakayama Prefecture, where they were constantly followed by local police and stalked and harassed by Taiji "whalers." Despite this, their mission was successful. Their high-tech film gear was covertly inserted in the "killing cove" and extracted 16 times thanks to the efforts of the film's assistant director, Charles Hambleton, and three members of the OPS team. Their hidden, high-definition (HD) cameras successfully recorded the horror that unfolded behind Taiji's blue tarps. And what they saw was beyond their belief.
Captured dolphins were filmed writhing in pain as Taiji whalers speared them repeatedly or cracked their spines with spiked weapons. Stricken dolphins are also shown thrashing about wildly, blood pouring from their wounds until they finally succumbed. Meanwhile, a number of dolphin trainers and officials from the Taiji Whale Museum are shown cooperating in the slaughter — some even laughing — as the killing cove's bloodied, ruby-red water swept round into the adjacent capture cove.
But perhaps the most iconic scene is one in which a baby dolphin leaps to its death on the rocks after its mother is killed. This really was a surreal and incredibly sad sight to see.
OPS team leader Louie Psihoyos, a world-renowned photographer formerly with National Geographic Magazine, and members of his group, conducted the extraordinary covert operation with the daring elan and minute precision of a military-style, special-forces mission.
With funding from billionaire conservationist Clark, the team was able to use the most sophisticated equipment money could buy. Among their weapons of choice were a battery of HD cameras. Some of those cameras were encased in fake rocks sculpted out of high-density foam by movie-model makers with Kerner Optical (formerly George "Star Wars" Lucas' Industrial Light and Magic Shop). These disguised cameras were strat- egically positioned inside the killing cove.
Also included in the formidable lineup of high-tech gear for this covert operation were standard-size HD cameras, $50,000 military-grade HD forward-looking infrared (FLIR) P-645 thermal cameras (to detect anyone the whalers had on lookout); hydrophones and HD underwater cameras (to record the dolphins' underwater throes); unmanned gyro-stabilized helicopters; a number of "shotgun" microphones disguised as tree branches; walkie-talkies; and a host of ancillary equipment.
The mission objective was to produce a well-balanced, full-length documentary feature for general worldwide release encompassing all facets of the Taiji dolphin cull and its health risks.
"We succeeded," Psihoyos said, "but we also came back with an epic horror film resembling a Steven King novel more than a documentary."
Psihoyos emphasized that the film is neither anti-Japanese nor a "Japan-bashing" production.
In fact, the whole OPS Taiji odyssey (with backing from Clark) began in the winter of 2006. Then, Psihoyos says, "My assistant director, Charles Hambleton, and I had a seven-hour meeting at the mayor's office with Taiji town officials about making a movie of their town.
"An official, who represented Mayor Kazutaka Sangen, said they were concerned about Westerners showing blood in the cove — that it gave the town an evil look."
Psihoyos says he told the officials he would not show blood in his film — if they allowed him to position two cameras at the entrance to the cove and to interview the whalers. After mulling it over, though, both officials and whalers cut off contact with Psihoyos and denied him permission to film near the cove. As well, they demanded that he should restrict footage showing blood — apparently fearful that barbarous images may lead to their drive hunts being banned.
In this volatile atmosphere, local police warned the whalers and their supporters off any repeat of violence or threats of violence such as had happened before. In fact, Nigel Barker, a former Australian resident in Taiji, says he was threatened with bodily harm for providing The Japan Times with details of the whalers' brutal methods. In another incident, Psihoyos said he, too, was threatened by whalers, who said, "We will kill you."
Amazingly, though, after their talks broke down and the OPS people were leaving their final meeting with Taiji town officials, they were given a detailed map of Taiji, red-lining areas where filming was restricted. This map became a precious tool for planning the group's covert ops over the next year.
Now the gloves were off. No agreement had been made with the officials and Psihoyos immediately planned a thorough reconnaissance of the Taiji area. Precise vantage points were selected to position their cameras. Several camouflaged camera blinds were set up on the headland adjacent to the Whale Museum that overlooks the killing cove. But their major challenge was figuring out how to insert and extract their "rock cameras," underwater cameras, hydrophones and hidden microphones without being detected.
Psihoyos contacted Ric O'Barry, who captured and trained dolphins for the 1960s TV series "Flipper," asking for his help in detailing the whalers' routine during drive hunts.
O'Barry, head of the international Save Japan Dolphins coalition, had monitored the drives in Taiji for more than five years, and he agreed to be the point man for OPS. O'Barry was already hated by the whalers for his activities, including bringing the media to Taiji to film the brutal drives. In fact, he tells how whalers greet him with throat-cutting gestures when they see him there.
Following O'Barry's advice, the OPS group implemented their high-risk strategy for filming the covert mission. As the two headlands overlooking the killing cove were constantly monitored by whalers, members faced the loss of expensive gear and possible arrest. That was despite Japanese attorneys telling them that the legality of blocking access to a national park was questionable. They said, though, that police "made up their own rules" in enforcing the blockade.
The OPS group was headquartered in hotel rooms in the area, where their missions were planned and piles of pricey equipment occupied most of the space. Two vans were rented to haul their weighty gear to their target locations. Another small, unobtrusive rental car driven by OPS member Joe Chisholm was used for scouting — mostly for monitoring the Taiji harbor area to check if drive boats were out. Chisholm also kept an eye on the roads to detect whether police were following the group. Altogether, the incredible challenges of making this film elevated it to a major undertaking on a scale never before attempted.
Throughout this buildup period, drive fisheries were being conducted during daylight. If the whalers were successful, captured dolphins would be trapped in the holding cove sealed off with nets. Before daybreak the next day, men in motorboats would herd the panicked animals into the killing cove of no return.
The horror of the dolphins' final moments there were recorded not only by the "rock cameras" above the waterline, but also from below by using underwater microphones and an underwater "blood-cam" HD camera devised by OPS high-tech guru Simon Hutchins, which yielded graphic footage of the sea slowly turning red as the killings continued.
To make this possible, OPS called on Mandy-Rae Cruickshank, a seven-time world free-diving champion, and her famed coach and husband, Kirk Krack, to plant the devices. (Cruikshank recently broke her own world record by free-diving down to 88 meters and back in 2 min. 48 sec.) Both eagerly accepted the risky challenge.
"Good to go Mandy," crackled through the two-way. It was 3 a.m. The OPS support group on land had just completed a thermal-imaging sweep of the capture and killing coves. No security was detected. As the OPS van dropped the two off above the holding cove's small beach, and sped away, the free-diving pair, clad in wet suits, entered the water. The moon was full, helping them to see obstacles.
"Tensions were high . . . we had to get around a barbed-wire fence and hike down over some boulders to get into the water," Mandy said. "Then we swam around to the killing cove. It was about 40 feet (12 meters) deep. We had an underwater camera and hydrophone, and we used a flashlight to get a reference point so we knew where to retrieve them from after we made a reconnaissance, but we had to turn it on and off quickly to escape detection. Then Kirk and I put down the devices fairly easily."
On their return to the beach in the holding cove, Cruickshank said, "We saw a car going into the parking lot, so we hid in bushes until they left and then we waited for the van to pick us up."
Before that mission and again afterward, she said, "We were constantly monitored by police."
A few days later, Cruikshank said that from that same beach in the capture cove they saw a pod of 40 herded round to the killing cove, where the slaughter began. "They had separated the babies, some only as big as my arm, and then the emerald water in front of us began to turn red and you could hear the dolphins screaming. One stabbed dolphin tried to escape, and it made it over two nets from the killing cove and was heading toward the beach in the capture cove with blood streaming from it. We saw the last two breaths it took — it was impossible not to cry.
"The babies were led out to sea and were either killed or set free to die of starvation," she said.
Meanwhile, Psihoyos' team was embedded in their camera blinds on overlooking hillsides, sometimes for as long as 17 hours a day. Dressed in full camouflage gear and wearing face paint, they looked like military sniper teams. Black masking tape covered reflective surfaces on their cameras to avoid detection. For over 3 1/2 weeks, the OPS team survived on a daily ration of 3 hours' sleep. When filming from the camera blinds, they subsisted on energy bars and water. Whaler security men, always wary of outsiders monitoring their hunts, constantly scanned the high terrain, the bushes and undergrowth surrounding the two coves, their flashlights searching for intruders.
Psihoyos recounted his attempt in setting up the initial camera blind in a spot overlooking the killing cove.
"It was a moonless night and I had a full-size def (HD) camera in tow with a large tripod. I scaled a cliff and descended on a rope and perched on a shelf as big as an average office desk — but at a slope of about 30 degrees.
"I braced my feet against a small tree and didn't move them for the next 15 1/2 hours," he said, adding, "the lagoon was filled with pilot whales — they made a protective circle around their young. I shot frantic clips from my unstable perch as I saw whales killed and dragged away."
Reacting to these brutal scenes, Psihoyos recalled thinking, "If there's a god, don't let their lives be wasted in vain."
Originally, OPS's hidden rock cameras focused on the killing cove from surrounding headlands could only film for three hours, but a high-tech piece of kit they acquired "turbocharged" the batteries to allow them to film for 11 hours continuously, ensuring they would capture all facets of the cull.
The hidden microphones revealed startling comments from whalers in the killing cove, including one during the cleanup after a killing session, when a dead calf was on the beach in the killing cove. Countering the whalers' contention they never harmed a mother or its calf, one was heard saying: "Hey, that guy over there saw the dead calf, didn't he? Is it a problem?" His friend responded, "He came from the [whalers'] union — it's not a problem."
Indeed, contrary to their statements, the Taiji whalers seem unconcerned about killing female dolphins and their calves — as is graphically depicted in one of the film's sequences.
However, along with the film's horrific images, Psihoyos also interviews on camera Japanese scientists and others involved in the mercury health issues surrounding dolphin meat.
Dr. Shigeo Ekino, a prominent researcher from Kumamoto University's Graduate School of Medical Sciences in Kyushu, compared the high mercury levels found in contaminated fish in Minamata, Japan, in the 1950s during the world's worst mercury-pollution disaster, to levels of mercury currently found in dolphin meat.
Ekino, who was filmed holding a tested sample of Taiji dolphin meat, said: "This dolphin meat is 98.9 ppm (parts per million of total mercury) — which is higher than the level (of the fish and shellfish) in Minamata Bay. It's a clear danger!"
His sample was 247.25 times the Japanese health ministry's advisory level of 0.4 ppm for total mercury.
Tetsuya Endo, a professor at Hokkaido's Health Science University, also conducted mercury tests on dolphin meat, and his results were published in 2005. In a filmed OPS interview, he said: "I found 100 ppm of total mercury in . . . bottlenose dolphin and 2,000 ppm of total mercury in the liver of an unknown (dolphin) species. All of it was toxic." In fact, the higher figure was 5,000 times the health ministry's advisory level for mercury.
In another OPS interview, Psihoyos asked Hideki Moronuki, deputy director of the Far Seas Fisheries Division of the central government's Fisheries Agency, "How are the dolphins killed now? . . . and are the dolphins being dragged around by their tails during the selection process for captive specimens?"
Moronuki is filmed replying, "Fishermen are using specifically made knife (sic), and put it through the spine . . . most of the animals are killed instantly." As for allegations of them being dragged by their tails, he says, "That's not happening anymore."
When Psihoyos showed Moronuki a film clip of the inhumane, random spearing of dolphins while others were dragged by their tails — all filmed recently — he froze and told Psihoyos: "I have to instruct them again. They are using inappropriate method to treat dolphin."
At Psihoyos' request, Moronuki gave him a hair sample to be tested for mercury. The result: a readout of 5.874 ppm of total mercury, which is 14.68 times the health ministry's advisory level.
Moronuki's response was peculiar: "I was very happier to know that I have eaten so much fish which make me much healthier than meat-eating peoples."
Another dramatic highlight of the footage shows a surfer invasion in Taiji last October led by legendary Australian pro surfer Dave Rastovich, along with a few TV celebrities and some surfer buddies. They paddled into the cove where dolphins were being slaughtered and formed a prayer circle. Shocked by the atrocity, they finally retreated when whalers in skiffs came and prodded them with poles and sharp-hooked gaffs.
Producers of the OPS documentary are aiming for a worldwide release in June, including a special Japanese version creatively marketed and circulated to ensure maximum viewing even if major distributors turn it down. The film's narrator will be an actor selected from Hollywood's "A list," they said.
Referring to his hopes the film will benefit the dolphins, Psihoyos said: "Dolphins are the only wild animals known to rescue humans. With this film, we'd like to come to their rescue and, in the process, save ourselves."
Pointedly, just months before the surfers went into the killing cove at Taiji, their leader Dave Rastovich had survived a shark attack in Australia when a dolphin swam between him and the shark and allowed him to escape.
SOURCE - The Japan Times
(http://www.cdnn.info/news/eco/e080403a.html)
Powered by CDNN - CYBER DIVER News Network
by BOYD HARNELL
Japan's dolphin slaughters
Japanese fishermen drag still living dolphins over the pavement by truck to slaughterhouse facilities where they brutally kill the animals in cruel rituals of sadistic violence celebrated by Japan's racist, anti-western ultranationalist extremists.
TAIJI, Japan (3 Apr 2008) — For the first time ever, graphic feature-length footage of the annual slaughter of some 2,500 dolphins in Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture, has been captured during a unique yearlong covert operation.
The secret filming by members of the U.S. conservation group Oceanic Preservation Society (OPS) — equipped with state-of-the-art technology and financed to the tune of $5 million by Netscape founder Jim Clark — is being turned into a major documentary feature film destined for worldwide release this summer (although distribution in Japan is at present not certain).
The story of how this film of the barbaric killing and subsequent butchering of dolphins was made — together with the resulting sale of their meat that massively exceeds Japanese and international limits for mercury content — is told here, exclusively, for the first time anywhere in print.
The footage of the annual seven-month dolphin "drive fisheries" (as they are known in Japan), and of the brutal practices involved in them — as well as the complicity in the killings by various dolphin trainers and officials from Taiji Whale Museum — is sure to shock the world. But whether Japanese people themselves will be able to see the film and arrive at their own conclusions is still by no means certain.
The annual dolphin slaughter at Taiji, a town with a population of some 3,500 in the beautiful Yoshino Kumano Kokuritsu Koen national park, follows a regular pattern.
First, hunter boats from the Taiji Isana Union (numbering at most 13 skiffs, with two crewmen each) head out to sea and surround pods of dolphins or pilot whales (which are actually large dolphins). Then they drive them into a "capture cove" by banging on long metal bell-ended poles placed in the water to disrupt the dolphins' sonar, causing them to become completely disorientated and panic.
After these animals have spent a night supposedly relaxing in the netted-off capture cove (in an attempt by the whalers to make their meat more tender), they are driven to the neighboring "killing cove." There, behind huge blue tarps strung across the cove to keep prying eyes away — in much the same way that Japanese police cordon off crime scenes — the dolphins meet their gruesome predawn end.
It is a gory spectacle that Taiji has long striven to keep anyone from seeing — and one that is crucially fueled by the lucrative, worldwide dolphin captivity and display industry. Aquarium operators, some of whom have claimed to be saving dolphins' lives by selecting a few as performers, pay up to $150,000 per animal.
The brutal selection process, though — as shown in the OPS footage — causes many of these highly intelligent marine mammals to die of shock or drown.
Meanwhile, cruelty apart, the government-sanctioned slaughter is widely condemned by Japanese scientists, activists and a few Taiji officials, who all cite the serious health issues related to consumption of the dolphins' mercury-tainted meat.
One of the officials OPS filmed was Taiji City Councilman Junichiro Yamashita, who organized certified tests on local dolphin meat bought from retail outlets in the town. The shocking test results revealed mercury and methylmercury levels that were 30 and 16 times, respectively, above advisory levels set by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry. As a result, Yamashita hastily distributed newsletters to Taiji residents warning them to avoid consuming the meat — which he called "toxic waste."
Although a massive blackout of this long-standing butchery of small cetaceans is aided by an apparent self-imposed boycott of the subject by Japan's vernacular and other English-language media, this newspaper has published a 2 1/2-year-long series of exposes that have won it two international press awards from the Humane Society of the United States.
Now, though, the focus is on the meticulously planned $2.5-million covert operation — the cost of which is estimated to double by the time of the film's projected release in June.
From their base in Boulder, Colorado, the OPS group made six trips to Wakayama Prefecture, where they were constantly followed by local police and stalked and harassed by Taiji "whalers." Despite this, their mission was successful. Their high-tech film gear was covertly inserted in the "killing cove" and extracted 16 times thanks to the efforts of the film's assistant director, Charles Hambleton, and three members of the OPS team. Their hidden, high-definition (HD) cameras successfully recorded the horror that unfolded behind Taiji's blue tarps. And what they saw was beyond their belief.
Captured dolphins were filmed writhing in pain as Taiji whalers speared them repeatedly or cracked their spines with spiked weapons. Stricken dolphins are also shown thrashing about wildly, blood pouring from their wounds until they finally succumbed. Meanwhile, a number of dolphin trainers and officials from the Taiji Whale Museum are shown cooperating in the slaughter — some even laughing — as the killing cove's bloodied, ruby-red water swept round into the adjacent capture cove.
But perhaps the most iconic scene is one in which a baby dolphin leaps to its death on the rocks after its mother is killed. This really was a surreal and incredibly sad sight to see.
OPS team leader Louie Psihoyos, a world-renowned photographer formerly with National Geographic Magazine, and members of his group, conducted the extraordinary covert operation with the daring elan and minute precision of a military-style, special-forces mission.
With funding from billionaire conservationist Clark, the team was able to use the most sophisticated equipment money could buy. Among their weapons of choice were a battery of HD cameras. Some of those cameras were encased in fake rocks sculpted out of high-density foam by movie-model makers with Kerner Optical (formerly George "Star Wars" Lucas' Industrial Light and Magic Shop). These disguised cameras were strat- egically positioned inside the killing cove.
Also included in the formidable lineup of high-tech gear for this covert operation were standard-size HD cameras, $50,000 military-grade HD forward-looking infrared (FLIR) P-645 thermal cameras (to detect anyone the whalers had on lookout); hydrophones and HD underwater cameras (to record the dolphins' underwater throes); unmanned gyro-stabilized helicopters; a number of "shotgun" microphones disguised as tree branches; walkie-talkies; and a host of ancillary equipment.
The mission objective was to produce a well-balanced, full-length documentary feature for general worldwide release encompassing all facets of the Taiji dolphin cull and its health risks.
"We succeeded," Psihoyos said, "but we also came back with an epic horror film resembling a Steven King novel more than a documentary."
Psihoyos emphasized that the film is neither anti-Japanese nor a "Japan-bashing" production.
In fact, the whole OPS Taiji odyssey (with backing from Clark) began in the winter of 2006. Then, Psihoyos says, "My assistant director, Charles Hambleton, and I had a seven-hour meeting at the mayor's office with Taiji town officials about making a movie of their town.
"An official, who represented Mayor Kazutaka Sangen, said they were concerned about Westerners showing blood in the cove — that it gave the town an evil look."
Psihoyos says he told the officials he would not show blood in his film — if they allowed him to position two cameras at the entrance to the cove and to interview the whalers. After mulling it over, though, both officials and whalers cut off contact with Psihoyos and denied him permission to film near the cove. As well, they demanded that he should restrict footage showing blood — apparently fearful that barbarous images may lead to their drive hunts being banned.
In this volatile atmosphere, local police warned the whalers and their supporters off any repeat of violence or threats of violence such as had happened before. In fact, Nigel Barker, a former Australian resident in Taiji, says he was threatened with bodily harm for providing The Japan Times with details of the whalers' brutal methods. In another incident, Psihoyos said he, too, was threatened by whalers, who said, "We will kill you."
Amazingly, though, after their talks broke down and the OPS people were leaving their final meeting with Taiji town officials, they were given a detailed map of Taiji, red-lining areas where filming was restricted. This map became a precious tool for planning the group's covert ops over the next year.
Now the gloves were off. No agreement had been made with the officials and Psihoyos immediately planned a thorough reconnaissance of the Taiji area. Precise vantage points were selected to position their cameras. Several camouflaged camera blinds were set up on the headland adjacent to the Whale Museum that overlooks the killing cove. But their major challenge was figuring out how to insert and extract their "rock cameras," underwater cameras, hydrophones and hidden microphones without being detected.
Psihoyos contacted Ric O'Barry, who captured and trained dolphins for the 1960s TV series "Flipper," asking for his help in detailing the whalers' routine during drive hunts.
O'Barry, head of the international Save Japan Dolphins coalition, had monitored the drives in Taiji for more than five years, and he agreed to be the point man for OPS. O'Barry was already hated by the whalers for his activities, including bringing the media to Taiji to film the brutal drives. In fact, he tells how whalers greet him with throat-cutting gestures when they see him there.
Following O'Barry's advice, the OPS group implemented their high-risk strategy for filming the covert mission. As the two headlands overlooking the killing cove were constantly monitored by whalers, members faced the loss of expensive gear and possible arrest. That was despite Japanese attorneys telling them that the legality of blocking access to a national park was questionable. They said, though, that police "made up their own rules" in enforcing the blockade.
The OPS group was headquartered in hotel rooms in the area, where their missions were planned and piles of pricey equipment occupied most of the space. Two vans were rented to haul their weighty gear to their target locations. Another small, unobtrusive rental car driven by OPS member Joe Chisholm was used for scouting — mostly for monitoring the Taiji harbor area to check if drive boats were out. Chisholm also kept an eye on the roads to detect whether police were following the group. Altogether, the incredible challenges of making this film elevated it to a major undertaking on a scale never before attempted.
Throughout this buildup period, drive fisheries were being conducted during daylight. If the whalers were successful, captured dolphins would be trapped in the holding cove sealed off with nets. Before daybreak the next day, men in motorboats would herd the panicked animals into the killing cove of no return.
The horror of the dolphins' final moments there were recorded not only by the "rock cameras" above the waterline, but also from below by using underwater microphones and an underwater "blood-cam" HD camera devised by OPS high-tech guru Simon Hutchins, which yielded graphic footage of the sea slowly turning red as the killings continued.
To make this possible, OPS called on Mandy-Rae Cruickshank, a seven-time world free-diving champion, and her famed coach and husband, Kirk Krack, to plant the devices. (Cruikshank recently broke her own world record by free-diving down to 88 meters and back in 2 min. 48 sec.) Both eagerly accepted the risky challenge.
"Good to go Mandy," crackled through the two-way. It was 3 a.m. The OPS support group on land had just completed a thermal-imaging sweep of the capture and killing coves. No security was detected. As the OPS van dropped the two off above the holding cove's small beach, and sped away, the free-diving pair, clad in wet suits, entered the water. The moon was full, helping them to see obstacles.
"Tensions were high . . . we had to get around a barbed-wire fence and hike down over some boulders to get into the water," Mandy said. "Then we swam around to the killing cove. It was about 40 feet (12 meters) deep. We had an underwater camera and hydrophone, and we used a flashlight to get a reference point so we knew where to retrieve them from after we made a reconnaissance, but we had to turn it on and off quickly to escape detection. Then Kirk and I put down the devices fairly easily."
On their return to the beach in the holding cove, Cruickshank said, "We saw a car going into the parking lot, so we hid in bushes until they left and then we waited for the van to pick us up."
Before that mission and again afterward, she said, "We were constantly monitored by police."
A few days later, Cruikshank said that from that same beach in the capture cove they saw a pod of 40 herded round to the killing cove, where the slaughter began. "They had separated the babies, some only as big as my arm, and then the emerald water in front of us began to turn red and you could hear the dolphins screaming. One stabbed dolphin tried to escape, and it made it over two nets from the killing cove and was heading toward the beach in the capture cove with blood streaming from it. We saw the last two breaths it took — it was impossible not to cry.
"The babies were led out to sea and were either killed or set free to die of starvation," she said.
Meanwhile, Psihoyos' team was embedded in their camera blinds on overlooking hillsides, sometimes for as long as 17 hours a day. Dressed in full camouflage gear and wearing face paint, they looked like military sniper teams. Black masking tape covered reflective surfaces on their cameras to avoid detection. For over 3 1/2 weeks, the OPS team survived on a daily ration of 3 hours' sleep. When filming from the camera blinds, they subsisted on energy bars and water. Whaler security men, always wary of outsiders monitoring their hunts, constantly scanned the high terrain, the bushes and undergrowth surrounding the two coves, their flashlights searching for intruders.
Psihoyos recounted his attempt in setting up the initial camera blind in a spot overlooking the killing cove.
"It was a moonless night and I had a full-size def (HD) camera in tow with a large tripod. I scaled a cliff and descended on a rope and perched on a shelf as big as an average office desk — but at a slope of about 30 degrees.
"I braced my feet against a small tree and didn't move them for the next 15 1/2 hours," he said, adding, "the lagoon was filled with pilot whales — they made a protective circle around their young. I shot frantic clips from my unstable perch as I saw whales killed and dragged away."
Reacting to these brutal scenes, Psihoyos recalled thinking, "If there's a god, don't let their lives be wasted in vain."
Originally, OPS's hidden rock cameras focused on the killing cove from surrounding headlands could only film for three hours, but a high-tech piece of kit they acquired "turbocharged" the batteries to allow them to film for 11 hours continuously, ensuring they would capture all facets of the cull.
The hidden microphones revealed startling comments from whalers in the killing cove, including one during the cleanup after a killing session, when a dead calf was on the beach in the killing cove. Countering the whalers' contention they never harmed a mother or its calf, one was heard saying: "Hey, that guy over there saw the dead calf, didn't he? Is it a problem?" His friend responded, "He came from the [whalers'] union — it's not a problem."
Indeed, contrary to their statements, the Taiji whalers seem unconcerned about killing female dolphins and their calves — as is graphically depicted in one of the film's sequences.
However, along with the film's horrific images, Psihoyos also interviews on camera Japanese scientists and others involved in the mercury health issues surrounding dolphin meat.
Dr. Shigeo Ekino, a prominent researcher from Kumamoto University's Graduate School of Medical Sciences in Kyushu, compared the high mercury levels found in contaminated fish in Minamata, Japan, in the 1950s during the world's worst mercury-pollution disaster, to levels of mercury currently found in dolphin meat.
Ekino, who was filmed holding a tested sample of Taiji dolphin meat, said: "This dolphin meat is 98.9 ppm (parts per million of total mercury) — which is higher than the level (of the fish and shellfish) in Minamata Bay. It's a clear danger!"
His sample was 247.25 times the Japanese health ministry's advisory level of 0.4 ppm for total mercury.
Tetsuya Endo, a professor at Hokkaido's Health Science University, also conducted mercury tests on dolphin meat, and his results were published in 2005. In a filmed OPS interview, he said: "I found 100 ppm of total mercury in . . . bottlenose dolphin and 2,000 ppm of total mercury in the liver of an unknown (dolphin) species. All of it was toxic." In fact, the higher figure was 5,000 times the health ministry's advisory level for mercury.
In another OPS interview, Psihoyos asked Hideki Moronuki, deputy director of the Far Seas Fisheries Division of the central government's Fisheries Agency, "How are the dolphins killed now? . . . and are the dolphins being dragged around by their tails during the selection process for captive specimens?"
Moronuki is filmed replying, "Fishermen are using specifically made knife (sic), and put it through the spine . . . most of the animals are killed instantly." As for allegations of them being dragged by their tails, he says, "That's not happening anymore."
When Psihoyos showed Moronuki a film clip of the inhumane, random spearing of dolphins while others were dragged by their tails — all filmed recently — he froze and told Psihoyos: "I have to instruct them again. They are using inappropriate method to treat dolphin."
At Psihoyos' request, Moronuki gave him a hair sample to be tested for mercury. The result: a readout of 5.874 ppm of total mercury, which is 14.68 times the health ministry's advisory level.
Moronuki's response was peculiar: "I was very happier to know that I have eaten so much fish which make me much healthier than meat-eating peoples."
Another dramatic highlight of the footage shows a surfer invasion in Taiji last October led by legendary Australian pro surfer Dave Rastovich, along with a few TV celebrities and some surfer buddies. They paddled into the cove where dolphins were being slaughtered and formed a prayer circle. Shocked by the atrocity, they finally retreated when whalers in skiffs came and prodded them with poles and sharp-hooked gaffs.
Producers of the OPS documentary are aiming for a worldwide release in June, including a special Japanese version creatively marketed and circulated to ensure maximum viewing even if major distributors turn it down. The film's narrator will be an actor selected from Hollywood's "A list," they said.
Referring to his hopes the film will benefit the dolphins, Psihoyos said: "Dolphins are the only wild animals known to rescue humans. With this film, we'd like to come to their rescue and, in the process, save ourselves."
Pointedly, just months before the surfers went into the killing cove at Taiji, their leader Dave Rastovich had survived a shark attack in Australia when a dolphin swam between him and the shark and allowed him to escape.
SOURCE - The Japan Times
(http://www.cdnn.info/news/eco/e080403a.html)
Cetacean at Risk
Cetacean face an uncertain future. Environmental contamination of oceans, seas, and rivers is a concern. Pesticides, heavy metals, plastics, and other industrial and agricultural pollutants which do not disintegrate rapidly in the environment reduce dolphin and Whales populations, and cause tissue buildup of high levels of contaminants. Injuries or deaths due to collisions with boats, especially their propellers, are also common.
Various fishing methods, most notably purse seine fishing for tuna and the use of drift and gill nets, unintentionally kill many dolphins. Accidental by-catch in gill nets and incidental captures in antipredator nets that protect marine fish farms are common and pose a risk for mainly local dolphin populations and called byCatch.
Cetacean bycatch is the incidental capture of non-target cetacean species by fisheries[1]. Species which are seriously affected by this include dolphins, porpoises, and whales. Bycatch can be caused by entanglement in fishing nets and lines, or direct capture by hooks or in trawl nets.
Cetacean bycatch is increasing in intensity and frequency. This is a trend that is likely to continue because of increasing human population growth and demand for marine food sources, as well as industrialization of fisheries which are expanding into new areas. These fisheries come into direct and indirect contact with cetaceans. An example of direct contact is the physical contact of cetaceans with fishing nets. Indirect contact is through marine trophic pathways where fisheries are severely reducing fish stocks that cetaceans rely on for food. In some fisheries, cetaceans are captured as bycatch but then retained because of their value as food or bait. In this fashion, cetaceans can become a target of fisheries.
Bycatch is increasing
Most of the world’s cetacean bycatch occurs in gillnet fisheries.[3] The mean annual bycatch in the U.S. alone from 1990–1999 was 6,215 marine mammals, with dolphins and porpoises being the primary cetaceans caught in gillnets.[3] A study by Read et al.[3] estimated global bycatch through observation of U.S. fisheries and came to the conclusion that an annual estimate of 653,365 marine mammals, comprising 307,753 cetaceans and 345,611 pinnipeds were caught from 1990–1994.
While gillnets are a principal concern, other types of nets also pose a problem: trawl nets, purse seines, beach seines, longline gear, and driftnets. Driftnets are known for high rates of bycatch and they affect all cetaceans and other marine species.[4] They are fatal for small toothed whales (Odontocetes) and sperm whales, as well as other marine mammals and fish such as sharks, sea birds and sea turtles. Many fisheries routinely use driftnets exceeding the EU size limit of 2.5 km/boat.[5] This illegal drift-netting is a major issue, especially in important feeding and breeding grounds for cetaceans.
Cetaceans have become the bane of many long-line fishermen in areas where certain whale populations have made a significant comeback in recent years. Whales often follow the boats, devouring the catch and leaving little more for them than fish heads when it is hauled in.
References
1. Alverson, DL, Freeburg, MH, Murawski, SA and JG Pope (1994). A global assessment of fisheries bycatch and discards. Fisheries Technical Paper. Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome. 339 pp.
2. Animal Freedom (2008) Cetacean Bycatch
3. Barlow, J & Cameron, GA (2003). Field experiments show that acoustic pingers reduce marine mammal bycatch in the Californian drift gill net fishery. Marine Mammal Science. 19: 265-283.
4. Demaster, DJ, Fowler, CW, Perry, SL, and ME Richlen (2001). Predation and competition: the impact of fisheries on marine mammal populations over the next one hundred years. Journal of Mammology. 82: 641-651.
5. Jefferson, TA and Curry, BE (1994). A global review of porpoise (Cetacea: Phocoenidae) mortality in gill nets. Biological Conservation. 67(2): 167-183.
6. Miragliuolo, A, Mussi, B, and G Bearzi (2002). Observations of driftnetting off the island of Ischia, Italy, with indirect evidence of dolphin bycatch. European Cetacean Research. 4pp.
7. Read, AJ, Drinker, P, and S Northridge (2006). Bycatch of marine mammals in the U.S. and Global Fisheries. Conservation Biology. 20(1): 163-169.
Jumat, 28 Agustus 2009
What is shark finning?
Shark finning is the practice of slicing off the shark's fins while the shark is still alive and throwing the rest of its body back into the ocean where it can take days to die what must be an agonising death. Some sharks starve to death, others are slowly eaten by other fish, and some drown, because sharks need to keep moving to force water through their gills for oxygen. Shark fins are used as the principal ingredient of shark fin soup, an Asian "delicacy". Demand for shark fin soup has rocketed in recent years due to the increased prosperity of China and other countries in the Far East. Shark fin soup, which can easily cost $100 a bowl, is often served at wedding celebrations so that the hosts can impress their guests with their affluence. Because there is such a high demand for shark fins, traders can make a lot of money from shark fin, but it is the restaurant owners who really "make a killing" in this foul trade.
Fishermen are only interested in the fins because shark meat is of low economical value and takes up too much space in the hold. It also contains urea, which turns to ammonia once the shark has died and contaminates other fish.
Shark fin itself is tasteless, it just provides a gelatinous bulk for the soup which is flavoured with chicken or other stock. Many people, especially the consumers, are unaware of the sufferring that finning causes.
What effect has finning had on shark populations?
To put it bluntly, shark populations have been decimated. Globally. Tens of millions of sharks are slaughtered every year to satisfy the demand for shark fin soup; at least 8,000 tonnes of shark fins are shipped to restaurants around the world. Fishermen report that sharks are getting smaller because they are not being given time to mature. Shark populations take a long time to recover as they can take over seven years to reach maturity and they only raise one or two pups a year. Twenty species of sharks are listed as endangered by the World Conservation Union (IUCN). In a few years many species of shark could become extinct if action is not taken immediately. Populations of many shark species have fallen by over 90%. Since 1972 the number of blacktip sharks has fallen by 93%, tiger sharks by 97% and bull sharks, dusky sharks and smooth hammerheads by 99%.
What will happen to the oceans of sharks become extinct?
The consequences of the decline in shark populations on ocean life are immense. The large shark species are "apex" predators, they are ecological stablisers, once they are gone, all hell will break loose. For example along the US East Coast where large sharks such as black tip and tiger sharks have been virtually elimated, there have been declines in shellfish numbers and a reduction in water quality (shellfish filter sea water). Populations of small sharks, rays and skates have increased rapidly, consuming shellfish at an unsustainable rate. If you remove apex predators from an ecosystem the result is the same as removing the foundations from a building - total collapse.
Ancaman Penyu Jantan
PERUBAHAN IKLIM DAN PEMBANGUNAN ANCAM POPULASI PENYU JANTAN
Selasa, 18 Agustus 2009 | 12:51 WIB
Laporan wartawan KOMPAS Ayu Sulistyowati
DENPASAR, KOMPAS.com — Berdasarkan hasil penelitian penyu dari Universitas Udayana Bali, penyu betina menguasai lebih dari separuh populasi penyu di habitat Jawa Timur, Papua, dan Sunda Kecil. Ini menjadikan ancaman bagi keseimbangan populasi penyu.
Menyusutnya jumlah penyu jan tan ini karena perubahan iklim dengan suhu yang semakin panas dan pembangunan yang kurang terkontrol di sekitar pesisir pantai. Sementara keberhasilan penetasan telur penyu menjadi jantan bergantung kepada suhu udara di dalam pasir pantai yang tidak lebih dari 28 derajat celsius hingga 29 derajat celsius dan berada di bawah pepohonan sekitar pantai.
"Manusianya untuk memperbaiki alam dan habitat penyu ini perlu terus ditumbuhkan. Karena, tidak mudah meremajakan pantai yang rusak sehingga penyu-penyu dapat bertelur dan menetas dengan baik," kata Koordinator Marine Turtle Training dan Research Centre Universitas Udayana drh IB Windia Adnyana PHd, di Denpasar.
Ia menambahkan, tingkat keberhasilan penetasan penyu turun dari 90 persen menjadi 70 persen setiap tahunnya sejak 10 tahun terakhir. Misalnya di Kepala Burung (Papua), keberhasilan penetasan telur mulai berkurang dari 500 ekor per tahun.
Menurut Windia, memperbaiki pantai akibat abrasi atau erosi dengan menambahkan pasir dari pantai lain tidak selamanya baik untuk pengembangbiakan penyu. "Termasuk konservasi penyu pun tidak semuanya positif jika tidak dibarengi dengan memperbaiki alam aslinya seperti devegetasi. Pepohonan sekitar pantai untuk penyu berlindung," ujarnya.
Penelitian dilakukan sejak Oktober 2008 hingga sekarang bekerja sama dengan WWF. Dalam penelitian tersebut, peneliti Udayana mengumpulkan sekitar 400 ekor sampel penyu yang diambil air liur, cukilan kulit, dan darah untuk tes genetika. Dana yang dihabiskan sekitar Rp 1,5 miliar.
Dalam penelitian tersebut juga menemukan adanya perbedaan genetika penyu dari satu daerah dengan daerah lainnya, baik penyu lekang (Lepidochelys oliviacea ), penyu hijau (Chelonia mydas), dan penyu belimbing (Dermochelys coriacea). Meski penyu menyukai datang ke pantai lainnya, ia tetap bertelur di tempat asal mereka.
Windia menjelaskan selama ini penyu dianggap memiliki satu genetika sama dan bisa bertelur di mana saja. Pada penelitian tersebut terungkap, penyu memiliki genetika berbeda dan ditemukan untuk kawasan Jawa Timur, Sunda Kecil, dan Papua terdapat tiga kelompok.
Tiga kelompok genetika penyu tersebut adalah kelompok pertama di Pantai Kepala Burung (Papua) dan Laut Arafuru. Kelompok kedua terbagi menjadi dua, yaitu Jawa Timur-Bali-Jawa Tengah (Cilacap), dan Jawa Timur-Australia Barat. Kelompok ketiga berada di Kalimantan Timur hingga Laut Sulu.
Ia berharap penelitian ini dapat bermanfaat untuk penelitian selanjutnya. "Kami ingin masyarakat luas mengerti dan paham mengenai penyu agar tidak melakukan hal yang percuma. Pelestarian penyu tidak hanya sebatas tidak memakan dan mencuri telur atau dagingnya saja. Habitat dan lingkungannya yang rusak juga perlu diperbaiki," tegas Windia.
Di Pulau Dewata, masyarakat mulai tidak mengonsumsi daging penyu khususnya pada upacara adat atau keagamaan setelah dilarang oleh pemerintah. Kompyang Rata, pedagang sate lilit di Denpasar, mengaku kesulitan mendapatkan daging penyu kembali.
Selasa, 18 Agustus 2009 | 12:51 WIB
Laporan wartawan KOMPAS Ayu Sulistyowati
DENPASAR, KOMPAS.com — Berdasarkan hasil penelitian penyu dari Universitas Udayana Bali, penyu betina menguasai lebih dari separuh populasi penyu di habitat Jawa Timur, Papua, dan Sunda Kecil. Ini menjadikan ancaman bagi keseimbangan populasi penyu.
Menyusutnya jumlah penyu jan tan ini karena perubahan iklim dengan suhu yang semakin panas dan pembangunan yang kurang terkontrol di sekitar pesisir pantai. Sementara keberhasilan penetasan telur penyu menjadi jantan bergantung kepada suhu udara di dalam pasir pantai yang tidak lebih dari 28 derajat celsius hingga 29 derajat celsius dan berada di bawah pepohonan sekitar pantai.
"Manusianya untuk memperbaiki alam dan habitat penyu ini perlu terus ditumbuhkan. Karena, tidak mudah meremajakan pantai yang rusak sehingga penyu-penyu dapat bertelur dan menetas dengan baik," kata Koordinator Marine Turtle Training dan Research Centre Universitas Udayana drh IB Windia Adnyana PHd, di Denpasar.
Ia menambahkan, tingkat keberhasilan penetasan penyu turun dari 90 persen menjadi 70 persen setiap tahunnya sejak 10 tahun terakhir. Misalnya di Kepala Burung (Papua), keberhasilan penetasan telur mulai berkurang dari 500 ekor per tahun.
Menurut Windia, memperbaiki pantai akibat abrasi atau erosi dengan menambahkan pasir dari pantai lain tidak selamanya baik untuk pengembangbiakan penyu. "Termasuk konservasi penyu pun tidak semuanya positif jika tidak dibarengi dengan memperbaiki alam aslinya seperti devegetasi. Pepohonan sekitar pantai untuk penyu berlindung," ujarnya.
Penelitian dilakukan sejak Oktober 2008 hingga sekarang bekerja sama dengan WWF. Dalam penelitian tersebut, peneliti Udayana mengumpulkan sekitar 400 ekor sampel penyu yang diambil air liur, cukilan kulit, dan darah untuk tes genetika. Dana yang dihabiskan sekitar Rp 1,5 miliar.
Dalam penelitian tersebut juga menemukan adanya perbedaan genetika penyu dari satu daerah dengan daerah lainnya, baik penyu lekang (Lepidochelys oliviacea ), penyu hijau (Chelonia mydas), dan penyu belimbing (Dermochelys coriacea). Meski penyu menyukai datang ke pantai lainnya, ia tetap bertelur di tempat asal mereka.
Windia menjelaskan selama ini penyu dianggap memiliki satu genetika sama dan bisa bertelur di mana saja. Pada penelitian tersebut terungkap, penyu memiliki genetika berbeda dan ditemukan untuk kawasan Jawa Timur, Sunda Kecil, dan Papua terdapat tiga kelompok.
Tiga kelompok genetika penyu tersebut adalah kelompok pertama di Pantai Kepala Burung (Papua) dan Laut Arafuru. Kelompok kedua terbagi menjadi dua, yaitu Jawa Timur-Bali-Jawa Tengah (Cilacap), dan Jawa Timur-Australia Barat. Kelompok ketiga berada di Kalimantan Timur hingga Laut Sulu.
Ia berharap penelitian ini dapat bermanfaat untuk penelitian selanjutnya. "Kami ingin masyarakat luas mengerti dan paham mengenai penyu agar tidak melakukan hal yang percuma. Pelestarian penyu tidak hanya sebatas tidak memakan dan mencuri telur atau dagingnya saja. Habitat dan lingkungannya yang rusak juga perlu diperbaiki," tegas Windia.
Di Pulau Dewata, masyarakat mulai tidak mengonsumsi daging penyu khususnya pada upacara adat atau keagamaan setelah dilarang oleh pemerintah. Kompyang Rata, pedagang sate lilit di Denpasar, mengaku kesulitan mendapatkan daging penyu kembali.
DOLPHIN
Dolphins are marine mammals that are closely related to whales and porpoises. There are almost forty species of dolphin in seventeen genera. They vary in size from 1.2 m (4 ft) and 40 kg (90 lb) (Maui's Dolphin), up to 9.5 m (30 ft) and 10 tonnes (9.8 LT; 11 ST) (the Orca or Killer Whale). They are found worldwide, mostly in the shallower seas of the continental shelves, and are carnivores, mostly eating fish and squid. The family Delphinidae is the largest in the Cetacean order, and relatively recent: dolphins evolved about ten million years ago, during the Miocene. Dolphins are among the most intelligent animals and their often friendly appearance and seemingly playful attitude have made them popular in human culture.
Dolphins, along with whales and porpoises, are descendants of terrestrial mammals, most likely of the Artiodactyl order. The ancestors of the modern day dolphins entered the water roughly fifty million years ago, in the Eocene epoch.Hind Limb Buds on Dolphins. An embryo of a Spotted Dolphin in the fifth week of development. The hind limbs are present as small bumps (hind limb buds) near the base of the tail. The pin is approximately 2.5 cm (1.0 in) long.Modern dolphin skeletons have two small, rod-shaped pelvic bones thought to be vestigial hind limbs. In October 2006 an unusual Bottlenose Dolphin was captured in Japan; it had small fins on each side of its genital slit which scientists believe to be a more pronounced development of these vestigial hind limbs.[8]
Dolphins have a streamlined fusiform body, adapted for fast swimming. The tail fin, called the fluke, is used for propulsion, while the pectoral fins together with the entire tail section provide directional control. The dorsal fin, in those species that have one, provides stability while swimming. he head contains the melon, a round organ used for echolocation. In many species, elongated jaws form a distinct beak; species such as the Bottlenose have a curved mouth which looks like a fixed smile. Some species have up to 250 teeth. Dolphins breathe through a blowhole on top of their head. The trachea is anterior to the brain. The dolphin brain is large and highly complex and is different in structure from that of most land mammals.
Unlike most mammals, dolphins do not have hair, except for a few hairs around the tip of their rostrum which they lose shortly before or after birth.[9] The only exception to this is the Boto river dolphin, which has persistent small hairs on the rostrum.[10]Dolphin’s reproductive organs are located on the underside of the body. Males have two slits, one concealing the penis and one further behind for the anus. The female has one genital slit, housing the vagina and the anus. A mammary slit is positioned on either side of the female's genital slit.
Most dolphins have acute eyesight, both in and out of the water, and they can hear frequencies ten times or more above the upper limit of adult human hearing.[11] Though they have a small ear opening on each side of their head, it is believed that hearing underwater is also if not exclusively done with the lower jaw, which conducts sound to the middle ear via a fat-filled cavity in the lower jaw bone. Hearing is also used for echolocation, which all dolphins have. It is believed that dolphin teeth are arranged work as an antenna to receive incoming sound and to pinpoint the exact location of an object.[12] The dolphin's sense of touch is also well-developed, with free nerve endings densely packed in the skin, especially around the snout, pectoral fins and genital area. However, dolphins lack an olfactory nerve and lobes and thus are believed to have no sense of smell.[13] They do have a sense of taste and show preferences for certain kinds of fish. Since dolphins spend most of their time below the surface, tasting the water could function like smelling, in that substances in the water can signal the presence of objects that are not in the dolphin’s mouth.
Though most dolphins do not have hair, they do have hair follicles that may perform some sensory function.[14] The small hairs on the rostrum of the Boto river dolphin are believed to function as a tactile sense possibly to compensate for the Boto's poor eyesight.[15]
Dolphins are often regarded as one of Earth's most intelligent animals, though it is hard to say just how intelligent. Comparing species' relative intelligence is complicated by differences in sensory apparatus, response modes, and nature of cognition. Furthermore, the difficulty and expense of experimental work with large aquatic animals has so far prevented some tests and limited sample size and rigor in others. Compared to many other species however, dolphin behavior has been studied extensively, both in captivity and in the wild. See cetacean intelligence for more details.
Dolphins are social, living in pods of up to a dozen individuals. In places with a high abundance of food, pods can merge temporarily, forming a superpod; such groupings may exceed 1,000 dolphins. Individuals communicate using a variety of clicks, whistles and other vocalizations. They make ultrasonic sounds for echolocation. Membership in pods is not rigid; interchange is common. However, dolphins can establish strong social bonds. Dolphins will stay with injured or ill individuals, even helping them to breathe by bringing them to the surface if needed.[16] This altruism does not appear to be limited to their own species however. The dolphin Moko in New Zealand has been observed guiding a female Pygmy Sperm Whale together with her calf out of shallow water where they had stranded several times.[17] They have also been seen protecting swimmers from sharks by swimming circles around the swimmers[18][19] or charging the sharks to make them go away.[citation needed]
Dolphins also display culture, something long believed to be unique to humans (and possibly other primate species). In May 2005, a discovery in Australia found Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops aduncus) teaching their young to use tools. They cover their snouts with sponges to protect them while foraging. This knowledge is mostly transferred by mothers to daughters, unlike simian primates, where knowledge is generally passed on to both sexes. Using sponges as mouth protection is a learned behavior.[20] Another learned behavior was discovered among river dolphins in Brazil, where some male dolphins use weeds and sticks as part of a sexual display.[21]
Dolphins engage in acts of aggression towards each other. The older a male dolphin is, the more likely his body is to be covered with bite scars. Male dolphins engage in such acts of aggression apparently for the same reasons as humans: disputes between companions and competition for females. Acts of aggression can become so intense that targeted dolphins sometimes go into exile as a result of losing a fight.
Male Bottlenose Dolphins have been known to engage in infanticide. Dolphins have also been known to kill porpoises for reasons which are not fully understood, as porpoises generally do not share the same diet as dolphins and are therefore not competitors for food supplies.[22]
Reproduction and sexuality
Dolphin copulation happens belly to belly and though many species engage in lengthy foreplay, the actual act is usually brief, but may be repeated several times within a short timespan. The gestation period varies per species; for the small Tucuxi dolphin, this period is around 11 to 12 months, while for the Orca the gestation period is around 17 months. They usually become sexually active at a young age, even before reaching sexual maturity. The age of sexual maturity varies by species and gender.
Dolphins are known to have sex for reasons other than reproduction, sometimes also engaging in homosexual behavior.[23] Various species sometimes engage in sexual behavior including copulation with other dolphin species.[23] Sexual encounters may be violent, with male dolphins sometimes showing aggressive behavior towards both females and other males.[23][24] Occasionally, dolphins behave sexually towards other animals, including humans.[25]
Feeding
Various methods of feeding exist among and within species, some apparently exclusive to a single population. Fish and squid are the main food, but the False Killer Whale and the Killer Whale also feed on other marine mammals.
One common feeding method is herding, where a pod squeezes a school of fish into a small volume, known as a bait ball. Individual members then take turns plowing through the ball, feeding on the terrified fish. Coralling is a method where dolphins chase fish into shallow water to more easily catch them. In South Carolina, the Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphin takes this further with strand feeding, driving prey onto mud banks for easy access.[26] In some places, Orcas come to the beach to capture sea lions. Some species also whack fish with their fluke, stunning them and sometimes knocking them out of the water.
Reports of cooperative human-dolphin fishing date back to the ancient Roman author and natural philosopher Pliny the Elder.[27] A modern human-dolphin partnership currently operates in Laguna, Santa Catarina, Brazil. Here, dolphins drive fish towards fishermen waiting along the shore and signal the men to cast their nets. The dolphins’ reward is the fish that escape the nets.[28][29]
Threats
Natural threats
Except for humans (discussed below), dolphins have few natural enemies. Some species or specific populations have none, making them apex predators. For most smaller species, only a few larger species of shark such as the bull shark, dusky shark, tiger shark and great white shark are a potential risk, especially for calves. Some of the larger dolphin species such as Orcas may also prey on some of the smaller species, but this seems rare. Dolphins also suffer from a wide variety of diseases and parasites.[citation needed]
Human threats
See also: Dolphin drive hunting
Dead Atlantic White-Sided Dolphins in Hvalba on the Faroe Islands, killed in a drive hunt.
Some dolphin species face an uncertain future, especially some of the river dolphin species such as the Amazon River Dolphin, and the Ganges and Yangtze River Dolphin, which are critically or seriously endangered. A 2006 survey found no individuals of the Yangtze River Dolphin, which now appears to be functionally extinct.[37]
Environmental contamination of oceans, seas, and rivers is a concern. Pesticides, heavy metals, plastics, and other industrial and agricultural pollutants which do not disintegrate rapidly in the environment reduce dolphin populations, and cause tissue buildup of high levels of contaminants. Injuries or deaths due to collisions with boats, especially their propellers, are also common.
Various fishing methods, most notably purse seine fishing for tuna and the use of drift and gill nets, unintentionally kill many dolphins.[38] Accidental by-catch in gill nets and incidental captures in antipredator nets that protect marine fish farms are common and pose a risk for mainly local dolphin populations.[39][40] In some parts of the world such as Taiji in Japan and the Faroe Islands, dolphins are traditionally considered as food, and killed in harpoon or drive hunts.
Dolphin safe labels attempt to reassure consumers that fish and other marine products have been caught in a dolphin-friendly way.
Loud underwater noises, for example resulting from naval sonar use, live firing exercises or certain offshore construction projects such as wind farms may be harmful to dolphins, increasing stress, damaging hearing and causing decompression sickness by forcing them to surface too quickly to escape the noise.[41][42]
References
1. ^ "[The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition online entry at Dictionary.com". [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Dolphin. Retrieved December 17 2006..
2. ^ "Dictionary.com Style guide, animal names". http://dictionary.reference.com/writing/styleguide/animal.html Dictionary.com. Retrieved November 4 2007.
3. ^ "Dolphin Safari sightings log". 2006. http://www.dolphinsafari.com/sightingslog.html. Retrieved December 17 2006.
4. ^ Texas Tech University (1997). "Mammals of Texas - Rough-toothed Dolphin". http://www.nsrl.ttu.edu/tmot1/stenbred.htm. Retrieved December 8 2006.
5. ^ Robin's Island. "Dolphins at SeaWorld California". http://www.robins-island.org/dolphins_database.php?filter=Sea_World_California. Retrieved December 17 2006.
6. ^ Denise L. Herzing, Kelly Moewe and Barbara J. Brunnick (2003). "Interspecies interactions between Atlantic spotted dolphins, Stenella frontalis and bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops truncatus, on Great Bahama Bank, Bahamas". http://www.trustedpartner.com/docs/library/000059/Herzing%20Moewe%20Brunnick%20final.pdf. Retrieved December 17 2006.
7. ^ Lee, Jeanette J. (2005). "Livescience.com - Whale-Dolphin Hybrid Has Baby Wholphin Louis Herman, interviewed for Associated Press". http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/ap_050415_wolphin.html Livescience.com - Whale-Dolphin Hybrid Has Baby Wholphin. Retrieved April 26 2007.
8. ^ Associated Press / FOX news (2006). "Japanese Researchers Find Dolphin With 'Remains of Legs'". http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,227572,00.html. Retrieved November 6 2006.
9. ^ The Institute for Marine Mammal Studies (IMMS). "Dolphin Frequently Asked Questions: Why is a dolphin a mammal and not a fish?". http://www.dolphinsrus.com/dolphinfaq.php. Retrieved February 21 2008.
10. ^ VirtualExplorers.org. "Amazon River Dolphin fact sheet All About Dolphins". http://www.virtualexplorers.org/ARD/Dolphin/bkgd.htm. Retrieved February 21 2008.
11. ^ The Dolphin Institute.
12. ^ Goodson, A.D.; Klinowska, M. (1990). Thomas; Kastelein. eds. A Proposed Echolocation Receptor for the Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus): Modelling the Receive Directivity from Tooth and Lower Jaw Geometry NATO ASI Series A: Sensory Abilities of Cetaceans. 196:255-267. NY: Plenum. ISBN 0-30-643695-7.
13. ^ SeaWorld. "Bottlenose Dolphins - Senses". http://www.seaworld.org/animal-info/info-books/bottlenose/senses.htm. Retrieved December 17 2006.
14. ^ Bjorn Mauck, Ulf Eysel and Guide Dehnhardt (2000). "Selective heating of vibrissal follicles in seals (Phoca Vitulina) and dolphins (Sotalia Fluviatilis Guianensis)". http://jeb.biologists.org/cgi/reprint/203/14/2125.pdf. Retrieved March 11, 2007.
15. ^ Laurie Stepanek (1998). "Amazon River Dolphin (Inia geoffrensis)". http://www.tmmsn.org/mmgulf/inia_geoffrensis.html. Retrieved March 11, 2007.
16. ^ Davidson College, biology department (2001). "Bottlenose Dolphins - Altruism". http://www.bio.davidson.edu/people/vecase/behavior/Spring2001/Ewart/Altruism.html. Retrieved March 12 2008.
17. ^ Ray Lilley for Associated Press (2008). "Dolphin Appears to Guide Whales to Sea". http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gd1AJMmldYiTtyFHmMzp1vIPdppgD8VBPTPG0. Retrieved March 12 2008.
18. ^ CBC News (2004). "Dolphins save swimmers from shark". http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2004/11/24/dolphin_newzealand041124.html. Retrieved March 11, 2007.
19. ^ Celizic, Mike (2007-11-08). "Dolphins save surfer from becoming shark’s bait". MSNBC. http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/21689083/?GT1=10547. Retrieved 2007-11-08.
20. ^ Rowan Hooper (2005). "Dolphins teach their children to use sponges". http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7475. Retrieved December 17 2006.
21. ^ Nic Fleming, Science correspondent for the Telegraph (2008). "Dolphins woo females with bunches of weeds". http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2007/12/05/eadolphin105.xml. Retrieved February 11 2008.
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