| Aziz Idris |
WITH its rich biodiversity, unspoiled rainforests and magnificent reefs, Brunei lures to its shores not just nature tourists, adventure buffs and scientists, but the everyday traveller as well.
Recognising the value and importance of this biodiversity, the Brunei government has stepped up conservation efforts to protect the country’s natural ecosystems and wildlife from harm.
An example of this is a survey – the first of its type in Brunei – conducted since January 2017 for Marine Endangered Species (MES) at the sheltered waters of Brunei Bay.
The survey team is made up of a researcher from Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT) working together with a local company – Sakam Enterprise – with support from the Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism through the Heart of Borneo (HoB) Project, and the First Institute of Oceanography (FIO), State Oceanic Administration (SOA), China.
In their initial survey, the team found a pod of 15 Irrawaddy dolphins in the Brunei side of the bay (70 per cent of Brunei Bay is claimed by Malaysia, with the remaining 30 per cent belonging to Brunei). There has not been any MSE research conducted in the bay prior to this latest study.
“When we visited the Brunei waters, we found that marine mammals like the Irrawaddy dolphins – the group of dolphins that we came across – are the same ones that we encountered in the Malaysian side of the bay,” said Dr Saifullah Arifin bin Jaaman @ Sharman, an Associate Professor of UMT’s Institute of Oceanography and Environment during an interview with the Bulletin.
Dr Saifullah has conducted similar studies on MES on the Malaysian side of Brunei Bay during the mid 2000’s, coming up with the hypothesis that the marine mammals would rove around Brunei Bay, socialising with each other and searching for food and shelter.
Irrawaddy dolphins can be found across the coastal areas of the Indian Ocean stretching from India to Indonesia. They prefer deep pools of large rivers and sheltered inshore, brackish marine waters, such as mangrove swamps – these are found in abundance in Brunei Bay.
He added that studies done on the Brunei side of the bay are crucial as they allow his team of marine life experts to compare it with research on the Malaysian side and come up with applicable deductions.
The studies are conducted once every three months in an observation boat; areas or hotspots where the dolphins tend to congregate are noted and these areas will be earmarked for special protection.
Sakam Enterprise believes that the number of sightings of Irr-awaddy dolphins has decreased compared to five to 10 years ago. The local company plans to bring in ‘high-tech’ devices to aid in their research – these will include tagging devices, observation drones, and sampling devices.
“Once the data has been collected, we can learn the population dynamics, behaviour, feeding and social structure of this unique species of dolphins, enabling us to better protect them,” said Mohammad Vol Haji Momin, an officer from Sakam’s Conservation Programme.
“When the data is available, we can create better understanding among the public on why there is a need to maintain a healthy marine environment.”
Meanwhile, Dr Saifullah added that the fact that there are sightings of Irrawaddy dolphins in Brunei Bay and other MES, which are “good environment health indicator species”, means that the quality of the marine environment of the bay is “very good”.
“These marine mammals are referred as ‘indicator species’ due to the fact that these species won’t be present in an area if the marine environment isn’t in a good condition,” Dr Saifullah explained.
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