Question: What do sand dredging barges and Irrawaddy dolphins have in common?
Answer: Both are currently found at the mouth of the Santubong River.
Whilst the dolphins have been around for years, the sand dredging barges are a relatively recent arrival. Over the last few months they have been extracting sand in waters near Santubong. If you go out dolphin watching you are bound to see them. Unlike the shy Irrawaddy dolphins the barges are easy to spot. They are commonly found in the middle of the estuary, off Damai Beach and near Satang Island which is part of the Talang-Satang National Park. Whilst sightings of dredging barges are more common during the day, the barges are also active at night.
It is not the first time that sand dredgers have appeared in the Santubong area. In 2005 dredging operations were discovered within the Kuching Wetlands National Park, Sarawak’s first Ramsar site. Trees had been cleared and a jetty had been built to facilitate the dredging operation. Thankfully the relevant authorities acted and the dredging operations within the Kuching Wetlands were stopped.
Answer: Both are currently found at the mouth of the Santubong River.
Whilst the dolphins have been around for years, the sand dredging barges are a relatively recent arrival. Over the last few months they have been extracting sand in waters near Santubong. If you go out dolphin watching you are bound to see them. Unlike the shy Irrawaddy dolphins the barges are easy to spot. They are commonly found in the middle of the estuary, off Damai Beach and near Satang Island which is part of the Talang-Satang National Park. Whilst sightings of dredging barges are more common during the day, the barges are also active at night.
It is not the first time that sand dredgers have appeared in the Santubong area. In 2005 dredging operations were discovered within the Kuching Wetlands National Park, Sarawak’s first Ramsar site. Trees had been cleared and a jetty had been built to facilitate the dredging operation. Thankfully the relevant authorities acted and the dredging operations within the Kuching Wetlands were stopped.
6 comments:
Like the current worsening haze situation, this is distressing news indeed. I trust that the relevant authorities had been alerted with regards to this intrusion into the dolphins's habitat.
The MP for Santubong has repeatedly called for the relevant agencies to look into this issue Most recently on Saturday which was reported in Sunday's Eastern Times. The dredging is impacting the livlihoods of the fishing community in the area. Have to wait any see if the agencies act.
Talk on dolphins for MNS-Kuching branch, W.???
You know where to reach us..
June
Dolphin watching trip can, I'm not very good at giving talks. Let me give it some thought.
Hi,
My name is Alice. I'm a university student taking BioMedical Science at Taylor's University College in Kuala Lumpur. Currently I'm working on a project about dolphins. I browse through your blog and find the articles are very interesting. I would like to have more enquiry about dolphins in M'sia. Can I get your email address or your contact number so that I can contact you personally?
My email address is weiyee_star@hotmail.com.
Thanks
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