Kabar dari Pulau Runduma-Anano

Awal 1990-an, Dr Colin J Limpus, peneliti penyu dari University of Queensland, dihubungi seorang nelayan yang mengatakan telah menemukan tag. Ini sejenis alat penanda untuk penyu. Nelayan itu juga menyebutkan suatu daerah yang memiliki banyak penyu untuk diteliti. Ketika Limpus ke sana—daerah yang dikenal dengan nama Shoalwater Bay--- Dia tak hanya menyaksikan penyu, tapi juga Dugong, ular laut, pari dan fauna laut lain di perairan yang jernih. Ketika itu, Limpus kembali melakukan tagging dan penelitian populasi penyu. Baginya, penyu tak hanya sebuah cerita tentang satwa purba yang berjuang mengatasi krisis keseimbangan tapi juga tentang perjalanan separuh abad laut ini. ”....Dan untuk mengetahui banyak informasi tentang penyu, kita harus sering berkomunikasi dengan masyarakat sekitar,” tulisnya dalam makalah biologi dan konservasi penyu tiga negara.
Tujuhbelas tahun setelah penelitian Limpus, tim monitoring lain menyusuri Taman Nasional Wanci, Kaledupa, Tomia, Binongko atau Wakatobi Sulawesi Tenggara, yang luasnya 1,390 juta hektar. Perjalanan ditempuh saat purnama bulan Mei memuncak. Kapal patroli FRS Menami milik WWF Indonesia untuk program bersama WWF Indonesia,TNC-CTC dan Balai Taman Nasional Kepulauan Wakatobi, menyusuri laut yang cuacanya sungguh tak bisa diperkirakan. ”Seharusnya teduh, tapi ini memabukkan,” kata Anton Wijonarno, tim TNC yang menyandang gelar dive master. Ia memiliki keahlian mengamati lokasi pemijahan ikan dan pemetaan wilayah. Pimpinan monitoring, pria bernama Purwanto, pembawaannya tenang.
Dalam perjalanan itu, tim peneliti dan monitoring mencoba menemukan satwa sama yang dilihat Limpus yakni dugong, ular laut, pari, karang-karang terbaik dan penyu, meski dari jenis yang berbeda. Namun, ada kenyataan tak menggembirakan dari monitoring ini. Yakni penyu-penyu menjadi semakin tak mudah ditemui. Pukul 2 dinihari, saat tim turun ke Pulau Anano (bagian dari Kepulauan Tomia), mereka hanya bisa menyaksikan bayangan penyu seperti titik hitam bergerak-gerak di bawah air yang bening karena pantulan rembulan. Penyu enggan naik. Mereka mencium bau ancaman. Di Pulau Runduma, yang letaknya 2 jam dari Anano, tim monitoring hanya menemukan jejak penyu. Tampaknya, cerita Limpus tentang krisis keseimbangan satwa itu juga ada di sini. Di Pulau Runduma-Anano, wilayah yang dijuluki pulau penyu.

Luas Pulau Runduma 521,808 hektar. Ujung Pulau bisa disaksikan saat berdiri di tepi laut. Tak ada listrik, air bersih dan fasilitas seperti di kota. Pulau Runduma tergolong pulau yang sulit. Jaraknya 2 hari perjalanan dari ibukota Kendari. Pulau ini bersebelahan dengan laut dalam—sebuah istilah untuk tingkat kedalaman laut yang dihindari nelayan --. Bisa dihitung jari orang dari Kendari yang mengunjungi Runduma dalam setahun. ”Bisa 5 atau 10 orang saja,” kata Halima (18 th). Sebaliknya, dihitung jari orang Runduma yang keluar dari wilayah itu. ”Saya belum pernah kemana-mana,di sini terus,” ujar Halima. Ia tamat SD, lalu menikah dengan nelayan Runduma. Pendatang biasanya disambut dengan joged lulo. Warga akan menyiapkan api unggun, menabuh musik dan joged hingga dinihari di bawah langit. Di sini, lebih gampang menemukan siaran radio Flores dibanding Kendari di pulau ini.
Nenek Husain merupakan generasi pertama yang menempati Runduma. Tahun, 1950-an, Husain bisa menyaksikan tukik yang berlarian dari sarangnya menuju laut. Tahun 1990-an, bila beruntung, ”yah masih ada tukik,” katanya. Tapi lebih sering Dia hanya menemukan jejak, atau kadang rangkas penyu yang tergeletak begitu saja.
”Tak tahu siapa yang mengambilnya,” katanya. ”Bisa jadi warga desa sini atau orang luar”. Harga kulit penyu menggiurkan bagi sejumlah nelayan. Satu penyu bisa mencapai Rp 50 ribu, telur penyu Rp 500 hingga Rp 1000 per butir.
Hatipa, perempuan Runduma berani mengakui perbuatannya. ”Saya pengumpul telur penyu, untuk biaya sekolah anak-anak,” katanya. Tahun 2005, Hatipa menghentikan kegiatannya. Dia tersentuh saat menyaksikan petugas jagawana dari Balai Taman Nasional Kepulauan Wakatobi berkunjung ke desanya untuk memantau penyu. ” Meski ombak kencang,” ceritanya. ”Saya lalu tanya, kenapa harus jaga penyu?”.
Jawabannya membuat Hatipa tercengang. ”Jumlahnya tinggal sedikit, kalau telur dan kulitnyanya diambil, kita pe anak tidak tahu lagi muka penyu itu,” kutipnya. Dia menghentikan kegiatannya dan mulai kampanye perlindungan penyu. Sederhana saja, saat kumpul dibale-bale mengikat kasuami, makanan khas orang pulau, Hatipa akan berkata, ”janganmi ambil telur penyu kasian, maumi habis”.
Esran, petugas jagawana itu mengatakan, pendekatan mereka ke warga sangat menentukan keberhasilan konservasi penyu dan keanekaragaman hayati di Taman Nasional Kepulauan Wakatobi. ”Sudah tidak pakai senjata lagi, mereka kami ajak baik-baik, ini kan milik mereka juga,” ujarnya. Tidak mudah, karena penentangnya juga banyak. ”Resiko,” kata Esran.
Aktivitas pengelolaan laut yang berlebihan juga menjadi ancaman bagi penyu. Pada April 2005, sekian mill dari pulau Anano-Runduma, tim monitoring TNC-WWF- Taman Nasional Kepulauan Wakatobi mencatat sekitar 522 kapal beroperasi. Sebanyak 79 diantaranya tertangkap menggunakan bom, bius,pukat dasar, ganco dan kompresor untuk memperoleh ikan, kima, taripang dan penyu.
Tahun 1999-2005, petugas patroli Taman Nasional Kepulauan Wakatobi mengadukan 126 nelayan yang mengelola laut dengan bom, racun atau mengambil satwa yang dilindungi. Nelayan yang terbukti divonis paling maksimal 1 tahun. Sebagian 7 bulan atau dilepas. Pemburu penyu praktis tak banyak diberi sanksi. Mereka seringkali “dibina” , artinya ditegur, dilarang dan diberi tahu serentetan hewan yang boleh dan tidak ditangkap. Istilah ini juga berarti, mereka akan diajarkan alternatif pencaharian lain. “Tetap di laut, tapi harus lebih ramah, misalnya menggunakan jaring,” kata Purwanto.
Tidak berhenti di situ. Masalah lain kadang muncul dari patroli yang lemah. Seringkali, pemantauan dilakukan di pulau Kaledupa, namun bom ikan atau eksploitasi ikan terjadi di Tomia. Bila itu terjadi, tak hanya ikan yang terjaring, tapi juga penyu. Pada tahun 2000-an, bom ikan bahkan terdengar 5-10 kali sehari. Termasuk kegiatan semprotan sianida pada ikan-ikan hias.
Kata Purwanto, sulit memantau wilayah ini. Sejak ditunjuk menjadi taman nasional tahun 1996, tantangan berat yang dihadapi aktivis lingkungan adalah menyederhanakan teori pelestarian pada warga. Wilayah Wakatobi tergolong unik. Penduduknya berada dalam kawasan taman nasional. Seringkali terjadi perbedaan tajam soal penetapan zonasi dan memunculkan komentar sinis seperti ’ekstrim konservasi’ terhadap TNC-WWF Indonesia.
”Kami malah pernah mendemo TNC-WWF,” kata Beloro, pria etnis Kaledupa. Belakangan, Beloro memberikan dukungan pada kegiatan konservasi, setelah melihat banyaknya kerugian yang diakibatkan oleh pengelolaan laut tak ramah lingkungan.
Konservasi juga sering diterjemahkan sebagai istilah : DILARANG. ”Masak kami dilarang ambil ikan atau penyu? Nenek moyang kami kan hidup di sini terus,” kata Ali Rahman, nelayan di wilayah Wakatobi.
”Tidak melarang, tapi menyelaraskan kebutuhan manusia dengan kondisi alam,” kata I Wayan Veda Santiadji, Community Outreach Coordinator WWF Indonesia.”Targetnya, apa yang ada dalam kawasan ini bisa berkesinambungan dan dinikmati generasi ke depan,” katanya.

Konservasi ketat dilakukan karena Wakatobi masuk kategori segitiga terumbu karang terbaik di dunia. Di sini terdapat 396 jenis karang keras, 28 marga karang lunak dan 31 jenis karang jamur. Jenis-jenis keanekaragaman hayati lain yang tercatat di balai taman nasional Wakatobi adalah, 590 jenis ikan karang, 9 jenis lamun, 11 jenis paus, 34 jenis Stomatopoda, 300 jenis opisthobranch, 5 jenis teripang, 4 jenis bulu babi, 1 jenis bintang laut, 31 jenis Foraminifera dan 3 jenis penyu. Kekayaan ini menarik minat banyak peneliti dan menjadikan Wakatobi surga bagi penyelam.
Penyu sendiri merupakan satwa unik. Fosil penyu laut dengan ukuran karapas 4 meter dikenal dengan nama Archeleon. Dulunya, ada 5 family penyu laut, sekarang sisa 2 famili, 3 lagi punah. Hasil penelitian juga menunjukkan, dari 30 generasi penyu, tersisa 6 generasi dari 7 spesies. Di Kepulauan Wakatobi, terdapat 3 jenis penyu yang bisa ditemui saat musim peneluran. Yakni penyu hijau, penyu belimbing dan penyu sisik.
Penyu belimbing bisa dikenali dari ukurannya yang besar, kadang mencapai 160 cm. Ciri khasnya terlihat pada lekukan rahang atas dan kulit licin. Penyu hijau bisa dikenali dari karapasnya yang keras, dan gerigi pada rahang yang digunakan untuk memotong lamun, makanannya. Penyu sisik mirip penyu hijau. Seringkali orang salah menilai, yang pasti penyu sisik memiliki sisik prefrontal dengan 4 pasang sisik dada dan sisiknya saling tumpang tindih.
Menurut penelitian Limpus, seekor tukik—anak penyu—memulai hidup yang unik dan penuh ancaman sejak masa peneluran. Hidupnya berawal dari migrasi seekor penyu dewasa yang kadang menempuh jarak paling pendek 100 kilometer atau mencapai 3000 kilometer. Umumnya penyu dewasa bermigrasi di daerah pemijahan. Penyu jantan tergolong play boy, sangat aktif secara seksual. Ia bisa saja kawin dengan 7 betina berbeda dalam satu bulan. Musim peneluran berikutnya, ia akan kawin dengan beberapa penyu betina lagi.
Selanjutnya, penyu betina akan bergerak ke daerah peneluran. Ia membutuhkan pasir yang tidak becek atau terlalu kering. Penyu sangat sensitif, kegiatan sekecil apapun akan mengganggu mereka. Penelitian menunjukkan, seekor penyu betina yang hendak bertelur kadang mencoba 1 hingga 39 kali naik ke darat dalam semalam, namun gagal karena gangguan kecil :cahaya lampu, gerakan atau bunyi.
Ancaman lainnya berasal dari hewan yang suka menyantap telur penyu. Dari sekitar 50-100 telur dalam sarangnya hanya sebagian yang selamat. Tukik akan muncul setelah 50 atau 60 hari. Jenis kelaminnya sangat ditentukan suhu. Kelamin betina bila suhu di atas 29,5 derajat celcius, jantan bila suhu di bawah 29 derajat. Begitu muncul dari cangkang telur, mereka akan berlarian ke laut, menghirup bau air yang disentuhnya dan merasakan sinar matahari. Setelah itu tukik tak akan makan dan tidur 3 hari. Hidupnya tergantung pada kuning telur yang dibawanya saat lahir. Ia sekaligus akan belajar menghadapi ancaman yang datang dari burung elang, ikan hiu atau bahkan lumba-lumba. Mereka berjuang untuk hidup hingga dewasa dan kata Limpus, kemungkinannya hanya 1:1000.
Pada saat itu, tukik akan terbawa arus ke laut lepas dan membuat mereka kadang tak terpantau 20-50 tahun. Ini disebut tahun-tahun hilang. Menjelang musim kawin dan peneluran, penyu-penyu itu kembali ke lokasi lahirnya. Ada yang mengarah ke Pulau Anano-Runduma, bisa jadi, bayangan penyu itulah yang dilihat tim monitoring, bergerak-gerak seperti titik hitam dan merasa terancam. Penyu itu tak tahu bahwa puluhan warga Runduma telah mengeluarkan peraturan desa untuk menghentikan penjualan dan pengambilan telur penyu. Pemburu penyu dilaporkan ke pihak berwajib. Meskipun, menurut Hatipa, siapa yang bisa memantau pemburu penyu yang datang malam hari dan pergi diam-diam dari pulau terpencil ini?
”Tapi tidak apa-apa, kan untuk kita juga ji”, serunya.
Artinya, ini tak sekadar soal penyu tapi tentang rencana besar untuk menyisakan sejarah dan kekayaan nyata pada generasi selanjutnya di Wakatobi. (Naskah :Indarwati Aminuddin, anggota komunitas Pantau dan kini bekerja untuk WWF Indonesia di Sulawesi Tenggara)

Wakatobi: A paradise for divers

“Wow... it’s beautiful,” said a passenger sitting beside me as he was watching a vast expanse of blue sea and green terrain from the plane window upon its landing at Matahora Airport, Wakatobi, Southeast Sulawesi.

Heaven underneath: A diver observes coral reefs at Waha, Wakatobi archipelago, Southeast Sulawesi.

Its gorgeous beach covered with white sand was clearly in sight, enhancing the magnificence of Wakatobi archipelago.

Passengers seated in the middle also tried to peek from nearby windows for a better view of the panorama outside. Nearly all those boarding the plane with a capacity of 30 people were amazed as it touched down at the airport located in Wanci, Wangi-wangi Island.

Wakatobi is an acronym of the names of major islands composing this island group: Wangi-wangi, Kaledupa, Tomia and Binongko. The other name is Tukang Besi as the islands’ population is famous for its blacksmiths, who used to supply the domestic and war equipment for the Buton kingdom.

As part of the Heart of the World Coral Triangle Center, Wakatobi is believed to have become a magnet for divers from all over the globe. Marine expert Jacques Cousteau even described Wakatobi as the finest diving site in the world.

Wakatobi has at least 100 diamond-class dive sites. Situated between Banda and Flores seas, the island group has the most beautiful coral ridges in the world’s coral triangle. The coral ridges found in Kaledupa are even the longest in the world, extending along 48 kilometers.

“Top dive sites are mostly located in Tomia,” said Jupri from the Fisheries and Maritime Affairs Ministry. “There we can see various species of fish and coral reefs,” he added. Jupri has worked in the Wakatobi National Park for three years now.

Ragged-finned firefish (Pterois antenatta)

Wakatobi’s varied and unique marine resources with its enchanting underwater panoramas make this archipelago a submarine paradise lying in the Heart of The World Coral Triangle Center, a zone with the highest diversity of coral reefs and other biota covering the Philippines, Indonesia and Solomon Islands.

The underwater biodiversity of Wakatobi is claimed to be higher than that of the Caribbean and Egypt, currently known as the world’s top diving centers. Around 90 percent of the globe’s 850 coral species or 750 species are found in Wakatobi. The Caribbean, famous for its marine tourism, only has 50 species and the Red Sea, Egypt, 300 species.

At last, my dreams of diving in Wakatobi waters came true, after skin diving in Raja Ampat, Papua, two years ago, and later in Tulamben, Bali and Bunaken, North Sulawesi.

At midday, with seven other divers, I began my first dive on Hoga Island. It took about 45 minutes to reach this island from Wang-wangi by speedboat. Hoga has been the center of Operation Wallacea — a series of biological and conservation management research programmes — activities since 1995. Several students, mostly from Britain, have been conducting research in the area of Wakatobi National Park.

On this site we were diving along a slope of between 60 and 70 degrees. We had 30-meter visibility thanks to the clear seawater. Coral reef density was not so high and the number of fish species not so large either.

However, we could still observe gorgonian fans about 2.5-meters wide on coral along with giant barrel sponges.

There were also leaf corals, presenting attractive formations at a depth of 12 meters. Small fish such as cardinal and damsel fish were swimming around them, while hundreds of yellowback fusiliers were moving in a group near the surface.

The 45-minute dive failed to satisfy my curiosity as I hadn’t yet encountered anything that matched my expectations. I really wished to relish truly amazing views, those of the underwater paradise.

By afternoon we returned to Wangi-wangi and then on to Waha to join other divers. It was cloudy with a rather strong current in Waha. With the urge to watch submarine splendor, we began our dive in front of Waha’s drop-off.

A few moments after descending, a fantastic sight appeared before us. An extensive stretch of stunning coral reefs aroused our admiration.

Painted rock lobster sits in coral

We let ourselves drift along while enjoying the wall diving. A group of purple and bright yellow fish were swimming along the coral wall, followed by some batfish and butterflyfish in a marching formation.

Before dark, I decided to dive 25 meters deep. At 10-meter visibility, I kept drifting right before the wall, directing my torch at the coral while trying to identify the various biota. I was staring at black and white snappers and moorish idol. But as the current grew stronger, I couldn’t stay much longer.

Time went by so fast and we wound up our dive. On the surface, we could hear the call to dusk prayer. The sky was getting dark, golden yellowish on the horizon.

“This is great” said a diver, with which his peer concurred. “We’ve got to come back here tomorrow,” I proposed.

We returned to Waha the next morning. It had been raining hard that morning, which worried me a little. But fortunately the rain soon subsided and it was bright again. I enjoyed every bit of this last dive. On this site, Wakatobi proved its reputation as one of best dive sites in the world besides Raja Ampat in Papua.

As soon as I peered down underwater, a splendid sight emerged right before my eyes, more gorgeous than any artist could ever paint.

Dazzling, fresh and varied coral reefs in bluish seawater were teeming with colorful small fish moving around amid the striking natural surroundings.

Round and oval corals with very elegant textures, were growing along with soft corals.

Diving 18 meters deep, I saw a painted rock lobster hiding in its nest resembling a small cave. Some 1.5 meters from the first lobster, a second could be found snug in its hole, as if watching me taking the pictures of the other while gesturing with its antennae.

Slowly, I went further to a depth of 25 meters. After a little while, I noticed some ragged-finned fire fish, locally called lepu, swimming upside down under coral, and pixy hawkfish hiding in sponge.

After admiring the biota, I tried to again descend to 35 meters deep, where I could see a yellow trumpet fish swimming peacefully near a pink sea fan. In a few moments I ascended slowly to get back to the near-surface biodiversity.

The 40-meter visibility and the wide variety of observable undersea biota made me wish I could extend my diving experience.

Sadly, time was limited even though there were many more dive sites to visit. But this may well prompt me to go there again some day.

There’s still much more to explore. Ben, a British student who had to go home after two weeks’ of surveying on Hoga Island with several peers agreed.

“I’ll be back in July,” said the marine biology student aboard the boat that would take him to the site for another dive in the paradise of Wakatobi.

Sea wealth: Small fish swim around coral reefs at Waha.

— Photos by JP/Arief Suhardiman

Arief Suhardiman, The Jakarta Post, Wakatobi, Southeast Sulawesi | Sat, 04/24/2010 9:56 AM

Seminar dan Diskusi: Dive Resorts and Sustainable Tourism in Indonesia

Sebagian dari upaya mempromosikan Wakatobi dilakukan melalui seminar di forum nasional Deep Indonesia. Liputannya sebagai berikut :

Kajian seminar National Geographic Indonesia mengenai keberadaan operator asing, nasional dan komunitas masyarakat lokal, yang diselenggarakan di Lumba Lumba room, Asembly Hall, Jakarta Convention Centre pada hari minggu, 30 Maret 2008, pukul 15:00-17:00, berlangsung hangat, menyerap peserta lebih dari 110 orang membuat panitia harus menambah kapasitas kursi pada saat seminar hendak dibuka oleh moderator Wayan Veda Santiadji dari WWF.

Tantyo Bangun, chief editor majalah National Geographic Indonesia ikut hadir untuk membuka seminar yang dihadiri oleh Bupati Wakatobi, Hugua yang secara khusus diundang untuk ikut berbicara sore itu. Juga Komeng yang mewakili Elang Ekowisata kepulauan seribu, Paul Batuna dari Murex Dive-Bunaken, Sandra Turok dari Eco Divers-Bunaken dan Bapak Ahyaruddin dari Departemen Budaya dan Pariwisata. Cipto Aji Gunawan juga hadir sebagai salah satu panelis mewakili konsultan wisata bahari.

Beragam kalangan datang untuk menyimak seminar bebas yang digelar untuk memeriahkan acara pameran Deep Indonesia 2008 ini. Termasuk juga di antaranya yang hadir beberapa pagawai pemerintah, pelaku pendidikan universitas negeri, pembaca majalah National Geographic Indonesia, mahasiswa, rekan wartawan daerah hingga prospektus bisnis.

Acara yang berlangsung selama 2 jam tersebut mengangkat tema yang sedikit berusaha menggelitik rasa nasionalis dan pula berusaha mengajak membuka peluang berbisnis warna negara lokal untuk merebut dominasi dive operator asing yang masih merambah. Acara ini pun sekaligus menjadi simbolik pembuka Indonesia Reef 2008 yang akan datang.

(dikutip dari http://indonesiareef.com/?show=blog&id=78)

Seru, diskusi soal bisnis selam tanah air

Guna memeriahkan pameran Deep Indonesia 2008 pada 28-30 Maret 2008, National Geographic Indonesia ikut berpartisipasi menggelar diskusi bertajuk "Dive Resort and Sustainable Tourism". Titik berat diskusi adalah "menggugat" fakta bahwa jumlah operator selam asing jauh lebih banyak daripada milik negeri sendiri. Selain itu juga dibahas bagaimana mengelola turisme yang berwawasan lingkungan.

Hadir sebagai narasumber adalah Bupati Wakatobi Hugua, Achyarudin dari Departemen Kebudayaan dan Pariwisata yang mewakili pemerintah, Sandra Terok dari Edo Divers Bunaken, Paul Batuna dari Murex Dive Bunaken, Komeng dari Elang Ekowisata Pulau Pramuka, Cipto Aji Gunawan, Marine Eco Tourism Development Consultant, dan Hugua, Bupati Wakatobi. 

Hugua bersuara agak kritis dalam melihat fenomena tidak imbangnya jumlah pengusaha resort selam asing dibandingkan dalam negeri. "Orang Indonesia tidak mau melihat hal-hal kecil yang sudah mereka lihat sehari-hari, sehingga orang asing lebih menghargainya," kata Hugua. Selain itu, dia melanjutkan, "orang kita sering kali melihat orang asing lebih hebat sehingga kita kurang berani. Kalaupun berani, dalam berusaha orang kita cenderung langsung menyaingi bukan mencoba mencipta yang lebih baik.

Sementara itu, dalam presentasinya Achyarudin mengemukakan alasan mengapa wisata selam domestik justru dikuasai oleh pihak asing. "Karena usaha ini lebih dulu dikenal di luar negeri dan mereka lebih memiliki pengetahuan terhadap industri ini," ujarnya. Karenanya, belum banyak pengusaha Indonesia yang memahami industri ini.

Hal berbeda disampaikan Sandra Terok. Dominasi asing, jelas Sandra, disebabkan oleh keberanian mereka berinvestasi. "Penguasaan bahasa asing sesuai negara asal konsumen ikut memengaruhi lakunya dive operator mereka," tegas Sandra. Di sisi lain, konsumen dalam negeri sendiri masih belum banyak karena sarana transportasi dirasakan masih mahal. "Pendidikan lingkungan juga penting karena akan meningkatkan minat terhadap kegiatan selam," tambahnya.

Pendapat senada disampaikan Komeng dari Elang Ekowisata. Di Kep Seribu saat ini banyak resor yang mati suri. "Selain dianggap mahal, ekosistem di Kep Seribu juga banyak yang sudah rusak. Karenanya Elang berupaya mengembalikan ekosistem dengan melakukan transplantasi dan pendidikan lingkungan bagi anak-anak sekolah di P Pramuka untuk mengenal kehidupan bawah laut.

Upaya yang dilakukan Elang selain melakukan transplantasi adalah melakukan pendidikan lingkungan bagi anak2 sekolah di Pulau Pramuka untuk mengenal kehidupan bawah laut. Mereka secara bergiliran diajak dan diajari untuk mampu snorkling. Diharapkan pengetahuan dan minat mereka terhadap laut akan meningkat.

Lalu bagaimana cara agar pengusaha kita bisa bersaing? Cipto Aji Gunawan menawarkan empat hal: pengetahuan, ketegaran, kapital, dan penjangkauan pasar. "SDM kita yang berkualitas masih sedikit. Dan dari yang sedikit tersebut tidak banyak yang berminat membuka usaha diving," tukas Cipto.

 

Diskusi yang dimoderatori oleh Veda Santiadji dari WWF-Indonesia ini diwarnai dengan tanggapan dan pertanyaan dari puluhan peserta diskusi. Salah seorang penanggap menyatakan kelemahan kita adalah kurangnya communication marketing ke generasi muda. Nada kritis terhadap departemen terkait (Budpar) juga terlontar dari Kirtya (Grand Komodo). Budpar, jelasnya, tidak banyak mendukung pengembangan wisata bahari. "Sebabnya, jabatan dalam direktorat terkait tidak diduduki oleh orang yang tepat."*** (Foto-foto: Debbie Hanna)

Ekspedisi NGI ke Wakatobi

Rombongan relawan NGI ke Wakatobi menghasilkan satu catatan perjalanan dari salah seorang relawan itu.  Tulisannya yang dimuat di blog Indonesia Reef adalah sebagai berikut :

Trip to Wakatobi

by Tono Suhartono

Towards the end of the year 2007, I still got no plan to spend the end of the year while there are still a lot of leaves that I have not been able to spend. Suddenly, there was an announcement in Alfa Dolfin mailing list, inviting divers to participate in Reef and Spawning Aggregations monitoring at Wakatobi. I registered and soon found out that Bonar Sitohang (my friend at Alfa Dolfin as we used to dive together) also participated in the event.

The trip was organized by Indonesia Reef – NGI (National Geographic Indonesia) together with TNC (The Nature Conservancy) and WWF (World Wildlife Federation). A lot of sponsors are supporting the event including Ody Dive. Ody Dive was involved in planning the trip together with NGI.

Initially there were 12 divers, but soon after it was increased to 18 divers. At the technical meeting, Sari - the dive coordinator - reminded us to limit our baggage to maximum 15 kg. She said it was caused by relatively small airplane that flying from Makassar to Baubau at Buton Island where by only 65% of the gross weight will be carried by the airplane the rest will be sent on the next day. After nearly removing all fancy items, I managed to get 20 kg. Sari was in no objection when I sent an SMS to her indicating my baggage weight. It turned up later the baggage limitation inflicted some problems in some of the divers. Some found the meals were not suitable but they did not bring enough food of their own choice. Many of participated divers did not bring their Under Water casing for underwater photography.


On 25 December 2007 early in the morning, we embark on the journey to Makassar by plane. Soon after we landing at the Makassar, there was another mishaps as a result of miss management where by our luggage were not transferred directly to next flight to Baubau but was sent down to conveyor belt instead. So we recheck in again at Makassar. The flight to Baubau was delayed also for about 2 hours. I met with my co-worker at the airport lounge but I forgot who he was. After talking with him around 15 minutes, I finally gave up and asked Department he working for and he said Field Human Resource. I then remembered he was Arnham Pattamwari. I used to meet him at Musholla in Badak while performing Ashar prayer. I left Badak already for more than a year, so it a bit hard to remember everyone.

I was a bit sick when leaving Jakarta, but since Debbie – Sari’s assistance- requested me to submit a health certificate I went to a doctor couple days before trip. The doctor then directed me to an internist specialist. Then I got a lot of medicine including Aridin that should be used before diving.

Finally at 15:00 WITA, there was an announcement to board the plane to Baubau. Makassar - Baubau took around 45 minutes using twin turboprop engine. Soon after we landed at Baubau, we embark on land cruise to Pasarwajo which took around 2 hours driving using a bus. The facility at Baubau airport was very poor. The toilet has no water. I cannot imagine if I have to wait for a flight in that airport. The airstrip also very short, I think that was the reason for limiting baggage weight.

At Pasarwajo port, the ship FRS (Floating Ranger Station) Menami already waiting for us. Some divers took liberty to shower and clean themselves as Menami was loaded with fresh water. The spirit was a bit high at that time. I can feel it. From a driver at Wanci, I later learned that Menami is the common local name for Napoleon fish. Menami have 12 beds at the bottom deck and 4 beds at the lower deck. She has two toilets. The upper deck was an open but sheltered deck giving a room for a meeting and comfortable sleeping room at night. The pre-dive briefing and training were given in the upper deck.

On the day two, at the Hoga Channel near Kaledupa Island, we were attending training and met with media team consisting reporters and presenters. I managed to get signature and photo of the famous presenter Rianni Djangkaru as requested by my nephew who is very much fond of her. The training was about how to perform monitoring. It was very much scientific, but to perform it requires an advanced diving skill. The data will be used as a feed back to TNKW (Taman National Kepulauan Wakatobi – Wakatobi islands National park). The data includes Reef health status, herbivore fish population, and carnivore fish population. There is a correlation between those three that indicates ecosystem healthiness. The other training was on Spawning Aggregations (SPAGs) monitoring; whereby we monitor fishes especially of a rather large commercial fishes were mating in a large aggregation. There were 5 known locations for the SPAGs usually takes place, that are now reserved and agreed with locals not be fished. The locations are kept secret to preserve the fish populations. To monitor SPAGs requires a lot of effort as it took place in heavy current area. The current ensures eggs are spread around avoiding being eaten by the predators.

I realized, I have entered a scientific community where people talking about fish by their scientific names instead of common names such as Baronang, Kerapu etc. The TNC personnel were talking about fuscogattus, aerolatus, etc. Upon mixing with these researchers, Bendri –our speed boat captain- has developed his own scientific name for his Batak friends such as ucoklatus etc.

The diving was quite good. We saw several Spawning Aggregations. We saw Wakatobi pigmy sea horse, turtle, large fish and also nudi branch. I was once attacked by a trigger fish called Titan. Luckily, I can move back quickly avoiding it. Pak Putu, TNC personnel, was laughing when I met him shortly afterwards, it was the first time he was laughing under water and I was a bit shock at that time. Later at the ship, Sessy informed me that there was an event she read in a magazine where by a diver lost his ear eaten by Titan. Titan can be very aggressive especially when approached by human while it nesting. Titan has very strong jaws.

To avoid problems due to unfit body, I always dive closer to the surface than anybody else in the group and immediately went on to the surface once one of the researchers surfacing. Kiki once asked me why I surfaced so quickly. The next dive, however, she was diving close to the surface also. Upon asking her on air status, she showed me the gauge that went 50bar then reduce to 30 bar and increase again to 50bar. I then open her tank exhaust and immediately the indicator showing 100bar. So she surfaced with 100bar tank.

On the day three we were hit by a storm. The ship was move around by gusty winds on top and heavy current in opposite direction at the bottom resulting both anchors were moved several meters. The ship ended up sink to the sea sand below. Upon starting the engine, the rear side of the ship sink deeper as the front side was stuck at the sea bottom. The ship can leave the site after water level increased due to high tide at mid night. The next morning, the snorkeling crew found the ship propeller was damaged. The ship was then docking at Kaledupa port and we stayed there for about 2 days while waiting for propeller being fixed at Wanci. The good thing was that we can perform Jum’ah prayer at Kaledupa in congregation instead of individually at the ship as it was originally planned.

After hit by a storm, the team spirit was down, nearly all team members were sick. The only one who was not sick was Darwin, the body builder. Sari tried to boost team spirit by performing a visit to Kaledupa salt water lake and wait for sun set at Sombanu beach at the other side of the Kaledupa Island. It was quite enjoying actually. Just before the storm, we visited a village in Hoga to release tension after a training that finished late at night and a full day monitoring exercises. However, being a true divers, the team spirit always boosted when we were about to dive especially a fun dive. Nearly all team members went diving regardless of their sickness. At the bottom, the sickness is healed, they said.

From Tomia, we were informed that BMG (National Weather Bureau) had released information saying that in 1-2 days ahead a huge tropical storm will be approaching. After diving in the morning under light rain, we headed up to Wanci which took around 5 hours under heavy storm using Menami. We spent New Year eve at the boat at Wanci and visited TNC-WWF office at Wanci. I took Yayan’s picture in front of TNC-WWF office as depicted above. From Wanci we went to Kendari using regular ship that took around 10 hours.

At the end of trip, we were greeted with Ir. Hugua, Wakatobi district head (Bupati) in Kendari. He asked us how our feel on the overall trip. Before meeting him, Sari already appointed Yayan, the eldest among us to talk on our behalf. So when Bupati asked how our observation was, we all looked at Yayan. Being late at night (around 23:00 hours at that time) and lack of sleep, Yayan nervously mentioned that we have visited Tomiang (should be Tomia) and Kelapa dua (a district in Jakarta instead of Kaledupa). The team was then burst in laughing. Anyway, I saw a leader with very optimistic view in pak Bupati. Being an entrepreneur himself, he has a vision to make Wakatobi a major tourist destination in the near future.

Overall trip was quite adventurous and yet scientific. Look forward for another trip with NGI.

Seru... khan!!!  Ditunggu loh kalau ada yang mo ke Wakatobi di trip berikutnya 2008