| Name: | Azzakirat Raman |
| Course: | Master of Science (Marine Sciences) |
Abstrak
Kebelakangan ini, dugong (Dugong dugon) telah mengalami penurunan populasi yang ekstrem. Mahupun begitu, beberapa laporan telah berjaya mengesahkan kehadiran dugong di perairan Malaysia sekitar Teluk Brunei, namun tidak banyak maklumat yang diketahui mengenai populasi yang mendiami kawasan tersebut. Kajian ini dijalankan untuk memberi maklumat saintifik berkenaan status taburan dugong, interaksi dengan perikanan serta persepsi penduduk tempatan mengenai dugong di kawasan perairan Malaysia di Teluk Brunei. Temubual bersama nelayan berjumlah 221 orang dan tinjauan bot yang dijalankan selama setahun telah dipilih untuk memenuhi objektif kajian. Data telah diuji menggunakan ujian Chi-Square, Wilcoxon-Rank dan kaedah pemetaan menggunakan perisian ArcGIS. Berdasarkan tinjauan temubual, keputusan menunjukkan kebanyakkan dugong dilaporkan dilihat sekitar Lawas (N=53/109, 49%), mempunyai jumlah penemuan yang rendah (N=66/109, 61%), mempunyai saiz kumpulan populasi yang kecil (N=81/100, 81%) serta mengalami corak penemuan yang menurun (N=132/134, 99%). Sejumlah enam penemuan dugong telah berjaya dibuat semasa tinjauan bot, dengan jumlah kadar penemuan sebanyak 0.06 (100 km.jam). Ujian statistik menunjukkan penampakkan dugong tidak dipengaruhi oleh bulan, musim dan kawasan (χ2=4.333, df= 2, P= 0.115). Dugong juga terbukti tertangkap secara tidak sengaja (N=53/221, 24%) dalam perikanan dengan jumlah penangkapan tahunan sebanyak 9.4 tahun-1, kebanyakkan oleh pengguna pukat insang (8.4 tahun-1) di Lawas (6.1 tahun-1). Nelayan yang ditemubual juga menunjukkan perspektif yang positif terhadap ko-habitasi dugong di persekitaran rumah mereka (N=117/221, 80%), mempunyai tahap kesedaran yang tinggi (N=185/221, 84%) serta mengakui kepentingan kewujudan dugong (N=207/221, 94%) dikawasan tersebut. Adalah disarankan agar perhatian yang segera, menyeluruh dan berterusan wajar diberikan terutamanya berkaitan dengan pendidikan kesedaran dalam kalangan penduduk setempat, pemantauan aktiviti perikanan, penguatkuasaan undang-undang dan yang paling tuntas, memelihara semula habitat-habitat semulajadi dugong.
Figure1: One-to-one interviews were conducted with total participant of 221 local fisherman in the Malaysian Waters of Brunei Bay. Photo by: Azzakirat Raman
Figure 2: Observers scanned the entire coastline according to the designated transects using naked eyes and binocular searching for dugong in the Malaysian Waters of Brunei Bay. Photo by: Azmi Marzuki Muda
Figure 3: Map showing the Malaysian waters of Brunei Bay and surrounding area. X marked with circle indicate the locations of interviewed communities (N=16) and zig – zag lines indicate the designated boat survey routes parallel to the coastlines. Top-left is the location of Brunei Bay in Borneo map.
Figure 4: Map showing the results comparison between interview and boat surveys. The grey circles indicate the sightings reported during the interviews. Larger grey circles indicate higher sightings occurrence while smaller grey circles indicate lesser sightings. The black triangle dots indicate the sighting location of dugong during the boat surveys of April 2013 to January 2014 (N=6). The red line indicates international border between Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam, the black lines indicates national boundaries between Malaysian states of Sabah, Sarawak, and F.T Labuan. The occurrence of dugong was confirmed in the R2 and R3 region, however no similarity in sightings was found between interviews and boat surveys in the R1 region.
Figure 5: A fully adult dugong with a total length of 2.6 meter was found dead at the Mempakul Beach of Menumbok, Sabah in October 2013. Figure showed the nearby villagers tried to dig a hole to bury the stranded carcass. The internals (i.e. intestines, stomach) of the dugong was burst out of the body and there is a sign of severe haemorrhage at the genital opening and the anus. Photo by: Azzakirat Raman.
Figure 6: A dead dugong was found at the Mempakul Beach of Menumbok, Sabah in October 2013. Figure showed the front and back view of the dugong with a noticeable severe injuries and haemorrhage on the head, mouth and the flippers. Photo by: Azzakirat Raman.
