By Dwi Ariyoga Gautama 
Indonesia is a country with large ocean territory where marine mammalsare often found stranded/beached in Indonesia. On the last November, practitioners, local and central government officials, academicians, and veterinarians attended a National Workshop on Sea Mammals Stranded in Indonesia held at Sanur Beach Hotel, Bali. This activity did not only include some presentations but also some case studies and field simulations. The two day workshop engaged speakers from other countries as well, namely Malaysia, China, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and Philippines. They came up with varied methods and issues that can help Indonesia deal with sea mammals beached.

In Indonesia, there are more than 35 cetacean species (whales and dolphins) and one sirenia species (dugong) as well as 13,000 islands with various habitats from coasts to deep ocean waters. Sea-based activities that intersect with cetacean habitats also vary, including fishing, tourism, mining, shipping, and so forth. The stranded sea mammals from 1987 to 2013 were mostly dominated by Irrawaddy dolphins and then short finned pilot whales.

The data of stranded cetaceans has been collected into database portal that can be accessed at http://www.whalestrandingindonesia.com and whalestranding social media. The establishment of special team at national level to handle stranded cetaceans is still ongoing. At a certain condition, it is still quite a challenge to identify the whale species. Indonesian Biodiversity Research Center (IBRC) focusing on genetic analysis of marine creatures also helps collecting samples of cetaceans to study species commonly beingstranded in Indonesia. Collaborative works among relevant parties is needed to increase the sample number and to create barcodes for each cetacean species and other marine creature.

One of the main causes of the marine mammals deaths also identified in the workshop was high interaction between fishing gears (gillnet, purse seine, and tuna longline) and cetacean species where those species ended up being caught as bycatch. The interactionisespecially high when fishing ground overlaps with migratory route of the cetaceans.

Since 2005, WWF-Indonesia has been collecting data on interactions between fishing gears and sea mammals, and other non-target and ETP species on tuna longline boats based in three main ports in Indonesia. Through the data collected, WWF-Indonesia will try to identify potential hotspots of sea mammals at certain hours to minimize their mortality rate.

For more info please contact Dwi Ariyoga Gautama (Bycatch Coordinator - WWF Indonesia) at dariyogagautama@wwf.or.id OR Dwi Suprapti (Marine Species Conservation Coordinator - WWF Indonesia) at dsuprapti@wwf.or.id

editor : Ninish Fajrina