By: Moh. Nuzul Fachrudin

Sunday, September 16, 2018 a marine mammal of the species Dugong (Dugong dugon) or often called Duyung fish was stranded in the waters of Negeri Buano Selatan. This marine mammal was first found dead floating ± 10 m from the shore at 09:15 WIT by Fredi Pesirahu (Buano community), and immediately contacted the First Responder Network team, Roberth Hutueli. First Responder Network is a network of informants spread throughout Maluku. WWF Indonesia as the implementing partner of the USAID Sustainable Ecosystems Advanced (USAID SEA) Project facilitates the formation of a network of informants to assist the Maluku community in handling stranded mammals.

Prior to handling, Mr. Roberth coordinated with the South Buano District Government, Ms. Miranda Padan from the West Seram Fisheries Service, Maluku Provincial Fisheries and Marine Service, Ms. Wiwit from LPSPL Sorong and drh. Gio to report the discovery. After coordinating with various related parties, the Dugong carcass was evacuated to the shore by Pak Fredi with the help of the local community so that morphometric measurements and sampling could be carried out before burial.

Morphometric measurements were carried out by Mr. Roberth with the assistance of SEA Project Enumerators - Chaerul Ahadi and Moh. Nuzul Fachrudin, as well as Staff of LPPM Maluku Community Development Participation Institute - Will Tutuarima. From the results of observations made, the condition of the Dugong carcass at that time there were scratches on the body and tail and skin diseases such as fungi on the back and wounded and the Dugong carcass did not smell, meaning that the Dugong was thought to have died on Saturday (09/15/2018) night, due to the impact of waves because based on the narrative of the community on Saturday night the sea wave conditions were quite high. The results of morphometric measurements show that the total length of the Dugong from head to tail is 234 cm and a width of 60 cm, the weight of the Dugong is estimated at ± 200 kg and is female.

The process of handling the dugong carcass was fully directed by Mr. Roberth Hutuali, "Praise God, I am grateful for the training on handling stranded mammals, we are no longer confused about handling the Dugong, we already know what to do and who to coordinate with, it would be a different story if I and the people here did not have knowledge about this, maybe the dugong carcasses we have distributed the meat for consumption, or just left at sea", he said.

In addition to taking morphometric measurements, the WWF Team assisted by Maluku LPPM staff also took several samples of Dugong on the abdomen and back that were moldy and injured, the goal is to conduct further research, especially on the factors that caused the death of the dugong.

After morphometric measurements and sampling were completed, the dugong carcass was then buried at a distance of ± 5 m from the shore which was not affected by the tide. The burial of the dugong carcass involved Mr. Roberth and the SEA-Project enumerators, LPPM Maluku staff, the Head of Kewang Negeri Buano Selatan - Yopi Toritora and the local community.

The burial process took place from 16:00 - 20:00 WIT, the procession was carried out in an unusual way where the people of Negeri Buano Selatan buried the Dugong carcass with cloth to honor the Dugong. Where based on the belief of the surrounding community, Dugong is the incarnation of their ancestors. This was revealed by Mr. Roberth "We here believe that Dugong is the incarnation of the ancestors of the Buano community and we believe that Dugong must be respected so that it can bring goodness to Buano itself". At the time of burial, the dugong is given readings of prayers from the Bible. The community believes that by doing these readings the death of the Dugong is expected not to bring danger to the village and can bring goodness.