STORY OF FIRST RESPONDER NETWORK MALUKU HANDLING STRANDED DUGONG IN WAITATIRI VILLAGE
By: Siti Yasmina Enita - Communication Officer SEA Project & Inner Banda Arc Subseascape
That morning (2/10), Alfin Theo, a young boy from Waitatiri Village, Salahutu District, Central Maluku Regency found a stranded marine mammal behind his house. Alfin immediately told his father - Soni Theo, about the stranded mammal, which he thought was a seal. However, after Soni checked directly, they found out that the stranded animal was a dugong (Dugong dugon). Dugongs are protected under Government Regulation No. 7 of 1999, and are included in Appendix I of CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora). Which means dugongs are fully protected animals and cannot be traded in any form.
Soni took some documentation and uploaded it on social media, because he did not know what to do with the dugong carcass. The surrounding community took turns looking at the dugong carcass behind Soni's house. At around 16.00 WIT, then one of the local people - Raymond, gave advice to report the findings to the Maluku Province Marine and Fisheries Service (DKP) and the Coastal and Marine Resources Management Workshop (PSPL) Sorong Ambon Working Unit.
Following up on the information, the Sorong PSPL conducted further coordination with other institutions, such as BKIPM Waiheru Ambon, Marine and Fisheries Resources Monitoring Station (PSDKP) Ambon, WWF-Indonesia, Maluku Provincial BKSDA and Maluku First Responder Network.
First Responder Network is a network of informants formed with the support of WWF-Indonesia as the implementing partner of the USAID Sustainable Ecosystems Advanced (USAID SEA) Project. This network of informants consists of community representatives from villages in Maluku Province, which was formed last May.
At 18.00 WIT, Ratna, a local community member and a member of the First Responder Network came to the location to help with the stranded dugong. "When I arrived at the location, the community told me that something was coming out of the dugong's stomach, like a placenta. It turned out that when I checked, the placenta had broken and the baby had come out. Unfortunately, the baby mermaid was already dead," Ratna explained.
Ratna took action to secure the carcass so that it would not be washed away or abused by the surrounding community. However, she experienced difficulties during the evacuation process because it was getting dark. Then, Ratna gave an explanation, if the dugong carcass has decomposed, it can emit an unpleasant odor and potentially spread bacteria from the decomposition.
This series of events ended at night when a joint team consisting of the Sorong PSPL Satker Ambon Workshop, PSDKP Ambon Station, BKIPM Waiheru Ambon, Maluku Provincial BKSDA and Maluku First Responder) conducted sampling and morphometric measurements. Morphometry is the application of morphological measurements which include length and weight. After negotiations, that night, the team and the community agreed to bury the dugong and its offspring in a higher place near the settlement.
There are 5 Codes in a Stranded Mammal Incident, What Are They?
There are 5 codes in handling stranded marine mammals; (1) stranded alive, (2) stranded, recently dead, (3) beginning to decompose, (4) advanced decomposition, and (5) skeleton or mummified. Before taking action marine mammals need to be identified. Whether the marine mammal is still moving, responding and breathing. If the animal is no longer breathing or dead, continue to identify the condition of the carcass, whether the marine mammal has just died or has decomposed. After knowing the condition, the team can then determine what action needs to be taken.
In this case, to evacuate the dead dugong, it can be burned but the skeleton is destroyed, buried far from the tidal area so that the skeleton can be retrieved several months later or drowned in the middle of the sea by providing ballast and deflating the stomach and then the skeleton can be retrieved after several months. The skeleton can serve as an exhibit in a museum, of course with the permission of the local BPSPL.
According to Ratna, as a member of the First Responder Network, it is very important to educate people in villages about how to handle stranded mammals and the contacts they can contact such as LPSPL Ambon, Provincial DKP and the First Responder team if there is an incident of stranded marine mammals in their village.