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'Water monster' a common, harmless animal: Expert
Tiny water animals, previously dubbed water monsters, living in Ancol, North Jakarta, are just common animals and are not dangerous, an expert says
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Tiny water animals, previously dubbed water monsters, living in Ancol, North Jakarta, are just common animals and are not dangerous, an expert says.
Rumors of dangerous water monsters became the talk of the town last week after a video called Beware of Ancol! Water Monsters Around (Waspada Ancol! Ada Monster Air), appeared on youtube.com.
In the video, the animals were shown flocking around a fish in a muddy area and eating it.
Indra Aswandi from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) LIPI said the animal was classified as isopoda.
"The isopoda belonged to crustacea group (the same group as crabs, lobsters and shrimps). We can find the water animal in all coastal area across the country," Indra said.
"It is a decomposer and usually lives in groups. There are herbivore and carnivore isopoda. The herbivore isopoda usually eats plankton, while the carnivore one eats fish in seabed areas.
"I assure you that it does not attack humans because it is definitely not dangerous. You can take a look at it," he said, while showing a small bowl of isopoda to reporters.
The animal looks more like a baby fish. It is transparent and about one centimeter long.
Budirama Natakusumah, the head of Environmental Management Board (BPLHD), said his team put dead fish as a bait in five spots in Putri Duyung Lake and three other spots in the sea.
"The fish were undamaged after we left them there for 24 hours," Budirama said.
Manager of PT Pembangunan Jaya Ancol's corporate communications, Sofia Cakti, said Ancol management directly took some of the animals found in the areas to LIPI soon after they heard about the rumor.
"We asked our boatmen, who have been working in Ancol for years, and visitors about the animals, but they said that they had never heard about them," Sofia told The Jakarta Post.
"I later took some of the animals to LIPI to be analyzed," she said, adding that Ancol management did not check whether the video was actually taken in the area.
"We did not analyze the contents of the video. We focused more on the verification of the animal. We are glad that it is not dangerous," she said.
Sofia said the water monster rumor did not affect the number of visitors coming to Ancol.
