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Mahakam porpoise threatened by river traffic
Courtesy of Danielle KrebThe Mahakam porpoise (Orcaella brevirostris) habitat on the Kedang Kepala River, a tributary of the Mahakam River in Muara Siran, Muara Kaman district, Kutai Kartanegara regency, East Kalimantan, is currently at risk of being irreparably damaged by coal-barge traffic
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Courtesy of Danielle Kreb
The Mahakam porpoise (Orcaella brevirostris) habitat on the Kedang Kepala River, a tributary of the Mahakam River in Muara Siran, Muara Kaman district, Kutai Kartanegara regency, East Kalimantan, is currently at risk of being irreparably damaged by coal-barge traffic.
'I'm very concerned, as the Kedang Kepala River is the main habitat of the porpoise in the Mahakam River,' said Rare Aquatic Species of Indonesia Conservation Foundation (RASI) advisor Danielle Kreb said on Wednesday.
Besides the Mahakam River, the porpoise is also found in the Irrawaddy and Mekong rivers of Myanmar.
In Indonesia, the porpoise can only be found in the Muara Kaman estuary, located in the 900-kilometer-long Mahakam River, and at times in the waters of Kutai Kartanegara regency capital Tenggarong. In the 1980s, they could still be seen near the provincial capital of Samarinda.
'In the past two months, we have yet to see any porpoises in the Kedang Kepala River. Usually, they are easily spotted in the morning or afternoon,' said Muara Siran village chief Uhay by phone from Balikpapan.
According to Uhay, as of March this year, the porpoise could be seen congregating in the Kedang Kepala river delta, the section of the river that connects it with Lake Siran.
However, due to busy coal-barge traffic, porpoises have likely relocated to more isolated sections of the river. Like their dolphin cousin in the open sea, porpoises like to play and leap from the water.
However, porpoises have a more prominent forehead and a shorter snout. For this reason, said Kreb, who has conducted studies on porpoises since 1997, the mammal was been called the 'fresh-water dolphin'.
Kreb said the survival of the fresh-water mammal was threatened by its failure to adjust to the environmental changes caused by the heavy barge traffic.
'Based on our 2005 estimations, the porpoise population at Muara Siran stood at a stable 90 individuals. We fear that the environmental changes brought about by the busy barge traffic will lead to a high number of deaths,' said Kreb.
The barges and tugboats cause noise not only above the water, but below it. The noise disorients the porpoise, which relies on hearing due to the murkiness of the river, according to Kreb. In moments of confusion, porpoises can be killed by a barge, or be unable to locate food, eventually succumbing to starvation.
The threat of extinction will increase as the population of fish and shrimps ' the porpoise's main source of food ' decreases as a result of a degradation in the quality of breeding grounds, which is also caused by barge traffic.
