Petition to move monkey from Kent Ridge Park to UK gets over 2,800 signatures

Kent Ridge Park is “not safe” for macaque Chippy, claims UK monkey sanctuary director Jan Garen, adding that then monkey has “nowhere to go”.
Celine Low, The New Paper AsiaOne 5 Jul 16;

An online petition by a UK monkey sanctuary to re-home a monkey from Singapore has garnered over 2,800 signatures.

The petition organiser, Mrs Jan Garen, director of Wales Ape and Monkey Sanctuary, said she wants to raise more awareness of the issue.

She told The New Paper last Thursday that she had been waiting for the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) to clear the way for the monkey to be sent over.

Her sanctuary is in Swansea, Wales, and rescues unwanted or mistreated monkeys from zoos and laboratories around the world.

Mrs Garen said the sanctuary currently has 90 monkeys.

She told TNP that she first heard of the long-tailed macaque from a family in Singapore that is willing to pay for the cost of up to $6,000 to ship the monkey over.

The monkey has been spotted in Kent Ridge Park.

A 70-year-old woman, who declined to be named, lives at nearby Normanton Park condominium, and has befriended the monkey, whom she calls Chippy.

When TNP visited the park last Thursday, the monkey appeared among the trees in front of a pond, just as the elderly woman arrived.

Commenting on how it looked dirty, she tried to wipe it with a cloth, but was greeted with shrieks from the animal.

Despite her assurances that it was very friendly, the monkey - which appeared to be a juvenile - looked aggressive at times and even bit her right forearm.

But the woman brushed off the bite, saying it was not serious, and continued cooing over the animal.

She claimed that people cycling through the park have almost run over the animal, and she was concerned for its safety.

Mrs Garen said that after sending her requests to AVA on June 15, she had not heard from it so she started the petition on June 24.

She said the monkey had "nowhere to go".

What about leaving it in the forest as a wild animal?

She replied: "It's not safe there because people in the park have chased him with sticks."

She found this out from people who messaged her on Facebook, she said.

FEARS OF CULLING

Mrs Garen understands that there has been complaints from the public and that it could lead to the culling of Chippy.

She also maintains that her sanctuary has the experience of looking after macaques even though the species lives in tropical climates.

Mrs Garen said the sanctuary has rescued six long-tailed macaques previously from laboratories, pet shops and even from a ship in Malaysia.

Most of the people signing the petition - 90 per cent - are from Singapore, she added.

A joint advisory by AVA and National Parks Board (NParks) said they have received eight monkey-related feedback from the vicinity of Kent Ridge Park between January and June 28 which were all about a lone monkey.

The executive director of the Animal Concerns Research & Education Society (Acres), Mr Louis Ng, said he is aware of the online petition and has urged the authorities not to cull the macaque.

He told TNP that feeding is the root of the problem as it will start to rely on people for food.

Mr Ng, who is also the MP for Nee Soon GRC, said of the elderly woman who has been feeding the monkey: "I don't doubt that she loves the monkey, but it's a wild monkey and the monkey will be more aggressive."

A joint advisory by AVA and NParks advised the public against feeding monkeys as this alters their natural behaviour.

Illegal monkey feeding carries a fine of up to $50,000, jail up to six months, or both.

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AVA gets to the heart of prawn mystery

VALERIE KOH Today Online 5 Jul 16;

SINGAPORE — Addressing a complaint from a consumer about an unknown substance found in a prawn, the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) said on Tuesday (July 5) that the “gelatinous blob” was the heart structure of the crustacean.

“It is normal anatomy and is prominent in fresh prawns. There are no food safety concerns, and the prawns are safe for consumption,” an AVA spokesperson said.

Recent media reports in Chinese evening daily Lianhe Wanbao and The Straits Times stated that a 40-year-old woman bought 25 prawns from a wet market in Sengkang last week, but while handling them, she found slimy, gelatinous blobs inside several of them. She boiled them, and they turned into a white solid.

The woman reportedly said she had read about practices where seafood suppliers pump chemicals into prawns to increase their weight and to fetch a higher price.

In response to media queries on Tuesday, the AVA said that as part of its food safety programme, imported prawns and shrimps, whether fresh or frozen, are monitored and sampled for food safety and for compliance with the authority’s standards and requirements.

Its sampling tests cover a variety of chemical contaminants and microbiological hazards, including pesticide residues and drug residues such as antibiotics and hormones. Microbial hazards such as salmonella are also tested.

The spokesperson added: “Food products that fail our inspections and tests will not be allowed for sale, and enforcement action (such as the) destruction of the implicated food product, licence suspension, import restriction will be taken.”

Wholesalers here import prawns from countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam.

Seafood wholesalers and stallholders told TODAY that they have not heard of suppliers injecting chemicals into prawns to jack up their price.

Madam Ivy Teo, 65, who sells fresh seafood at a Tampines wet market and gets her supplies from the wholesale fish market at Senoko Fishery Port, said: “Sometimes for fish, fishermen stuff things inside to make it heavier, but I’ve never heard of this being done for prawns before.”

Allswell Marketing has been supplying seafood to hotels and restaurants since 1986. Its director Lily Wong said she had never seen prawns with similar gelatinous blobs. “It’s hard to check for these things, because you can’t see it unless you peel open the prawn,” she said.

[wildsingapore comment: This link was added to the comments on the above article
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeJoEiYeKoE]

AVA probes whether gelatin injected in 'abnormal' prawns sold at Sengkang wet market
AsiaOne 5 Jul 16;

Chinese vendor investigated for selling shrimp containing jelly-like substance
Update: An investigation by the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) has found that the "gelatinous blobs" are part of the prawns' heart structure.

"It is normal anatomy and is prominent in fresh prawns. There are no food safety concerns, and the prawns are safe for consumption," an AVA spokesman said.

SINGAPORE - A woman who had bought some prawns from a Sengkang wet market last week made a strange discovery.

When the 40-year-old, who wanted to be known only was Madam Huang, was cleaning the 25 prawns that she bought from a stall at Rivervale Plaze, she found translucent blobs.

The Singapore permanent resident, who moved here from Guangdong, China, felt something was amiss when the blobs turned into a solid white "rubber-like substance" when the prawns were placed in boiling water.

She had recently read online about seafood suppliers from Vietnam who inject prawns with gelatin-like chemicals to boost their weight so that they can fetch a higher selling price.

"In my home town, it is common for suppliers to illegally inject substances into prawns and sotongs. That is why I noticed the blobs," she said.

The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) is investigating the matter and "looking into whether the sale weight of the crustaceans were artificially increased by injecting gelatin in them", said the report.

An AVA spokesman said: "As part of AVA's food safety programme, imported prawns and shrimp (fresh or frozen) are monitored and sampled for food safety and compliance with our standards and requirements."

Sampling tests cover a wide range of chemical contaminants and microbiological hazards, including pesticide residues, drug residues such as antibiotics and hormones, and microbial hazards such as salmonella.

"Food products that fail our inspections and tests will not be allowed for sale and enforcement action will be taken," the spokesman added.

The stallholder who sold Madam Huang the prawns told Chinese evening daily Lianhe Wanbao that he had bought the prawns from wholesalers, adding that he had never encountered this before in his 10 years of running his business.

Prawns in Singapore are sourced from countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam.

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Malaysia: Hari Raya water disruption for thousands in Kedah

G.C. TAN The Star 5 Jul 16;

ALOR SETAR: Some 20,000 homes in several areas in the state will face water disruption during the current festive season.

State Housing and Local Government, Water Supply and Water Resources and Energy Committee chairman Datuk Badrol Hisham Hashim said the 20,000 affected homes are account holders of Syarikat Air Darul Aman Sdn Bhd (Sada) in Kota Setar, Pokok Sena, Merbok and Baling.

He cited increased usage by the balik kampung folk for the Hari Raya holiday.

"To overcome the problem, Sada has been ordered to send water tankers to the affected areas," he said at a "Jom Bakar Lemang" event with the media in Kuala Nerang on Monday.

He said the water concessionaire has also been instructed to ensure that all affected consumers, including surau and mosques, receive water supply throughout the Hari Raya season.

Badrol Hisham also said that the state government is building a water treatment facility in Pokok Sena, which will take 18 months to complete as a long-term solution to the water shortage problem in the state.

"Other alternatives are being studied, including underground water sources in Tupah, Merbok," he added.

More water lorries to the rescue
The Star 6 Jul 16;

ALOR SETAR: The state government has instructed Syarikat Air Darul Aman Sdn Bhd (SADA) to use more lorries to ferry water to areas facing shortages.

State Housing and Local Government, Water Supply and Water Resources and Energy committee chairman Datuk Badrol Hisham Hashim said Kota Setar, Pokok Sena, Merbok and Baling had been identified as the critical areas.

“The water shortage is caused by increased demand as many have returned home for the Raya celebrations.”

He said about 5,000 homes in the areas were affected.

“To overcome the problem, SADA has been told to increase the numbers of lorries sending water to the affected areas.

“SADA must ensure that all affected consumers including suraus and mosques receive enough water throughout Raya.

“We want SADA to supply water according to the needs of the customers and not based on a timetable,” Badrol Hisham said during a ‘Jom Bakar Lemang’ programme with the media on Monday.

He said a new water treatment facility was being built in Pokok Sena and would be completed in 18 months.

He added that the authorities were also studying the possibility of tapping underground water in Tupah, Merbok.

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Malaysia: Perak firemen battling forest fire and oil palm plantation blaze

SYLVIA LOOI New Straits Times 5 Jul 16;

IPOH: Firemen in the state are having their hands full fighting a raging forest fire at Bukit Kledang.

A Fire and Rescue Department spokesman said between 2ha and 2.4ha of forest at Bukit Kledang are currently ablaze. "We received a distress call at 9.57am informing us of the incident.

Twenty firemen from Ipoh, Pasir Puteh and Pasir Pinji were despatched to the scene," he said.

He said the firemen have been split into three teams to fight the fire. "The operation to put out the blaze is still ongoing," he added.

Meanwhile in Pantai Remis, firemen are busy putting out fire at an oil palm estate.

It is understood that said as many as 1ha of the estate was affected.

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Malaysia: Kalimantan hotspots may not cause haze in Sarawak — Wan Junaidi

Borneo Post 6 Jul 16;

SIBU: Hotspots detected in Kalimantan, Indonesia may not cause the return of transboundary haze in Sarawak.

Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Dato Sri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said such haze usually only occurs when there are fire outbreaks in Indonesia.

“There are several hotspots detected in Kalimantan, which may affect Lundu, Bau and Kuching. But owing to only very few hotspots, the haze might not reach Sarawak,” he told The Borneo Post when contacted yesterday.

“Peninsula also the same, previously in 2015, fires were raging in Riau region but the hotspots seen now are widely distributed all over Sumatra. The smoky haze may not reach the Peninsula, not at that rate of hotspots.”

He was commenting on the possibility of transboundary haze occurring in the state or other parts of the country following the detection of several hotspots in Kalimantan by the Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre on Monday.

“We just hope that the Indonesian authority keeps its word when their ministers assured me during the meetings that I had with them in August 2015,” he added.


Wan Junaidi allays fears of severe haze this year
BERNAMA New Straits Times 7 Jul 16;

KUCHING: Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar today allayed fears of a severe transboundary haze occurring this year.

He said Indonesia, where the haze originated from land-clearing fires, seemed to be doing its part to honour its commitment to check the annual phenomenon.

So far, there were only a few hotspots in Sumatera and two in Kalimantan, he told reporters at his Aidilfitri open house here.

Wan Junaidi said Indonesian law allowed its 40 per cent of smallholders cultivating oil palm and trees for pulp and paper to conduct open burning on their farmlands of about two hectares each.

However, he believed that the haze would not be so serious this year as Indonesia faced a lot of pressure from Malaysia and Singapore which suffered the most from the phenomenon.

“Whatever it is, Indonesia is still going to be answerable to its neighbours based on the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution 2002,” he said.

Wan Junaidi also said that global warming was making weather conditions unpredictable.

“It is common, during the current hot season now, when there is rain, there are always thunderstorms with very strong winds.

We are going to see a lot more of these,” he said.

He advised all local councils and state governments to take the necessary precautions for the low-lying areas and ensure proper drainage to prevent flash floods from happening repeatedly. --BERNAMA

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Indonesia: BMKG detects 11 hot spots in Jambi

Jakarta Post 4 Jul 16;

JAMBI: The Jambi Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysical Agency (BMKG Jambi) detected on Sunday 11 hot spots in six regencies in Jambi province.

Each of the hot spots were located in Batin XXIV district, Batanghari regency, Lembah Masurai district in Merangin regency and Mandiangin district, Sarolangun regency, one each in Batang Asam, Tebo Tengah, Tengah Ilir and Senyerang districts, two in Sumay district in Kerinci regency.

“We are 100 percent sure of the hot spots in Tebo and Sumay, but about 80 percent sure in Kerinci,” said Jambi BMKG Jambi head Nurangesti on Sunday.

He said areas in which his team was below 80 percent sure of were likely to be objects exposed to excessive sunlight. — JP

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Indonesia: New Haze Fears as Palm Oil Firms Ditch Indonesia Pact

Beh Lih Yi Jakarta Globe 6 Jul 16;

Jakarta. Environmentalists have warned of greater risks of haze and forest fires in Southeast Asia after major palm oil firms ditched a landmark "zero deforestation" pact in Indonesia.

Top producers and traders said last week that the Indonesian Palm Oil Pledge (IPOP) will be disbanded, arguing Indonesia's recent efforts to strengthen its own certification standards were sufficient.

Indonesia, the world's top palm oil producer, has been criticized by green activists for failing to stop the region's annual haze outbreaks - mainly caused by fires started in the country to cheaply clear forests and land for plantations.

IPOP, signed in 2014, was hailed as a historic effort by palm oil firms to agree to new limitations on what land could be cleared for plantations to grow the edible vegetable oil, used in everyday goods from biscuits to shampoo.

Jakarta, which saw the pact as competition to the government's own standards, argued the agreement was too difficult for smallholders to comply with. Smallholders account for about 40 percent of its palm output.

But green groups said disbanding IPOP was a blow to Indonesia's efforts to cut deforestation and fight the annual forest fires, which last year were among the worst on record and cloaked the region in haze for weeks.

"Haze fighting is a joint effort, it is more effective when companies come together," said Bustar Maitar, Southeast Asia forest director at the Center for International Policy, a Washington-based think tank.

"This shows Indonesia, as a main palm oil producer, is losing the momentum to produce sustainable palm oil," he told Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Maitar said the government's own standards, known as the Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil system, were less strict as they only ban land clearing in so-called primary forests, which have been untouched, and peat land.

IPOP, meanwhile, also prohibits land clearing in forests that have regrown after being cut down or cleared, and bush land that has high carbon content.

"If the palm oil, paper, and rubber industries want to avoid a repeat of the haze disaster, they will need to team up ... to ensure that only suppliers free of deforestation and human rights abuse obtain access to markets," Glenn Hurowitz, senior fellow at the Center for International Policy, added.

Signatories of IPOP included Wilmar, Cargill, Golden Agri-Resources, Asian Agri, Astra Agro Lestari and Musim Mas.

The decision to disband IPOP appears to run counter to recent efforts by the Indonesian government to stop deforestation and halt the annual forest fires. In April, the government announced a moratorium on new palm oil concessions.

A recent study showed forest fires that blanketed Southeast Asia last year released the greatest amount of climate-changing carbon since record blazes in 1997, producing emissions higher than the whole European Union.

Thomson Reuters Foundation

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China passes law to 'regulate' wild animal products

AFP Yahoo News 4 Jul 16;

China has passed a new wild animal protection law banning the sale of food made from endangered species, but allowing other products derived from them, state media said, amid controversy over its wildlife policies.

The measure, approved by China's Communist Party-controlled parliament on Saturday, "strengthens regulation of the use of wild animals and products derived from them," the official Xinhua news agency said.

Environmental campaigners previously slammed a draft of the law for treating animals, including tigers and bears, as commercial resources and saying it would not halt their slaughter.

The draft would "further entrench policies of captive-breeding for commercial use of parts and derivatives of captive tigers", the Environmental Investigation Agency said.

China passed a law on wild animal protection in 1989, partly to give a framework for the export of products derived from wildlife, and it was previously revised in 2004.

The new law bans the production and sale of all food products made from endangered animals, according to a version posted on the website of the National People's Congress, China's rubber stamp legislature.

But it allows for "breeding and public performances" by endangered animals as well as "the sale, purchase and use" of products made from such animals, as long as permission was granted by "authoritative departments".

It was not clear whether or how it differentiated between products and food.

Campaigners say that legalised use of endangered species can be exploited as a cover for poaching, putting more pressure on already vulnerable animals.

Xinhua quoted official Yue Zhongming as saying under the new law "the use of wild animals and derived products should rely mainly on captive-bred animals, and it must not hurt wild populations and habitats".

It was not immediately clear how such approvals would be managed.

Breeding of sika deer, a nationally-listed endangered animal, could be allowed as "millions have been bred under controlled conditions nationwide", Xinhua quoted forestry official Zhou Xun as saying.

Captive tiger numbers are soaring in China, with up to 6,000 -- twice the global wild population -- in about 200 farms across the country, according to estimates.

Bears are also bred for use in traditional Chinese medicine -- for which there is no orthodox scientific evidence -- using a process to extract their stomach bile which many activists condemn as cruel.

China's captive breeding industry is worth 7.8 billion yuan ($1.3 billion) a year, news website China Dialogue quoted expert Shi Haitao as saying last year.

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Best of our wild blogs: 5 Jul 16

16 Jul (Sat) - Free guided walk at Chek Jawa Boardwalk
Adventures with the Naked Hermit Crabs

Mass coral bleaching at Chek Jawa
wild shores of singapore

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Visitors turn wild boar feeding area into food dump

ONG YAN QUAN The New Paper 5 Jul 16;

The wild boars at Lorong Halus are still drawing the crowds. And with the crowds come a whole lot more rubbish as well.

When The New Paper (TNP) visited the forested site at about 4pm last Thursday, the area was littered with plastic bags containing food, some half-eaten.

Visitors who wanted to feed the boars, perhaps wary that the animals may turn aggressive, appear to have been throwing bags of food into the "enclosure", a patch of open land separated from the main road by a small drain and green railings.

This is despite pleas from the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) and animal experts to the public to not feed the boars.

A delivery driver TNP met at the site was appalled at the amount of litter there.

"Are we really in Singapore?" he asked.

The man, who would identify himself only as Ah Jie, 52, said he was taking a break from work and was curious about the boars.

Additional trash bags tied to the railings from weeks before do not seem to have helped.

Mr Andrew Chng, 52, a subcontractor and Sengkang resident who was riding his bicycle in the vicinity when we met him, said of the animals: "I fear the over-dependance that is created from feeding them."

Mr Ben Lee , 52, founder of Nature Trekkers, a nature conservation group in Singapore, said the area has become a dumping ground.

CAN BE PREVENTED

"Now the litter will create more hygiene problems in the future," he added.

Although no wild boar has been caught in the Lorong Halus area yet, the AVA has started control operations.

When caught, wild boars are euthanised as relocation options are not available in land-scarce Singapore.

Mr Lee said he was against culling the animals.

He added: "All this can be prevented if people stop feeding the boars.

"It all boils down to a human-created problem once again."

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Indonesia: Fire spots spring up in W. Kalimantan

Severianus Endi The Jakarta Post 4 Jul 16;

Dozens of fire spots have been detected in several regencies across West Kalimantan, one of the areas heavily affected by thick haze from land and forest fires in previous years.

The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) office at Supadio International Airport in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, stated on Monday that as of 6 a.m. local time, its MODIS satellite detected 15 fire spots in seven out of 14 regencies and municipalities across the province.

Four fire spots were detected in Bengkayang while three fire spots were found in Ketapang, the report said. Sintang and Sambas identified two fire spots each while four other regencies, comprising Kapuas Hulu, Kubu Raya, Landak and Sanggau, detected one fire spot each.

Today’s report shows fires have continued to spread in West Kalimantan as it recorded only 13 fire spots on Sunday.

West Kalimantan Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) head TTA Nyarong said the government had raised the emergency level of haze for the province to high alert as of June 1. Last year, 74,000 hectares of peat land were set ablaze, making the haze disaster even worse.

“We are investigating to see whether the fire spots have emerged on plantation concession areas or on people’s land,” said Nyarong. He said the BPBD had not yet received a response to a letter, which questioned whether 74,000 hectares of peat land burned last year were on plantation concession areas, it had sent to the plantation directorate general.

A haze disaster emergency team has been set up at the provincial level to anticipate haze events, which may have adverse health and economic impacts. Currently, only Mempawah and Kapuas Hulu regencies have established a haze disaster emergency team. (ebf)

Number of Forest Fire Hotspots Increases Ahead of Idul Fitri Holiday
Antara 4 Jul 16;

Jakarta. The Indonesian space agency has recorded an increase in the number of forest fire hotspots ahead of the Idul Fitri holidays.

Based on observations by the National Institute of Aeronautics and Space (Lapan) with the Modis satellite, 288 hotspots have been detected with a moderate (30 percent-79 percent) to high (80 percent or higher) confidence level on Sunday (03/07).

Of those, 245 with a 30-percent confidence level were found on Sumatra Island, spread out across the provinces of Aceh, North Sumatra, West Sumatra, Riau, Bengkulu, Jambi, Lampung and South Sumatra.

Members of the Integrated Forest Fire Taskforce in Riau have made embarked on efforts to put out the fires, while the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) allocated two helicopters and two aircraft specially adapted for firefighting.

Meanwhile, forest fires in Kuala Kampar, Riau, covering areas of up to nine hectares, are being put out by officials on foot.

Officials are also still trying to put out fires in the Tesso Nelo National Park in Riau, while in West Sumatra, forest fires have been burning for two days in locations that have been difficult to identify.

Forest fires covering areas of up to 25 hectares have been put out in various locations in Tampung and Pekanbaru in Riau since Saturday.

The locations of the forest fires, combined with dry conditions and poor accessibility to water, have made it difficult to put out.

With dry weather expected between July and September, officials predict that there will be a marked increase in the number of forest fire hotspots.

BNPB head Willem Rampangilei has ordered the provincial disaster mitigation agency to increase its efforts to extinguish forest fires, as the effects are detrimental, especially in the holiday period.

He also stated that prevention activities must be increased as it is more effective than putting out fires.

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Indonesia: Boat propellers cause of injury to two whale sharks stranded off Bali

The Jakarta Post 4 Jul 16;

Propellers from a ship used by tourists may have been the cause of severe wounds on two whale sharks recently washed ashore in Bali.

The Bali Office for Marine, Coastal & Resources Management (BPSPL) said Monday it has studied the wounds found on the two sharks now stranded on the shore of Nusa Penida island, a resort area in Bali popular for water sports.

The sharks may have collided with a tourist boat, Yudi Permana of BPSPL said, citing the result of discussions with local figures, representatives from the tourism sector including diving operators in Nusa Penida, as well as the Lembongan Marine Association, the local unit of the Water Conversation Area and the Coral Triangle Center.

The two sharks suffered wounds on their upper body, chest, rear area and tails, Yudi said. (rin)

Two whale sharks stranded on Nusa Penida coast
Antara 4 Jul 16;

Nusa Penida (ANTARA News) - Two whale sharks were found stranded on the shore of Nusa Penida Island, which is administratively a part of Bali, despite being completely separate from the island of God.

"The whale sharks were stranded due to severe injuries inflicted by the propeller blades of a boat that crossed their path," Yudi Permana from the Coast and Sea Resources Management Hall stated in Denpasar on Monday.

Based on initial analysis, the wounds on the bodies of the sharks are rather large, raising the suspicion of them being possibly hit by a propeller blade.

A verification team had visited the scene and had held a meeting with local public figures, authorities, and tourism stakeholders in Nusa Penida.

The meeting involved representatives from the Lembongan Marine Association, dive operators, the Technical Executive Unit of the Nusa Penida Water Reservoir, as well as the Coral Triangle Center.

The meeting was held to uncover the chronology of the incident and to establish preventive measures to avoid similar incidents from recurring in future.

Both whale sharks suffered wounds on their head, pectoral fin, and tail.

"The wounds indicate that they were struck by the propeller blades of a boat," remarked Yudi.

Hence, Yudi believes that special legal and regulatory measures should be implemented in Nusa Penida as the areas tourism sector had grown at a rapid pace.

Moreover, divers and dive operators are required to abide by the diving ethics, including those related to interaction with sea creatures.
(Uu.KR-ARC/INE/KR-BSR/H-YH)

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