TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Coral reef existing in the inner Ambon Bay is starting to extinct. The coral left only in one location in Halong Village, Baugala Sub-district, and it is in an alarming condition.
“The result of coral reef monitoring from March to April 2015 in inner Ambon bay shows that there is no coral reef living naturally, the only left is the ones in Halong, but the reef coverage is small,” said Hanung Mulyadi, a researcher from Ambon LIPI’s Deep Sea Research Center (PPLD) in Ambon on Saturday.
According to Hanung, who is also the leader of Ambon Bay monitoring team, the reef coverage of coral in Halong is less than 60 percent. He said that the condition is resulted from plastic trashes floating and covering the reef and the high turbidity of the water.
“The indicator is the water turbidity, when the land use is shifted into farm or settlement, the soil grains are brought to the river and the bay during the rain, when the turbidity is high, sun light can not penetrate into the deep sea, and the grains are eventually deposited onto the seagrass and corals, causing them to died,” Hanung explained.
ANTARA
