Living Fossil Has Been Hunted
By: Brahmanto Anindito
The Coelacanths were believed to have been extinct since the end of the Cretaceous period, until the first specimen was found off the east coast of South Africa in 1938. In Indonesia, the ancient fish was firstly founded on September 18, 1997 on Sulawesi island. Unfortunately, the local fishermen have hunted them recently.
The prehistoric fish, Latimeria manadoensis, lives around the Sulawesian waters. They are protected. But some fishermen hunt them to give to the local government of North Sulawesi. Then they asked up to 10 million rupiah each fish.
It’s ironic. Coelacanth is the mascot of World Ocean Conference (WOC) 2009 which will hold on May in Manado.
According to Remotely Operated Vehicle’s recording, the fish swim in 150-1,000 meters depth of the sea. Their weight averagely is about 10 kg and 1 meter in lenght. There are only seven Indonesian Coelacanths alive around Sulawesian waters in the pass three years. [photo from Kompas.com]
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RANGKUMAN
Ikan purba Coelacanth (Latimeria manadoensis) yang hidup di sekitar perairan Sulawesi ditengarai diburu para nelayan sekitar. Mereka meminta sampai 10 juta per ekor pada Pemerintah Sulawesi Utara. Padahal fosil hidup khas perairan Manado ini dideteksi Remotely Operated Vehicle hanya terekam tujuh ekor.
Hanya ada satu kata… Sadis!
Indonesia gvt has failed to look after the biodiversity? Hmm.. I’ve heard that song before.
Thanks, Aleena. Yeah, I hate to admit it. It’s typically third world country where the people need money and don’t care about biodiversity. Oh … Wait a minute! I think in developed countries it happens too. Only, ones who need money are the greedy rich men.
Sad, very sad.
Kalo yang ini kasusnya kesengajaan, dan bukan kebutuhan hidup lagi.
Thx, Angko. Ten million, it’s not for living, it’s for greedy. Yes, for sure.