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What does it take to protect Malaysia’s marine mammals? Two young conservationists from MareCet share what they’re learning about the threats facing our oceans, how technology is changing conservation, and why young people have a role to play in protecting marine life.
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00:06Hello and welcome to It's About Youth. I'm your host, Fahna Sheh.
00:10Now, Malaysia's waters are home to dolphins, whales and dugongs.
00:14But how much do we really know about them and what can young people do to protect them?
00:20Today we speak with two young marine conservationists from Meresat
00:24about the future of marine mammal conservation. Alia Patricia and Divya Nair, thank you so much for joining us.
00:31Thank you for having us.
00:32I want to set the landscape here because obviously you both are experts in this field
00:37and we want to know more about our oceans and our marine mammals here in Malaysia.
00:41I've said just now that Malaysia is home to dolphins, whales and dugongs.
00:46But how much do we really know about what's in our waters here in Malaysia?
00:50Maybe Divya, we can start with you.
00:51Yeah, sure. Thank you. How much do we really know?
00:54I want to say we'll never really know enough, but we know quite a bit now.
00:59So, Meresat, we've been researching marine mammals in Malaysian waters for well over a decade.
01:08It started out with the Langkawi Dolphin Research Project back in 2010
01:12and then Meresat was established in 2012.
01:16Ever since, we've been able to expand our work from Langkawi and we now actually cover almost the entirety of
01:22the peninsula's west coastline
01:24and also bits of the east coast of the peninsula of Malaysia.
01:28In certain areas, we have baseline information, things like what types of species can we find, distribution.
01:35We know that we can at least find 27 species of marine mammals in Malaysian waters.
01:41But in other areas like where we do all of our other project locations, we actually know a lot more.
01:48So, things like habitat use, movement patterns, range.
01:53So, for example, with the Langkawi Dolphin Research Project, one of our focal species is the Indo-Pacific comeback dolphins.
02:01And with those animals, we know things like which areas are really important for different habitat uses.
02:08We've even been able to get population estimates because we are able to identify these animals down to the individual
02:16level.
02:17And we do this with photo identification. We take photos of their dorsal fins.
02:21And so, we know that we've at least have more than 600 individuals, Indo-Pacific comeback dolphin individuals in Langkawi
02:30waters.
02:30So, in certain areas, we have lots of information and in other places, we've got data gaps.
02:36Another example on the flip side would be one of our projects in the east coast of Malaysia where we
02:41do our dugong research and conservation work.
02:44We know which areas are really important feeding grounds.
02:48We know which areas are hotspots.
02:50But when they're not sited in these hotspots, when they're not sited in these important feeding grounds,
02:55we actually have no idea where these animals go.
02:58And so, that's a really big data gap.
03:00So, we know quite a bit, but never enough.
03:03So, that's what Murset is hoping to do with our research work.
03:06And it seems that just, you know, about what you've said just now,
03:09Murset is already doing a lot tracking, you know, these animals in our waters.
03:13And the fact that we have, what, 600 just now you mentioned?
03:16At least.
03:16At least 600 dolphins.
03:19And I don't think a lot of people, you know, would have that kind of information if not for Murset
03:25tracking them.
03:26Yeah.
03:26So, right.
03:27We talk about sort of their presence here in Malaysian waters.
03:31What are some of the biggest threats these animals face today?
03:36And are those threats, you know, changing compared to years before?
03:41Do you mind explaining a little bit about that?
03:43Maybe, Alya, we can have you on this?
03:45Yeah.
03:46So, most threats are actually, most threats towards these species, marine mammal species,
03:50are actually caused by human activities.
03:54Right.
03:54So, firstly, like, heavy boat vessel traffic in the waters,
03:58because marine mammals, the waters in Malaysia is their homes.
04:02So, whenever we have, like, these fishermen going out, they employ their nets and all,
04:07they can cause bycatch.
04:09So, bycatch is the accidental entanglement of non-target species.
04:15So, these non-target species include marine mammals and then they accidentally get caught
04:20in the net because, for example, species like cetaceans, porpoises and dolphins,
04:27they use echolocation in order to forage and then move in murky waters.
04:32So, sometimes they can detect, like, large volumes of fish, but then they couldn't, like,
04:37detect, they couldn't detect the net because it's so thin.
04:40So, instead they get caught inside these nets and all.
04:44And then, so, like, bycatch is definitely one of the hugest threats for marine mammals.
04:48The species that Divya mentioned, Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin,
04:52the eroidy dolphin and also the Indo-Pacific finless porpoise,
04:56all of those species are one of the, like, top ten most by-caught species in the whole world.
05:02So, yeah, bycatch is one thing and then there's also marine pollution,
05:06the fact that there's so many marine trash in the oceans and then this, like,
05:11dolphins are bio-indicator species.
05:14So, this causes, like, skin disease and then also they could, like, end up emaciated
05:19because of the, because the waters are so polluted.
05:22And then the third, the third threat would be also, like, unregulated tourism.
05:29So, sometimes, like, boat, the speed of the boat, like, is so fast
05:34and then it's not noticeable that sometimes a marine mammal, like, pops up and then, yeah.
05:40Because some of the marine mammals also don't have the presence of a dorsal fin,
05:43so it looks like just floating tires in the ocean.
05:46So, yeah, it's also susceptible to boat strikes.
05:49I mean, it's sad to hear that most of the, you know, threats that you mentioned just now are man
05:54-made.
05:55From pollution, you know, boat activity and even tourism, it's, you know, we're involved in all that
06:01and we're the ones sort of affecting this marine mammal livelihood and habitat.
06:08Divya, are there any less visible threats that you, you know, we always see ads of, you know, purple, sorry,
06:15turtles getting caught in plastic, you know, for an ad for plastic pollution, for example.
06:22But I'm pretty sure there are other less visible threats that we're not seeing.
06:27Divya, do you mind elaborating a little bit on that?
06:29Sure, yeah, definitely.
06:30So, one that's very not visible is actually noise pollution.
06:34Oh, okay.
06:35So, noise pollution is quite a big threat to marine mammals.
06:38It's not one that you can see.
06:40Marine mammals really heavily rely on sound.
06:42It's one of their biggest senses.
06:44If you think about the ocean, it's so…
06:45The echolocation just now, right?
06:46Yeah, exactly.
06:47If you think about the ocean, it's so vast.
06:50You can only see so far.
06:51Sometimes it's murky, like Alia mentioned.
06:54And so, they really rely on sound.
06:56They use it to communicate with one another.
06:58They also use it for echolocation, navigating through the seas, hunting their prey.
07:02But then, if you think about the number of human activities that are being conducted in the sea.
07:08So, for example, all of these different types of vessels, boats, whether it's tour boats,
07:13smaller fishing boats, all the way up to large shipping vessels, tankers, ferries.
07:18All of these vessels produce sounds, whether it's the engines or the propellers.
07:24So, that's just with the boats.
07:26Then we have things like piling, which we use whenever we're creating oil and gas platforms,
07:33or whenever we're building our offshore wind turbines.
07:37All of that creates sound as well.
07:39Seismic surveys, when we're trying to map our seabed,
07:42or when we're trying to look for alternative gas and oil sources,
07:46that uses sonar guns, and that's also incredibly loud.
07:50All of these activities produce really loud sounds that actually travel for kilometers.
07:55Sound travels much faster in the water.
07:58And even if a dolphin were to swim, let's say, 30 kilometers away,
08:02it would still be able to hear those sounds.
08:07I often liken this to, let's say, you were at home one day,
08:11and you're just trying to relax, and then your neighbor starts doing construction.
08:14Except the construction isn't just 9 to 5, Monday to Friday.
08:17It's continuous, it goes on for weeks, months on end, and it's not something that they can escape.
08:23We can maybe go to a cafe to escape it.
08:25Dolphins, porpoises, whales, dugongs, they can't go to a cafe or escape the ocean, right?
08:32All of this noise pollution, it can really cause stress to the animals.
08:36Their behavior can change.
08:37They might leave the area if the noise gets too bad.
08:41In really severe cases, it can actually even cause death in the form of mass strandings as well.
08:47So I'd say noise pollution is one that people don't often see.
08:50But sometimes if you poke your head into the sea when you're out swimming or snorkeling,
08:56you actually realize just how noisy it can be.
08:58But at least that's natural noise.
09:00If you add in human-made noise, it can definitely drive one crazy.
09:05It's very sad to hear.
09:07It's very sad to hear because I don't think we are aware that the noise of just daily construction at
09:14sea,
09:14for example, daily infrastructures, like you say mining just now and all that,
09:18would affect sea animal far and wide.
09:21It's very sad to hear and I'm pretty sure not many people are aware of.
09:25No, yeah.
09:25These are the kind of things that MRSA are doing with regards to marine mammal conservation.
09:32But I'm pretty sure not a lot of people actually know what that entails.
09:36Do you mind, Divya, when we talk about marine mammal conservation,
09:39do you think people know or understand what it is actually?
09:43I think there might be a lack of awareness what marine mammal conservation work actually looks like.
09:51You know, it involves actually a lot of speaking with people.
09:57It involves, I know a lot of people who join wildlife research and conservation work thinking,
10:03oh, we just get to work with animals and it's out in nature all the time.
10:07But it's actually dealing a lot with different stakeholders,
10:11the people who are driving those boats, the people who are making different legislations for protection.
10:17These are all stakeholders.
10:19So with MRSA, we deal with lots of different stakeholders from local communities,
10:25islanders, fishermen, tour boat operators, policy makers.
10:29And it's really about taking all of the research work that we do and the data that we do,
10:34data that we collect, and then sometimes acting as the middle person or the bridge
10:39between these different communities and stakeholders and policy makers,
10:43taking that data and then translating it in a way that they can use it.
10:48Policy makers are really important people because they afford protection to certain areas.
10:53So it's important that we take our science and we translate it for them.
10:58So it's not always just about fieldwork and it's not always really fun.
11:03It sometimes is pretty depressing when you're out and you see a dolphin that's been bi-caught.
11:08When you come across a dead dolphin or a dead marine mammal,
11:13it's sometimes really sad to see all of these and the environment in a really bad state.
11:19Conservationists often are at the front lines.
11:21And we work in the environment, we work with the animals.
11:24So it can definitely be pretty disheartening when we come across all of these really sad encounters.
11:30Yeah.
11:31Right.
11:31And I think, you know, even we in the news seeing it not even face to face, right?
11:36Yeah.
11:36It tugs our heart whenever we see an animal being caught in nets or, you know, being affected by plastic
11:43pollution.
11:44And the kind of work that, you know, MERSAT and other marine mammal conservationists are doing are truly admirable, I
11:51feel,
11:52going out there and making sure that, you know, all the stakeholders are involved in protecting our seas, right?
11:57We want to talk a bit more about what MERSAT is doing right now, but we'll go for a quick
12:02break.
12:16Hello and welcome back to It's About You.
12:18Today we are joined by Alia and Divya to talk about marine mammal conservation.
12:24In the first block, we've talked about some of the challenges or the threats faced by marine mammals here in
12:29Malaysia.
12:30We talked about, you know, some of the conservation that is happening in Malaysia as well.
12:36But we want to talk more about what MERSAT is doing.
12:40Maybe, Alia, we can start with you.
12:41Talk to me about some of the efforts MERSAT has been doing here in Malaysia, here protecting our Malaysian waters.
12:47So, MERSAT mainly has four pillars.
12:49So, it focuses mainly on research because of the project research that we do, Langkawi Dolphin Research as mentioned by
12:56Divya.
12:57And then also Whale Project and then also Dugong Research Conservation, DRC.
13:02And then we also have capacity building for our youth to increase their talents and capacities in different fields.
13:09And then we also have public awareness as well as policy and advocacy.
13:15So, in terms of policy and advocacy, actually, MERSAT's work also contributes to the IUCN designation of IMAs.
13:24So, IMAs is like important marine mammal areas.
13:26So, there's three in Malaysia, in the peninsula of Malaysia.
13:30First is the Satun Langkawi IMA.
13:33And then also the second one is Mersing Archipelago IMA.
13:37And then also the third one is the Matang mangroves and coastal areas.
13:45So, these three IMAs actually inform, they're not like protected in which boat activities are sworn off from that area.
13:53But they definitely help in terms of when we want to like add more protection towards these areas.
13:59And then also getting the IUCN designation is so hard.
14:02It actually requires a lot of rigorous evidence and all, scientific evidence, in order to have these designations.
14:10So, definitely MERSAT's work in terms of the research that it's done, in terms of like populations, all the studies
14:17research,
14:18all it contributes to the designation of this marine protected areas.
14:22All right, that's amazing. Divya, you're a dugong conservationist.
14:27Yes.
14:28What does that entail?
14:30It really entails, it's not like any different to any other marine mammals.
14:34It's just very specific to dugongs.
14:37It, of course, involves working with the population that we have on the east coast.
14:41So, in all of peninsular Malaysia, the only place that you can reliably still find dugongs is off the east
14:48coast islands of Johor, in Pulau Cebu and Pulau Tinggi.
14:51We see large aggregations of them. The largest herd I've ever seen is up to 40 animals.
14:58And we've been working in that area since 2014. We work really closely with the local communities to study these
15:05animals.
15:05They're pretty difficult to study. They're very elusive, very shy.
15:10But we've been working in the area for so long now that we monitor them on a yearly basis and
15:19try to basically reduce any threats that might be in the area affecting these populations.
15:26Yeah.
15:27Right. Okay. I mean, those are just some of the works that Merced are doing.
15:32And I'm pretty sure, you know, with regards, if you go into the nitty gritty of things that you guys
15:36have done.
15:37Yeah.
15:37You know, from the tracking, from the research, I'm pretty sure, you know, it's a plethora of things that you
15:41guys are doing to protect our seas.
15:44But I want to talk a little bit more about some of the sort of eminent threat that is facing
15:49not just Malaysian waters, but, you know, the earth in general, right?
15:53Alia, you are part of a generation that has grown up with the climate crisis.
15:57Does that make young conservationists approach, you know, this kind of work, conservation, differently from previous generation?
16:04What's your take, you know, when you compare sort of, you know, the kind of stuff that you do now
16:09compared to probably previous generations?
16:12Yeah. So as a young conservationist working in currently outreach and education for Marasai,
16:17I definitely found and learned that actually like marine mammal conservation isn't just about being on the seas.
16:23So it's more about like taking what you learn out doing your projects and everything and bringing back to the
16:30people and to communities.
16:32So it's also like involving a lot of people together in order to care for our oceans compared to like
16:37the previous generations,
16:39where you just focus on like scientists are doing their own work and everything.
16:42It's more integrative and more collaborative because this is like because it's not only a scientific issue.
16:48It's also a societal issue as well.
16:50So also like we have definitely created ways in which we want to disseminate knowledge.
16:57For example, like in Marasai, we believe that the ocean is for everyone.
17:01So the oceans is for everyone regardless of age, location, background.
17:06So we also like try to reach out to different kind of communities that are maybe disabled,
17:12maybe like from like lesser economic backgrounds, for example, in order to like really reach those kinds of people.
17:19And then, yeah, especially because they're the ones affected by climate change.
17:23So we really have to like have them involved as well.
17:25Yeah.
17:26I mean, the kind of abundant of resources that comes from the oceans and also from marine mammals might be
17:32missed.
17:32You know, we talk about it if we don't lay it out there.
17:35Right.
17:36And I think talking to people about the importance of this, the importance of marine mammals and oceans is,
17:42and especially to youths who are, who are experiencing climate crisis,
17:46who are experiencing, who will sort of, you know, inherit this one day is truly, truly very important, I feel.
17:52So, you know, when we talk about, you know, the current generation right now, we have AI, drone,
17:58very, you know, advancement in technology is out there.
18:03Are young conservationists finding new ways to sort of approach or understand or protect marine life compared to before
18:12with the advancement of technology right now?
18:14Maybe, Divya, we can get into this.
18:16Definitely.
18:16I think, you know, technology has definitely been advancing, especially in not just the marine mammal world,
18:22but just marine science in general.
18:25And that's definitely something that we've been trying to incorporate in Marisette.
18:29We are incorporating lots of different tech in our research work just to better study and understand our marine mammals.
18:37And the technology is really great because it gives us a deeper look into marine mammal behaviour, their habitat use,
18:46and it really gives us a different insight or perspective into the animals that we're working with.
18:51A couple of examples with just the type of tech that Marisette uses, one would be drones.
18:58So we've started to implement drones into our research work.
19:02Traditionally, when you do marine mammal research work, you're on a boat, you observe the animals from the boat,
19:07and you record those observations, right?
19:10But it's really limited because you're really just seeing what the animal is doing on the surface.
19:14But once you fly a drone up into the sky, you're really able to see what looked like a not
19:19so surface active sighting,
19:21then suddenly turns into this whole thing where you can see the animals charging at each other,
19:25using their tail to maybe slap each other.
19:28Lots of interesting behaviour that you can observe from the drone.
19:31You can even use drones to assess how healthy a marine mammal is using photogrammetry.
19:37So that's just with drones.
19:38And then we even use underwater cameras whenever we have a sighting to record behaviours
19:43that we're otherwise not seeing from being on the boat.
19:46Another type of device that we really heavily use is actually underwater recorders.
19:52So MARSA does quite a lot of bioacoustic work where we study the soundscape and the types of sounds that
19:58these marine mammals produce.
20:00And so we place underwater recorders into the water whenever we're having a sighting,
20:05or sometimes we just place it out in the environment for days at a time.
20:09And we're able to collect lots of data on marine mammal occurrence in the area or habitat use.
20:15And this really extends our data to even when we're not present at the site doing this research surveys.
20:22You know, for example, at night, we're not out there doing our research work at night,
20:26but then we're able to see, oh, okay, the dugongs are coming into the seagrass meadows at night.
20:30What are they doing at 3am? We're not sure.
20:32But at least now we know that they're out there right in the middle of the night.
20:35So these are just some of the types of tech we've incorporated into our research work.
20:42And the best part about all of this tech really is that it's non-invasive.
20:46It allows us to research the animals without being invasive to them.
20:51We don't have to approach the animals so much anymore. We can just fly the drone up.
20:54We don't even have to be there. The acoustic recorders will detect them.
20:58So I think that's the best part about how technology is being used.
21:02In terms of youth, for sure. But even if youth aren't completely involved in the research work,
21:09I feel like nowadays they're using social media to really advocate for marine mammals.
21:15We've had lots of different youth, you know, produce videos for marine mammal conservation.
21:20They produce videos to fundraise. We've had lots of youth fundraise for Marisette.
21:26But yeah, so it's really encouraging to see. And I'm sure lots of youth will, in the end,
21:31end up using lots of different types of technology to advocate and to do marine mammal research work as well.
21:37That kind of draws me to my next question.
21:39But before that, I just want to highlight, because we were talking about, you know,
21:43the imminent threat of climate crisis at one point and also the advancements of technologies.
21:47I think these are both opportunities and challenges that face our marine mammal conservation now.
21:53And I think we can spin it in a way that, you know, we can take advancement of technology
21:59and turn it into something that is beneficial to marine mammal conservation.
22:02The climate crisis as well, you know, yes, it's imminent. Yes, it's happening right now.
22:06But at the same time, we can educate youth and talk about, you know, how we share our earths
22:11and what more needs to be done because of the threat. So I feel there's a lot of opportunities there,
22:16despite, you know, despite it not being so great. So, yeah.
22:20Yeah, definitely. Right. Okay. So we talked about just now, you know,
22:23how youths are doing social media for Marisette. So I guess my next question would be,
22:28you know, we're looking at young people who are watching this show right now.
22:32If they want to get involved in marine conservation, where can they start?
22:35Do they have to be a marine biologist? Do they have to take marine science to make a difference?
22:41How do we go about this? Maybe Alia?
22:44Yeah. So definitely you don't have to be a marine biologist to do marine conservation work.
22:49So in Marisette, we actually have volunteering opportunities of, for example,
22:54for Langkawi Dolphin Research and then also for the Wheel Project.
22:58Currently, we are opening up slots for volunteers who want to come in and then join us for,
23:02on the boat as well for boat surveys. So this includes like, we'll learn how to check water parameters,
23:09and then use refractometers and all. So like also being how to be a dolphin researcher,
23:16taking photographs in order to identify the dorsal fins and all. So it's a real life experience,
23:21how to actually go about. And then all of these volunteering opportunities actually help in building the young person's portfolio
23:31further on,
23:31if they want to like continue young in conservation. But then I would say definitely you don't have to be
23:37like in a conservation background.
23:39You can definitely just help in any way that you can. So for example, we have this student from Queensland
23:45who actually made like a big sale.
23:47She made a big sale that's marine themed and then she also like had like all of our fact sheets
23:54printed out.
23:55And then she like disseminated public knowledge and everything. So it's a way like you can use any of your
24:01talents and ways in order to,
24:03whether you're a baker, whether you're a musician, you can always like integrate art into conservation as well.
24:09That's amazing. Yeah, I think I've definitely seen a lot online, you know, either, you know, not just baked goods,
24:16but selling jewelries as well to raise funds and, you know, marine themed items.
24:21And I think there's a lot of ways that young people are going about it. It's not just about going
24:25on the ground anymore,
24:26but also, you know, what you can do at home, right? Yeah.
24:29So I guess that goes to my last question, which is, if we're looking ahead right now,
24:35what do you think the next generation of marine mammal conservation would look like involving,
24:41you know, not just the work itself, but also the people involved, the youths?
24:45And what role do you hope young people can play? Maybe Divya, we can start with you.
24:50Definitely. I think this is a point that Alia brought up earlier in that nowadays,
24:55we see a lot of collaboration between sectors. It's no more just the researchers or the conservationists
25:01having to do everything or even just the policymakers. We now actually work a lot with illustrators,
25:07writers, artists, school students and youths, literally anyone.
25:13We've even worked with architects in one of our projects where we had to build a waka for a local
25:21community,
25:21which later on served as an outreach and education platform. So we've got architects, artists, engineers, software developers.
25:31Software developers are probably going to be a really big one later on because that's really going to help
25:36with marine mammal research work as well. So definitely, I don't think you need to be a marine biologist
25:42or have any marine knowledge actually. Whatever you're doing, whatever you're talented in, can definitely be used to help out
25:50not just with marine mammal conservation, but just any conservation work down the line.
25:55What about you, Alia? What's your final thought on this?
25:58Yeah, so I think in the consequences of having everyone collaborate together, it will also increase awareness for everyone
26:10and then in turn, make more sustainable practices down the line. So for example, like the Boating Call of Conduct
26:17and then also the more sustainable fishing practices, those are all ways in order to make the oceans a better
26:26place
26:27and make protecting our marine mammal species more better in the future.
26:32Right. I mean, there's definitely going to be a ripple effect once more people are talking about this
26:37and once more people get involved. And especially for the young, I think the message from both of you is
26:43clear.
26:43We don't need to be on the ground doing the hard work that Merced is doing, but you can also
26:50do things at home.
26:52You can do things online. There's a lot that we can talk about when it comes to marine mammal conservation
26:57or any type of conservation these days. So we thank you both for being here and for all the work
27:02that you do.
27:03I think it's clear as day, the future of our marine mammal depends on not just conservationists,
27:09but on the choices that we all make and the role that we all play.
27:13Thank you both of us for joining us and again for the work that you do.
27:16Thank you for having us. Thank you.
27:16It's been such a delight having you both and I hope, you know, we're able to collaborate more
27:21and able to feature more of your work here in Awani.
27:24That's all from me for It's About Youth. I'm Farah Nashe. Thank you for watching.
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