Report of the Second Workshop on The Biology and Conservation of ...

threats. Many marine mammal populationsthat inhabit Indonesia’s estuaries and coastalwaters may be in decline. For Indonesia’s oceaniccetacean species, fishery by-catch has probablycaused significant reductions in abundance,especially for small cetaceans but possibly als<strong>of</strong>or large cetaceans such as sperm whales andblue whales in <strong>the</strong> eastern provinces.An overview <strong>of</strong> environmental impacts <strong>of</strong> relevanceto Indonesia’s marine mammals is given in Table4 .Table 4. Overview <strong>of</strong> environmental impacts <strong>of</strong> relevance to Indonesia’smarine mammals(from www.apex-environmental.com/IOCPImpacts.html, which includes moredetailed descriptions <strong>of</strong> impacts).ImpactsHabitats affectedRiverine Coastal OceanicHabitat destruction – Forest loggingHabitat destruction – Coastal developmentChemical pollution – Industrial and urban wastes,terrestrial run-<strong>of</strong>fChemical pollution – The discharge <strong>of</strong> mining wastes atsea. The disposal <strong>of</strong> toxins via a procedure termedsubmarine tailings placement (STP) is <strong>of</strong> specialrelevance to Indonesian marine life.Acoustic pollution – Destructive fishing practices suchas reef bombing. This illegal fishing method can haveregional impacts, especially in <strong>the</strong> vicinity <strong>of</strong> sensitivemarine areas for cetaceans such as preferred feedingand breeding areas as well as migration passages.Acoustic pollution – Seismic surveying for oil and gas by<strong>of</strong>fshore industries.Acoustic pollution – Military and scientific experimentsGill netting in sensitive marine areas for cetaceans.Traditional hunting, especially in <strong>the</strong> waters <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> EastFlores islands.Discarded plastics and fishing gear.By-catch in local and regional fisheries.Directed catchesDirected catches <strong>of</strong> several species are knownto occur in <strong>the</strong> whaling villages <strong>of</strong> Lamalera onLembata and to a lesser extent Lamakera onSolor (Barnes 1996, Kahn 2002c). The extentand impact <strong>of</strong> directed takes <strong>of</strong> cetaceans and38 CMS Technical Series Publication Nº 9 - 2005