Tanahjampea
CuriousOyster
Steve & Trish Brown
Sat 27 Aug 2011 17:34
Having spent the night off the small island of Ranjuni we headed south to
explore more of the large reef system that makes up Kapulauan Taka Bone
Rate. Dynamite and cyanide had been used extensively over 20 years ago and
had decimated both the coral and fish across a wide area of the Banda,
Flores and Java Seas and although some controls had been established and
marine parks like Wakatobi established these terrible practices had not been
completely stopped. We had been told that the locals in the Bone Rate
archipelago still used dynamite and sadly we had firsthand experience when
we saw a small local boat dynamiting one of the many reefs. It is hardly
credible that these people cannot see for themselves the damage they are
doing not only to the reef but also to the fish stocks. During our visit to
the village on Ranjuni we saw hundreds of very small fish put out for drying
and snorkelling the reef we saw extensive damage and hardly any fish at all.
The increasing population on every island as well as the insatiable demand
from countries like China and Japan is decimating all types of fish. Even in
Wakatobi we saw small reef fish for sale in the markets and this begs the
question as to what these people will survive on when the fish have all
gone?
So we have come 55nm south west to the island of Tanahjampea, the
westernmost of the Bone rate islands and have anchored off a small village
at the back of a sheltered bay.
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