Coral reefs wiped out at Sipadan 
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Environment [home]
Author: Eric Cheng ( echeng )
Related Link: Sipadan - Tragic Incident
Hundreds of meters of coral and turtles have been wiped out at Sipadan in a tragic accident involving a large barge and the local irresponsibility of whoever is managing the island. It is incredible ironic that dive resorts were pushed off of the island in an attempt to preserve Sipadan’s amazing marine life, only to result in the destruction of the very resource they were trying to protect. The beached barge was carrying steel and concrete mixing supplies, and so far, no one has reported why so many building supplies were on their way to Sipadan. FiNS Magazine has posted a stirring report written by Andrea and Antonella Ferrari:
Excerpt: An enormous steel barge carrying thousands of tonnes of coarse gravel, sand, steel tubes, iron mesh, prime movers, a large bulldozer and a gigantic crane — which had incredibly been allowed to anchor right in front of Sipadan’s legendary dropoff before unloading its cargo on the supposedly protected island — was pushed against the reef by wind, ending up beached on the island like some monstrous whale. In the process of being beached, the barge scraped clean thousands of years of nature’s delicate work between the old pier and Barracuda Point. The barge’s flat steel hull wiped corals away like a giant knife slicing through butter, leaving in its wake hundreds of square metres of unnaturally flat limestone, and a veritable wall of coral and debris piled up against the beach.
The damage is incalculable — one of Sipadan’s most precious and beloved spots, well-known the world over, is no more, transformed by a single inexplicable act of human carelessness into a grisly mass of broken and pulverised corals, shredded turtles and mounds of grey gravel suffocating what little is left of the legendary dropoff.
*UPDATE* The Sipadan dive operators have issued a statement on what has happened at Sipadan.
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Comment(s):Unbelievable. It almost brings tears to my eyes. Sipadan is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been, both topside and in the water.
Posted by funkyspelunker on 05/16 at 03:20 PMIt beggers belief that in this day and age that something like this could of happened.
Having organised and personally dived Sipadan over a number of years everbody has always come away with that very special experience of discovering and enjoying one of the world’s most pristine underwater enviroments
Lets hope that all is not lost and that questions are asked within the Malaysian Goverment as to why this disaster occured.
Posted by dbdiving on 05/17 at 12:57 AMThe politics and distruction of Sipadan seems to continue. I hope the damage is limited to this underwater jewel!!
Posted by blackbird on 05/17 at 06:10 AMHas anyone notified ICRAN or Nature Conservancy? Sometimes that coral can be re-attached.
Posted by Scubaskeeter on 05/17 at 07:50 AMI start to think that the conservation of one of the most precious gift to the humanity is the hands of an incompetent bunch of amateurs.
I wonder if the Malaysian authorities are really interested in protecting this unique gem.
Some international organization such as Unesco should start to look into the issue.I’m astonished and enraged
Salvatore
Posted by Havskatt on 05/17 at 03:37 PMFrom The ‘New Sabah times’ web site:
Expressing grave concern, Kah Kiat who is also Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister said he has been informed that some corals had been damaged by the barge.
“The damage is said to be substantial and as a result, we may even have to consider closing the island indefinitely to let the island rest and regenerate,” he said.
http://www.newsabahtimes.com.my/local1.htm
Posted by Havskatt on 05/17 at 10:59 PMI would also like to be clear that this accident has not ruined diving on Sipadan. It has just heavily damaged a section of the reef. It is important to publicise this damage to insure it does not happen again.
It is also important that divers are not put off from going to Sipadan - because without the income generated by tourism Sipadan would soon be consumed by the fishermen (just as the rain forests and reefs around Semporna have been). Fish-bombs from nearby islands are a common sound in Sipadan (they are shockingly loud - I heard 5 on one day’s diving last week). If the island didn’t have the divers and Malaysian army there it would be ravaged in days (in fact a fisherman was caught with nets filled with Barracuda at Sipadan at night during my stay).
Alex
Posted by Dr. Alex Mustard on 05/18 at 04:26 AMIt looks like the barge—which was ferrying in materials to construct a resort—did not have the requisite permits to be in the area.
http://www.divester.com/2006/05/18/the-barge-that-destroyed-sipadans-reef/Posted by WillyVolk on 05/18 at 01:01 PMBe sure to read the statement from the Sipadan dive operators: http://www.finsonline.com/blog/fins/?p=48
Posted by Eric Cheng on 05/20 at 11:54 AMAn inquest into the accident has been ordered. In the meantime, all construction practices on Sipadan have been suspended.
http://www.divester.com/2006/05/20/malaysian-official-halts-construction-at-sipadan-orders-full-pro/Interestingly—and not all that surprisingly—the opposition party has called for future construction to be halted entirely. Claiming all the same facilities are only a 15-minute boat ride away, a former tourism official has questioned the need for construction.
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2006/5/21/nation/14308306&sec=nationPosted by WillyVolk on 05/22 at 11:33 AM
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