Pertamina-KLHK Successfully Find New Whale Shark Individuals In Central Papua

One type of whale shark located in the Cenderawasih Bay National Park Area (TNTC), Kwatisore, Nabire Regency, Central Papua. (ANTARA/HO-HUMAS Pertamina Papua)

PAPUA - PT Pertamina International Shipping (PIS) together with the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK) managed to find an individual whale shark in the National Park Area of Cenderawasih Bay (TNTC), Kwatisore, Nabire Regency, Central Papua. Pertamina International Shipping Corporate Secretary Muhammad Aryomekka Firdaus said this finding was the result of joint monitoring which became a special gift for biological sustainability in the ocean which coincided with the World Ocean Day (International Sea Day) moment on June 8. " “ The results of monitoring in the field found that there were new individual whale sharks in the TNTC area so that the population increased," he said in a press release in Jayapura, Antara, Tuesday, June 11. According to Aryomekka, this is a good effort that has taken place in the last few months and clear evidence of the company's commitment to supporting the sustainability of marine ecosystems, especially in the waters of Eastern Indonesia. "As for the form of cooperation in the management of Whale Shark Center in Kwatisore, this includes several programs, including whale shark conservation and tagging, Pertamina Ocean Warrior or Endangered Species Monitoring, diving training and independent energy villages," he said. Meanwhile, the Habitat Ecosystem Controller for the Management Section of TNTC Region 1 Kwatisore, Sumaryono said the initial data on the whale shark population amounted to 195 but after joint monitoring in November 2023 his party recorded a new individual so that the number reached 203 whale sharks as of May 2024. "We hope that in the future this number can continue to grow to monitor the population and movement of whale sharks in the TNTC area," he said. According to Sumaryono, in addition to the monitoring program, conservation efforts at TNTC have also been carried out with the whale shark tagging process to record and process whale shark behavior data while in the waters.

"Where one of the data utilization is to study the migration route of whale sharks in the Papua sea waters so that from this data we will adjust it to the shipping route for PIS ships in the Papua region," he said. He explained that when a ship sailed on the route, it did not interfere with the whale shark path. "Hopefully this data can be accessed by other ships to maintain the marine ecosystem," he said.