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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Mar. Sci.
Sec. Marine Megafauna
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmars.2024.1431209

Insights into Cetacean Sighting, Abundance, and Feeding Association: Observations from the Boat Lift Net Fishery in the Kaimana Important Marine Mammal Area, Indonesia

Provisionally accepted
Mochamad Iqbal Herwata Putra Mochamad Iqbal Herwata Putra 1*Yance Malaiholo Yance Malaiholo 2Achmad Sahri Achmad Sahri 3Edy Setyawan Edy Setyawan 4Sekar M.C. Herandarudewi Sekar M.C. Herandarudewi 3Abdy W. Hasan Abdy W. Hasan 5Hanggar Prasetio Hanggar Prasetio 6Nur Ismu Hidayat Nur Ismu Hidayat 5Mark Erdmann Mark Erdmann 7
  • 1 Focal Species Conservation Program, Ocean and Science Department, Konservasi Indonesia, Jakarta, DKI Jakarta, Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia
  • 2 Independent researcher, Kaimana, West Papua, Indonesia, Kaiman, Indonesia
  • 3 Research Center for Oceanography, National Research and Innovation Agency, Jakarta, DKI Jakarta, Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia
  • 4 Independent researcher, Boyolali, Central Java, Indonesia, Boyolali, Indonesia
  • 5 Sahul Papua Ecoregion, Konservasi Indonesia, Sorong, Southwest Papua, Indonesia, Sorong, Indonesia
  • 6 Sunda Banda Ecoregion, Konservasi Indonesia, Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia, Denpasar, Indonesia
  • 7 Conservation International Asia-Pacific, Auckland, New Zealand, Auckland, New Zealand

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    A comprehensive understanding of cetacean ecology is crucial for conservation and management. In 2018, Kaimana has been identified as Important Marine Mammal Area (IMMA) for Australian humpback dolphin (Sousa sahulensis), Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops aduncus), and Bryde's whale (Balaenoptera edeni) species as aggregation and feeding areas. Despite this, information on the cetacean ecology is currently lacking. Notably, no cetacean surveys have been undertaken in Kaimana since it was officially recognized as IMMA. We monitored food-provisioning interactions between lift-net fisheries and cetaceans from May 2021 to March 2023 to examine cetacean sighting, abundance, and feeding association. Five species were positively identified, including new record of Killer whales (Orcinus orca). Our findings suggest a strong association between T. aduncus and liftnet fisheries, where they have been observed feeding on anchovies from outside the net in the morning. While other species were observed, their presence was less frequent. Furthermore, year-round sighting of S. sahulensis, B. edeni, and T. aduncus during the study period indicate that these species are common species to this region. Thus, this study offers a novel perspective that Kaimana also meets other IMMA's sub-criterion that previously not recognized in IMMA assessment i.e., related to small and resident populations.

    Keywords: Important Marine Mammal Area, Lift net fishery, predator-prey interaction, cetacean sighting and abundance, Temporal trend

    Received: 11 May 2024; Accepted: 29 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Putra, Malaiholo, Sahri, Setyawan, Herandarudewi, Hasan, Prasetio, Hidayat and Erdmann. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Mochamad Iqbal Herwata Putra, Focal Species Conservation Program, Ocean and Science Department, Konservasi Indonesia, Jakarta, DKI Jakarta, Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.