November 09, 2002

Pindito anchored at Pulau Tiga (02° 07' 138" S, 130° 19' 576" E)

This morning we anchored between a group of small islands and the shore of south Misool, called Pulau Tiga. On the way from Pulau Sissie the Pindito crew trailed feather lures, and caught two tuna and a large Spanish mackerel, …mmmmm sashimi.

The vegetation team spent an interesting morning climbing a small watercourse. Although it was mainly dry, in four small pools a few fish hovered, waiting for the rain. At this site there has been no logging so far, and native timber trees are still common. In the bushes we could hear large animals moving - wallabies?, pigs ? (lots of sign), cassowary?- but never saw them. Ferry made one fine spotting of a kuskus - this large possum-like mammal clambered slowly done from its perch amongst the canopy leaves, its brown and gold blotching providing excellent camouflage. On the ridge top we discovered several mounds of leaves, about 1 meter high and four meters across. The megapode bird makes these huge compost heaps: the female lays its eggs here, and the heat from the rotting vegetation incubates the eggs. These nests are obviously attractive to predators, but the bird does have an ally: small mites infest these heaps; known locally as kutu maleo, they burrow under the skin of any large animal (including man), and cause a truly terrible itching.

Turtle nests on the mainland beaches were heavily disturbed by pigs. There was lots of disturbance on island beaches - from the size of the holes, it seems like monitor lizards are very active, also man.

Afternoon, the vegetation team and social economy team to Kapatlol village. Their arrival coincided with the departure of logging company representatives, who were leaving after paying community fees for logs they had harvested. It's difficult to get an exact figure, but it seems that around $ 20,000 was shared between three villages. In theory, this is paid at a rate of about $ 5 dollars per cubic meter of timber loaded, and it seems that the company is harvesting around 4,000 cubic meters every three months. The figures may not be exact (logging is not exactly a transparent business), but clearly the incentives for villagers to sell timber rights are huge. Everyone knows that the area being logged is a designated conservation area, but its also traditional land. Conservationists need a very good strategy to overcome this.

The villagers regularly hunt turtle: using a harpoon and line similar to old-time whale-hunters, they claim to be able to catch 2-3 turtles a night, even though numbers have decreased. One villager said that he caught more than 20 a month, but if these are consumed locally where are the carapaces? Are the turtles being sold?

Gerry Allen spent six hours underwater today! Rod saw a squadron of 60 enormous bumphead parrotfish, and larger fish were generally more common than on previous drives.