Strengthening Indonesian Government’s commitment to shark and ray conservation
A highly charismatic species of walking shark has been discovered in the remote eastern Indonesian island of Halmahera. The epaulette (long-tailed carpet) shark, Hemiscyllium halmahera, uses its fins to "walk" across the ocean floor in search of small fish and crustaceans. The discovery comes at a time when Indonesia is significantly ramping up its efforts to protect shark and ray species that are now considered vulnerable to extinction, including whale sharks and manta rays. Indonesia is the world's largest archipelagic nation with a marine area of over 5.8 million km2 (including a 2.55 million km2 EEZ), and harbours a vast wealth of marine resources. Among these is an amazing diversity of marine life; besides hosting well over 75% of the world's coral species, Indonesia also is home to at least 218 species of sharks and rays.
Report by Mark Erdmann PhD ( see OG Issue 27)