sabah: sebatikkk

I was whisked away to the land below the wind a few weeks ago. The place where some people disappear to for 10 weeks and returning with post expedition blues for the rest of their lives, I was told. I had the chance of a lifetime to visit loads of interesting places and meet a few Raleigh-ians (including the one that Kalaivani calls ‘THE LEGEND’) along the way.

An 8 hour bus ride from KK to Tawau had me waiting at the jetty for the ferry to Pulau Sebatik at 4am in the morning. Thankfully Kalaivani was there with me. I was informed beforehand that there is only one ferry a day coming out and entering Pulau Sebatik, and the island is half Sabah, half Indonesia. Currently an ex-venturer is residing there doing her postgraduate research in marine conservation - Irrawaddy dolphins to be exact. (Yes, there are dolphins in Malaysian waters! And yes, they are in the wild!)

Shu Woan’s research is to estimate the abundance of this species of dolphins, observe their behaviour as well as residence patterns. Ultimately, a conservation plan will be drawn up to protect their numbers from dwindling.

The research station is actually a wooden house on stilts! There is no electricity during the day, the generator runs from 6pm to 6am. There’s a space ideal for sunbathing during the day and watching fire flies at night. Very expedition-y.

I was allowed to tag along her sampling with one condition - I stayed in the super huge ziplock bag. I guess everyone was too lazy to give me a bath.

Though the idea sounds fun, research has to be carried out meticulously. Two species of dolphins occur in the waters here; hence one has to be able to differentiate between the two species.

The area surrounding Shu Woan’s study site is a logging area as well as oil palm estate. Furthermore, there are irresponsible trawlers who trawl at shallow areas. Shu Woan hopes that her research will eventually bring changes to this area. She also mentioned that guest (err... volunteers) are most welcomed.

On the eve of Kalaivani and me leaving Sebatik, Shu Woan decided to join us on our mini loop. My whereabouts after Sebatik is another story......