Exploring an Area a Tenth the Earth’s Age

Kompas/Heru Sri Kumoro

A cluster of karst hills is seen on Thursday (12/10) in the East Misool district of Raja Ampat, West Papua.

The landscape of Raja Rampat regency, West Papua, is like a piece of Heaven on Earth. The limestone clusters emerging amid clear seas form a breathtaking panorama.

The limestone keeps the local waters crystal clear. It is no wonder, then, that the zone is home to 70 percent of the world’s corals.

The Kompas team walked on the Dapunlol karst hill, located at an altitude of around 110 meters above sea level in East Misool, Raja Ampat. From the top, a cluster of small karst islands covered in green could be seen in a stunning blue lagoon below.

Such views are seen not only from the hilltops. On the previous days, the Kompas team visited several dive spots in southern Misool, including Magic Mountain, which houses numerous exotic sea creatures, and the astonishing Wagmap Wall and Farondi Cave. Raja Ampat is highly deserving of its National Geopark status, which was bestowed on Nov. 20, 2017.

An underwater lagoon exists beneath the cliffs of Wagmap Wall, lined with a variety of soft coral and sea slugs.

In his 2016 book Pesona Fitur Geologi Bawah Laut Indonesia (Attractive Geological Features Beneath Indonesian Seas), published by the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry’s Geological Research And Development Center, Subaktian Lubis writes that such lagoons are formed when waves eroded the island. The natural phenomenon accompanies rising sea levels, or the tectonic subsidence of the karst islands.

Misool Island has other geological treasures. Here, rocks that formed during the Quaternary Period (1.6 million years ago) can be seen on its northern side, and metamorphic rocks over 430 million years old from the Paleozoic era are seen on the western end of its southern beach.

“Raja Ampat represents around a tenth of the age of the Earth [4.5 billion years old],” said lead researcher Hanang Samodra of the Geological Agency’s geological survey center.

Crystal clear

Apart from these geological facts, Raja Ampat’s wealth of biodiversity is unquestionable. Beneath its waters are 553 types of coral, 1,470 types of coral fishes and a vast number of sea creatures. The region also boasts 258 bird species.

This biodiversity is supported by the natural karst hills and lime substrates in the surrounding area. Lubis said that the condition kept the waters crystal clear, as calcium carbonate separates the colloid sediment suspended in murky waters.

This was proven during a Raja Ampat dive on Oct. 10-12. The weather was not particularly accommodating, as the sky was filled with dark clouds that brought rain and high waves. Under such conditions, water usually gets murky and visibility is low. This was not the case at Misool. The waters were not murky, and visibility was more than 20 meters, with only the limited penetration of sunlight affecting the visual atmosphere in the underwater photographs and videos.

This well-preserved environment enabled the Kompas team to meet the kalabia, or a walking shark species that is endemic to Raja Ampat, during a night dive on Tuesday (10/10) in the waters off Harapan Jaya kampong. The 70-centimeter sea creature is unlike its other relatives, who swim through the water: the kalabia walks on its fins along the ocean floor.

A related species, the wobbegong shark, with a beard-like growth around its mouth, also made an appearance at Magic Mountain. At first, it was difficult to see the shark, because of its creamy white skin, which is similar to the color of the substrate where it often lies in wait for its prey.

Culture

Culturally, the people of Raja Ampat obey local wisdoms that are similar to those of the Maluku people. They have a customary law called sasi that protects marine areas. These customary rules and church agreements prohibit the people from harvesting certain creatures at certain times. Nowadays, such wisdoms have been expanded to cover the volume of the catch.

The goal is to provide sea creatures, including sea cucumbers, sea snails (lola) and clams, with the chance to reproduce, so that the marine biota population can be sustained.

Another cultural treasure of the region is prehistoric art – rock paintings on the hillside cliffs. There are at least 30 sites in Misool that display these red drawings of hands, dolphins, whales, manta rays and other marine creatures.

The Kompas team saw these drawings in Sunbayo, along the Panah-panah Strait in Misool. Although these rock paintings are on the cliffs, they are easily seen, as they are at the height of an adult standing upright in a boat.

Visual communication expert Pindi Setiawan, of the Bandung Institute of Technology’s faculty of arts and design, said that the Misool rock paintings might have been made by more than one ethnic tribe that had migrated there during different eras. This can be seen from the irregular and overlapping drawings. However, Pindi said that, based on the types and patterns of the drawings, he estimated that most of them were made by Austronesian tribes that had sailed from Formosa Island (Taiwan) through Raja Ampat. The drawings were thought to be no more than 3,000 years old, which matched the known era when ancient Formosan sailors might have sailed through the islands.

However, Pindi said, the several drawings located more than 3 meters high on the cliff could be more than 3,000 years old. “These rock drawings could have been made by pre-Austronesian tribes,” he said.

With its cultural riches, there are numerous reasons why Raja Ampat is worthy of being named a UNESCO Global Geopark, which will recognize the region as a priceless world heritage. Efforts to achieve this are currently under way.

Raja Ampat tourism agency head Yusdi Lamatenggo hoped that earning the status would improve the local people’s welfare – surely, with the preservations of local wisdoms.

(JAL/INK)