ARTICLE
090117-My (dirty) Kuta Beach
On Saturday, 17th January 2009, my family went for a swim at Hard Rock Hotel, Kuta, Bali. While they enjoy themselves at the pool, I decided to enjoy myself at the beach. Crossing the street to the beach, passing by the newly built gapura (pura) at the entrance of the beach, I started to do shelling from SatGas Pantai (Kuta Lifeguard) Office heading down towards Discovery Shopping Mall (distance: 500mtr).
The beach was packed with local & international holiday-makers as it was still a local holiday season.
BUT…..to my amazement….the beach was awfully dirty that day! Not just the common washed-up seaweeds and other natural things (coconut, seeds etc.) but also with human garbage. Owww..my Kuta Beach…
Talking to a lifeguard, he said it was because of the previous day continuous heavy rain that washed up all the garbage from the ocean.
Walking further down the beach, I discovered dead fishes amongst the garbage. There was an article on the local newspaper about the increasing dead fishes on the water of Kuta beach but a local authority said it was not from poisoning but the fishermen had overloaded their catch and threw the fishes back to the ocean and eventually these fishes did not survived the after-caught.
Is this true, experts? Or nature has simply found a way to slowly punishing us?
Rummaging through the garbage, not much shells to find…
But an interesting discovery, many washed-up squids were found, more than usual…
Papillate Squid (Sepia papillata) Quoy & Gaimard, 1832 (Pg.377-COS)
I picked 18 pieces ranging from 2,1cm (smallest in my collection) to 31,5cm (biggest in my collection). Along the 500mtr coastline, was sighted about 30+ pcs of this species.
Doubtful Squid (Sepia incerta) E.A.Smith, 1916 (pg.376-COS)
I picked 7 pcs ranging from 3cm (smallest in my coll.) to 5,8cm (biggest) from about 20 pcs I sighted in the area.
Then upon closer observation of the debris, noted what I think is Lepas (teritip angsa), a clam family which seemed to be a parasite, living on other things from natural (coconut, bamboo, rocks, seeds) to plastic.
And also found Olive shells and some other clam.
Can somebody do something about my Kuta Beach?
Renato Sagrado
08:00, 30 January 2009
