Publication Date: 11.06.2002

Publication: The Star

Byline: HILARY CHIEW 

ON THE horizon, dawn is breaking but it is still dark as we gingerly sink our feet into the mudflat. We are to move in this squashy condition for the next two hours. Bravely, we plod on.

The night before, Choo had warned us to watch out for stingrays and now I wonder how I could tell one apart from the mud in this pitch darkness.

Behind me, Ariati shreaks. In a frantic move to break her fall, she inadvertently sticks her left hand into the greyish mass.

I catch myself wondering if her watch could take the shock of so much mud. I try to concentrate on my steps and maintain my balance while dragging the styrofoam box containing a hand-held Global Positioning System and a salinometer (to test the salinity level) - gadgets that would come in handy later.

All this hassle is necessary as we need to take advantage of the low tide at the Pulai estuary in southwest Johor.

But Choo seems to walk with ease despite bearing the weight of the long-poled push-net on his shoulder.

''Perhaps my legs are longer,'' he quips but quickly adds, ''I've done this quite a bit.

''This is not the worst mud to be in. Walking in Johor's mudflat is nothing compared to Kuala Merbok (in Kedah). The mud there is very soft. It's so much harder to manoeuvre and my legs were badly cut by the many serrated rocks burrowed in the mud. The water level is above my knee even during the lowest ebb,'' recalls Choo.

Choo Chee Kuang, 25, a masters student from Kolej Universiti Sains dan Teknologi Malaysia in Kuala Terengganu (former Universiti Putra Malaysia Terengganu), has been scouring mudflats in the peninsula for the past year in search of a unique marine creature - the seahorse.

Yes, the docile fish with a horse-shaped head and a tubular snout fascinates with its unconventional reproductive system - it is the males that become pregnant!

''Seahorses are actually fishes but they look more like quirky little monsters. When they know you are watching, they will lower their heads, swim behind a plant, curl on a blade of grass and steal glances at you. Their demure behaviour is what I like most about them,'' says Choo with open affection for the fishes.

Choo will be observing and documenting the breeding habits of the Hippocampus kuda in its natural habitat, the seagrass bed, for a five-month period. He had planned the survey period to coincide with the reproductive season which he believes is between April and August, based on an earlier field study.

''Last July, I came across a number of pregnant males. I'm using that as an indicator, so I'm starting as early as April so as not to miss the courting phase,'' says Choo.

After advancing almost 200m and upon reaching the water's edge, Choo deploys the push-net and starts combing the seagrass bed. ''This is the time of the day that they mate. If we are lucky we may net them,'' enthuses Choo.

However, he reckons that the chances are slim as the area is close to the Tanjung Adang jetty, a popular fishing spot among the locals.

Choo hopes to catch new seahorses as well as chance upon those he had tagged on previous trips. This will give him an insight into how far the fish travels, if it travels at all.

For the next hour, as we inch towards deeper waters, the fish eludes us.

As we make our way back to the shore, Choo discusses his next activity with Ariati Sari Ibrahim, a friend he has roped in to help him out during this trip. Several dives in selected seagrass patches along the lower reaches of Sungai Pulai are being planned for the day.

As seahorses are cryptic creatures with excellent camouflage, spotting them is rather tricky. Hence underwater search remains the order of the day during the research period.

The three-year pioneer project on the H. kuda encompasses a study on the wild population, developing culture techniques for commercially-viable species and introducing a captive breeding programme to check exploitation of wild population. Choo is relieved that the project has been given a RM139,000 Intensified Research in Priority Area grant under the Eighth Malaysia Plan.

After lunch, our boatman Jumaat Haron, popularly known as Karim, loads up the boat with scuba equipment and we set off to the sampling site just opposite the port of Tanjung Pelepas.

There is a light breeze blowing as we wait patiently for the divers to emerge with good news. Besides Ariati, Choo has also enlisted the help of the varsity's dive assistant, Abdul Rashid Omar. Fifteen minutes later, Choo emerges with a vivid yellow seahorse in a plastic bag - an adult female. Choo deftly applies a lightweight plastic tag to the nape of the seahorse, while Ariati helps in recording the field data - the length of the animal, the location it was caught (by consulting the Global Positioning System), the temperature and salinity of the water, and most importantly the serial number - F7, indicating that it is the seventh female to be tagged.

Choo gently puts the seahorse back into the bag, and disappears underwater to return it to its home. ''I'll be diving everyday at this site before sunrise until my oxygen supply runs out. During this time, I'll check the position of the tagged seahorses to see if they stay put in one site and observe their individual behaviours.''

Choo's insitu observations are supported by his supervisor, marine biologist Liew Hock Chark, who keeps an eye on the live specimens in the laboratory back at the Kuala Terengganu campus.

''Strong winds during the southwest monsoon which starts in July will bring about turbulence and murky waters. This will make underwater obervations difficult,'' says Choo who experienced the unfavourable conditions last year.

Another threat lurks in the murky waters - man-eating crocodiles.

''Saltwater crocodiles were sighted upstream in Sungai Pulai and there were even reports of an attack,'' says Choo as Karim nods in agreement. That explains why Karim would not take him upstream.

Race against time

Choo is undaunted by the physical hardship and risks involved. Instead, his biggest concern is that time is not on his side.

''Seahorses are running out of time,'' says Choo. ''How else can I study them if they become extinct?''

Indeed, his concern is not entirely unfounded.

According to Karim, a push-net trip in the 1980s could net up to 80 seahorses in two hours; at times, as many as 30 in half an hour.

''My friend and I collected the seahorses, put them in a pail of water and sent them to a middleman in Gelang Patah town at the estuary. He told us that the fish is used in traditional Chinese medicine,'' says Karim, adding that they were paid RM1 for each seahorse.

However, over the last decade, pressure on the seahorse eased somewhat as fishermen in southwest Johor turned their attention to prawns which fetched better returns.

But the seahorses in Sungai Johor were not so fortunate. Choo's survey shows that the wild population in southeast Johor had been heavily exploited for the pet trade.

''Harvesting seahorse was rampant throughout the tributaries of Sungai Johor. Such activities have declined with the dwindling seahorse population,'' says Choo. ''When I was there last year, a Sungai Lebam fisherman caught a seahorse and sold it to an aquarium owner for RM3.''

Mapping the seahorse's home

Choo's fascination with seahorses spurred him on to conduct extensive field surveys throughout the East Coast while he was an undergraduate.

''Initially I did not know where to find the seahorses. I began by collecting information from seagrass researchers and dive instructors in marine parks. I snorkelled and dived among coral reefs and in areas with seaweed and seagrass. But no matter where I looked, the seahorses were nowhere to be found. It was so frustrating.

''After I had completed my research on seahorse distribution, I realised that not all the Malaysian species live in seagrass beds and shallow reefs,'' says Choo.

''It's impractical to search for live specimens. Dried seahorse is good enough for identification. I travelled to 29 fishing villages and collected as many dried seahorses as I could,'' says Choo of the year-long exercise.

To date Choo has a collection of 449 specimens from four local species - Hippocampus trimaculatus, Hippocampus spinosissimus, Hippocampus kelloggi and Hippocampus kuda.

Interviews with trawlers reveal that the H. trimaculatus and H. spinosissimus live in depths of 25m around the fringes of islands.

''I suspect these two species are sparsely distributed and less gregarious,'' says Choo. ''Only the H. kuda lives in shallow waters. Southern Johor has a viable population of this species to facilitate research.''

Unique ecosystem

However, the H. kuda sanctuary is under threat. Seahorses may soon find their homes smothered by silt and poisoned by pollutants because the Government has earmarked the area from Tanjung Pelepas to Pendas, a 40km stretch of pristine mangrove swamp, for development. So we can expect a mushrooming of industrial, commercial and housing projects besides the planned expansion of Tanjung Pelepas port.

A 1989 study on Sungai Pulai and its tributaries showed that the estuary is unique for its extensive beds of seagrass and seaweeds, unlike the mangrove estuaries on the West Coast.

The high salinity and calm, clear waters are conducive for the growth of many species of macro-algae and seagrass which offer the seahorse food as well as protection from predators.

''The impending development is cause for concern,'' says Choo. ''So little is known about our seahorse. They are harvested for use in traditional medicine, and as curios and ornamental pieces for the aquarium trade.

''If this exploitative trend continues, like any other wildlife, the seahorse population will crash and extinction is almost certain.''

Liew shares Choo's concern for the dwindling wild population. ''Extrapolation of exploitation rates that we got from monitoring the by-catch of several fisheries in the peninsula in 2001 alone show that an estimated 500,000 seahorses or 1.5 metric tonnes of the fish were caught.'' Most of these are offshore species like the H. trimaculatus and H.spinosissimus.

Choo hopes that the H. kuda will be listed as a protected species under the Wildlife Protection Act 1972. Such a move would be in line with the Government's pledge to conserve the country's biodiversity.

''Only when we have gained an insight into their population status, biological and ecological needs can we develop strategies to sustain their populations and prevent their extinction,'' says Liew.