BY PUA WEN XIN AND SHIRRI GANAESH MURUGAN
MALAYSIA, as one of the 12 most megadiverse nations in the world, is home to dolphins.
Professor Dr Zulqarnain Mohamed, Dean of the Faculty of Science, Universiti Malaya (UM) is part of a research team to study dolphin populations in Malaysia.
Speaking to The Petri Dish recently, he said that a decline in the dolphin population was first noticed when local tour operators struggled to meet tourism demands – as dolphin sightings became rare.
He said extinction is a natural process that will be compensated by the emergence of newer species by speciation.
“However, the current extinction rate is about four or five times higher than usual, which disrupts the balance of our ecosystem,” he said.
Joining forces with experts from Universiti Malaya (UM), Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT), and First Institute of Oceanography, China, the team studied the endangered dolphin population structure in two areas: the Brunei Bay on the northwestern coast of Borneo Island and Kuala Sepetang, in Perak.
