NOVA SOUTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY | Red Orbit
WHEN PROFESSOR JIM THOMAS and his global team of researchers turned up at Madang Lagoon in Papua New Guinea they discovered a treasure trove of new species unknown to science - sea slugs, feather stars and amphipods, a shrimp-like animal (pictured).
“In the Madang Lagoon, we went a kilometre out off the leading edge of the active Australian Plate and were in 6,000 meters of water,” said Dr Thomas, a researcher at Nova Southeastern University’s National Coral Reef Institute in Hollywood, Florida.
“It was once believed there were no reefs on the north coast of PNG since there were no shallow bays and lagoons typical of most coral reef environments. But there was lots of biodiversity to be found.”
Thomas and his team discovered new species of sea slugs (nudibranchs), feather stars (crinoids) and amphipods (genus Leucothoe).
There was more variety of these indicator species found than there is in the entire length of Australia’s 2,500 km Great Barrier Reef.
“This was an astonishing discovery,” Thomas said. “We returned to our labs and began to formally assess our collections. We had no idea this lagoon’s bounty was so profound.”
The international team led by Thomas included researchers from the Scripps Institute of Oceanography in San Diego, the California Academy of Sciences and the National Botanical Gardens of Ireland.
While in Madang late last year, they joined a large French contingent of scientists from the Paris Museum of Natural History.
The research team’s findings will be shared with the local villagers as well as regional and federal governments. It will also be published in peer-reviewed journals.
The Madang Lagoon faces many environmental threats by land-based pollution from a recently opened tuna cannery whose outfall is very close to the lagoon’s reefs.
“Hopefully, our discoveries will strongly encourage governing bodies to recognize the environmental importance of the lagoon and work to stop the pollution,” Thomas said.
Madang out of all the provinces in Papua New Guinea is known for its beautiful geographical landscape.
However, Madang also has rare species of both animals and plants known or unknown to science.
As technology rapidly develops, scientists are researching and exploring new species and Madang has been one of their research sites.
Madang was once a top tourism destination but recently that has changed due to terrestrial and marine habitats been polluted by humans.
The biggest threat is to the lagoon. Animals and plants located there are at risk of extinction as we speak. The government has surely failed to recognize the drastic change that has come up in the lagoons of Madang.
New marine species that have been found in Madang are at threat. Therefore the government should start imposing laws on critical matters like this.
On the other hand, as good citizens of Papua New Guinea, we the people should be mindful of the land, sea and air pollution we make that affects the ecosystem.
Madang citizens must look after their lagoons before a mass extinction occurs to its species.
We have to start doing the right thing to preserve this species for the future generation and also for our own good.
Posted by: Annsli Kabekabe | 06 March 2013 at 05:16 PM