ANTHROPOGENIC THREATS

Marine mammals are subject to a variety of threatening processes, most of which are caused by human activities on the land as well as at sea. As marine mammals are generally predators that occur mainly at mid to high tropic levels in the food web, they are especially vulnerable to any changes or disturbances that have adverse medium to long-term effects on the marine ecosystems. There are some reasons for concern about the status of dugongs and inshore cetaceans in Malaysia. In East Malaysia, besides continuous traditional hunting for meat and incidental catches in fishing gear, the decline of dugongs and inshore cetaceans is also mainly caused by poor agricultural and forestry practices that degrade coastal habitats. The decline is evident by comparing historical records and accounts of old timers with current information (Jaaman, 2000; Jaaman et al., 2000a, 2000b; Jaaman, 2002; Jaaman & Lah-Anyi, 2003). In Peninsular Malaysia, dugongs and inshore cetaceans have declined significantly in the past few decades and the animals are no longer, or only very rarely, seen in major estuaries and inshore waters where they were once reported common (Bland 1970; Gibson-Hill, 1949; Lewin, 1956; Mansor et al., 2000; Nadarajah, 2000; Jaaman et al., 2002). The animals are endangered due to problems associated with habitat loss/degradation and kills in fisheries (Mansor et al., 2000; Nadarajah, 2000; Jaaman, 2002; Jaaman et al., 2002).