Indonesia is located between two oceans and two continents. Indonesia has such large area of marine, including the seas in many islands. Each sea has its own characteristics, such as the size, depth, and organisms. Some of those seas become the place of some endemic organisms, and has such pretty underwater landscape. One of those seas is the Seram Sea, the whale migration route in Indonesia. It’s located in the eastern part of Indonesia. This sea has a lot of stories and becomes the favourite whales migration route every year. The Seram Sea has its own characteristics and abundant amount of natural resources inside. Besides the Seram Sea, you should also read about another popular sea in Indonesia; the Java Sea.
Getting to Know the Seram Sea
In Indonesian language, Seram means ‘scary’, although the Seram Sea is not as frightening as its name. The Seram Sea, one of the small seas in Indonesia, is located in the east of Indonesia. This sea is a part of the Pacific Ocean, with an area of 12.000 km2. Geographically, it’s located at 2o20’S 128oE00’. Its size is relatively though, the Seram Sea is located between the Buru Island and Seram Island, and it’s surrounded by some small islands in Papua and Seram Island. Besides the Seram Sea, you should need to know about the Banda Sea.
According to the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO), the Seram Sea is a part of East Indian Islands water ecosystem, with the boundaries of:
- North and Northeast
It starts with the Dehekolano Bay in the east, Sula Islands to the Obira Island in the west, up to Seranmaloleo in the very far east. This boundary still continues to the Tobalai, Kekek, Pisang, and Kofiau Islands, up to Sele Bay with the coordinate of 1o26’S 130oE55’.
- Southeast
The boundary starts from Karoefa, Papua, to the very southeast at Adi Islands. Borang Bay becomes the north boundary, as a part of Kai Besar with the coordinate of 5o17’S 133oE09’. There are 23 types of sea in this world.
- Southwest and South
It’s located in the north of Groot Kai, to Watu Bela Islands and Gorong Island, to the very southeast side of Seram Island, to Big Tandoeroe Bay in the northwest. It continues to the Batoe Noeham as the northern part of Buru Island, until the Palpetoe Cape as the northwestern part of Buru Island.
- West
The western boundary starts from the Cape Palpetoe until Waka Bay, then the southern to northern part of Sanana Island. It continues to Mangoli Strait until the southern part of it in the Soela Islands, with the coordinate of 1o56’S 125oE55’.
The condition around the Seram Sea, the whale migration route in Indonesia, including the islands’ condition, highly impact its weather. The weather around the Seram Sea has relatively high rainfall rate. The base of the Seram Sea is divided into several active subduction zones which belong to the Banda Arc. That’s the reason why the Seram Sea endures some earthquakes, although with no tsunami potential. However, people who live around the Seram Sea still need be aware about this earthquake condition.
Whales Phenomenon
Some beached and died whales have been reported around the Seram Sea. It’s such an interesting topic to be discussed since this incident had occurred for several times around the Seram Sea. According to some ecologists, this beached whales could be a strong evidence that they use the Seram Sea as a migration route. Moreover, the route can take along the Banda Sea up to some seas around Seram Island. There are 5 effects of climate change for marine ecosystems.
In spite of its small size, the Seram Sea is quite deep though, therefore, it’s suitable to be used as whale migration route. Moreover, there are 10 deepest seas in the world. However, the cause of whales death are still need to be determined. Some assumptions said that it happens due to the dynamics of marine ecosystem or only natural deaths (old age) during the migration.
So that’s the article of the Seram Sea, the whale migration route in Indonesia. Thank you for reading.