KOTA KINABALU: A Sabah-led international research has helped shed light on the rare eagle rays, using mainly citizen science and social media.

According to the Sabah Shark and Ray Association (SSRI), this international study, led by Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), saw the identification of a total of 46 eagle rays.

From the 53 reports of the rare species the team found online, the 46 identified included those in Palau, the Seychelles and South Africa, representing the first confirmed reports of the species in these countries, said SSRI.

It said that the study also found that many of the sighting occurrences were in Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), highlighting the importance of these MPAs in shark and ray conservation.

SSRI said although there were no sightings of the ornate eagle ray documented on social media from Sabah, the species has historically been recorded in state fisheries.

Its current status in the state is unknown, although once occasionally landed in Sabah, no reports have been documented in the last 20 years, it said.

“The ornate eagle ray is a large and easily identifiable ray, and its distinct back pattern of stripes and reticulated spots make the species well suited for a citizen science-based study approach,” said Gonzalo Araujo, Associate Research Fellow at UMS.

“Citizen science, where the public contributes to data collection, is a powerful tool that can assist many projects”, he said, adding that people’s photos on social media platforms, such as Facebook, are proving incredibly useful for monitoring rare species, especially in remote places.

He said in Sabah, for example, citizen science is already helping scientists understand the enigmatic whale shark, providing evidence of how its movement to and from neighbouring areas.

Araujo said the most notably of such research was in late 2019 when a diver’s video of a whale shark at Pulau Sipadan off Semporna was used to confirm the first documented movement of a whale shark between Philippines and Malaysia, as the shark had previously been identified in south Cebu, Philippines.

“It is interesting that many of the reports of ornate eagle rays found on social media were within iconic Marine Protected Areas, such as Ningaloo Reef and the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, and Cagayancillo reef in the Philippines – just like the whale shark at Pulau Sipadan in 2019,” he said.

“The effectiveness of MPAs to conserve species like the ornate eagle ray, and other mobile species, is highly complex, yet it is encouraging that these species are present in these areas, and that citizen science can be a powerful tool to help monitor them,” he added.

Source: https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2020/12/13/ums-led-research-reveals-more-info-on-rare-eagle-rays

(13 December 2020)

An ornate eagle ray, showing the distinct back pattern of stripes and reticulated spots. These beautiful, yet rare, rays can grow up to 240cm from wing tip to wing tip. (Credit: Jacinta Shackleton).

KOTA KINABALU: Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) has allocated more than RM1mil to make online studies easier for its underprivileged students. A total of RM1.25mil has been allocated for data plans and devices for B40 undergraduates at the university.

UMS vice-chancellor Datuk Dr Taufiq Yap said 1,928 students would benefit from the data plans. “As for devices such as laptops, these are for a total of 714 eligible students from the B40 group, ” he said.

He said these students comprised 619 from Sabah, 37 from Sarawak and 58 from Peninsular Malaysia. Yap said these funds are from the UMS students' welfare trust fund. “We started giving students the data plan assistance in phases since Dec 8,” he said.

He said as for the devices, students will get them once the required procedures are met. Yap said these are part of UMS’ six welfare and assistance programmes to help students.

Earlier, the university had spent RM20,000 for food bank programmes as well. “Other initiatives taken to lessen the burden of students was by not collecting college accommodation rental fees for a certain period,” he said.

Source: https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2020/12/11/ums-allocates-over-rm1mil-for-data-plans-devices-for-b40-undergrads

(11 December 2020)

KOTA KINABALU -- Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) is offering drive-through COVID-19 screenings to the public.

UMS Pusat Rawatan Warga (PRW) director Dr Muhammad Syafiq Abdullah said the service is available daily at the PRW located near the UMS sports centre from 9.30 am to 12 pm and 2.30 pm to 4.30 pm.

“The screening will be made at the PRW lobby quickly, carefully and safely without them even having to get down from the car,” he said in a statement today.

According to Dr Syafiq, the rapid test method would cost a payment of RM95 while the rt-PCR screening would cost RM333.

“All payments can be made through online banking. Receipts will be issued online. This is to ensure that the entire process remains contact-free so as to reduce the risk of infection.

“The initiative is conducted by PRW, with the cooperation of Universiti Malaysia Hospital Sabah (HUMS), the UMS Medical and Health Science Faculty lab,” he said.

Source: https://www.bernama.com/en/region/news.php?id=1904959

KOTA KINABALU: A geologist expects a strong seismic event to occur in Lahad Datu in the near future based on the frequency of earthquake episodes recorded.

Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) academician Professor Dr Felix Tongkul said, even although the historical earthquake record was patchy due to older seismographs, it had improved after 1970.

"For the last 100 years, there have been regular happenings of earthquakes with magnitudes greater than 5.0 (on the Richter scale).

"Four strong earthquakes with magnitudes greater than 6.0 occurred in Kudat in 1951, Lahad Datu (1923 and 1976) and Ranau (2015)," he said in an inaugural virtual lecture on Earthquake Science in Malaysia on the UMS Facebook page.

"The earthquake record in Sabah is too short to come up with a reliable recurrence interval. However, based on available records, the frequency of earthquake occurrences with over 5.0 magnitude in Ranau is about 25 years (1966-1991).

"In Lahad Datu the frequency of earthquake occurrences with magnitude more than 6.0 is about 53 years (1923-1976). Based on this, we should expect another strong earthquake in Lahad Datu soon," said Tongkul.

In Sabah, the last strong quake measuring 6.0 on the Richter scale hit Ranau in 2015. It came 24 years after the 1991 Ranau earthquake.

Through earthquake research, Tongkul noted experts could learn to predict the time, place and size of specific large earthquakes, ideally in a very short time to allow communities to be more prepared.

"Unfortunately, accurate prediction of earthquakes is still not possible at this stage due to the complexity of the system. There are no clear signals before occurrences of a large earthquake.

"However, many aspects of earthquake behaviour can be anticipated with enough precision to be useful in mitigating risks.

"The potential of faults to cause future earthquakes can be assessed by combining geological field studies of previous movements with seismic and geodetic monitoring of current activity," he said.

Tongkul said the Active Fault Research Group coordinated by UMS had in 2012 mapped several potential active faults, namely in Ranau, Kudat, Sandakan, Lahad Datu and Kunak.

From 2018, UMS has been collaborating with Cambridge and Aberdeen universities as well as the Malaysian Meteorological Department to record how earthquake waves propagate under Sabah to determine its crustal structure.

Tongkul pointed out four major challenges of earthquake science in Malaysia: the lack of seismic geological, geodetic and engineering data; inadequate seismic and geodetic monitoring system; lack of trained human resources; and, a lack of public awareness.

As such, he said there was a need for several things, that is to carry out and develop comprehensive geological and engineering studies; coordinated seismic and geodetic monitoring; human resource capacity building; coordinated public education; a special research and development fund; and, a national earthquake research centre.

Significant 5.0 to 6.0 magnitude earthquakes will continue to occur in Malaysia, he said, but this will be limited to certain areas in Sabah especially in Ranau, Lahad Datu, Kunak, and Kudat.

"While earthquakes can't be prevented, levels of risk can be reduced or eliminated with proper understanding of how earthquakes interact with the surroundings.

"Detailed seismic hazard maps in high-risk areas are urgently needed, while earthquake prone areas in Sabah should seriously start implementing new earthquake-resistant building codes.

"This has proven to be effective in reducing casualties in countries that have implemented such measures, such as in Mexico, Chile and New Zealand. I do hope measures proposed can become the basis for quake disaster risk reduction in Malaysia," added Tongkul.

Source: https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2020/11/642205/geologist-warns-strong-earthquake-strike-lahad-datu-near-future