Life under the Malaysia seas: A walk to the deep blue sea

Caption : The poster of the event.

Universiti Sains Malaysia Penang, 25 April. - How often do you get exposed about the biodiversity under the Malaysia seas? This free admission eye opener talk is one of the many activities under the event of 'Project Ocean Awareness' organized by the Scuba Diving Club of USM. The talk with 30 over audience was held in DK G31 and the speaker was Professor Zulfigar Yasin from School of Biological Sciences. The motive behind this event is to raise awareness and to educate more people about the biodiversity and ecosystem under the sea.

Professor Zulfigar Yasin, a marine biologist who is also a dedicated diver with 28 years of diving experience, was the first Malaysian Scuba diving instructor in United Kingdom in 1987. His field of research includes marine ecology, biodiversity, conservation, coral reef studies and environmental studies. He is also involved in numerous expeditions such as the Malaysia's first Antarctica Scientific Expedition (2002), Research on the South China Sea and Islands (ROSES) Expedition, Scientific Adviser for the Prime Scientific Expedition (2009) and Expedition Leader for the Straits of Malacca Expedition (2015). 

Prof. Zulfigar showing pictures of giant clam found in Malaysia seas.

The talk started off with visuals and videos shown by Prof. Zulfigar while he introduces to the audience the seas of Malaysia: Straits of Malacca, Sulu Sea, South China Sea and Celebes Sea. He then explained that the Malaysia seas are the most visited spot for divers due to the rare species that can be found such as the smallest sea cucumber (as small as 1 cm) and giant clam (about 500 kilograms). With twenty over years of knowledge and countless diving experience, Prof said "the slower you go, you more you will see", while he shared interesting encounters under the sea. There are many safety precautions to be considered before diving and he added "plan the dive then you dive the plan". It may look crystal clear from the top, but as you dive deeper, it is pitch black. 

Video of biodiversity under the water and fluorescent corals

The audience were then captivated by the beautiful fluorescent corals found in Langkawi Island. Prof. Zulfigar added, the protein extracted from fluorescent corals or jellyfish serves very useful medical purposes such as detecting cancerous cells under the ultraviolet light. Besides fluorescent corals, local population such as Suluk, Minang, Bugis uses medicine from coral reef.

Prof explaining the variety and pattern of shells

One of the cowrie shell Prof showed.

Towards the end of the talk, Prof showed us his collection of cowrie shells and clams he had collected during his expeditions. He also explained that these cowrie shells were once used as currency in certain countries. The talk ended with Q&A session.