The Most Western : Weh Island
Februari 1st, 2010 by izarsaja
http://www.dharssi.org.uk/travel/indonesia/images/pulau_weh_map.gif
Weh Island (or We) is a small volcanic island located in the northwest of Sumatra Island. The island was once connected to the island of Sumatra, but later separated by the sea after a volcano eruption last time in the Pleistocene era. The island is located in the Andaman Sea. Largest city on the island of Weh, Sabang, is located in the western Indonesia. The island is famous for it’s ecosystem. The Indonesian government has set the region as far as 60 km² from the edge of the island both in and out as nature reserves. Big-mouthed sharks can be found on the coast of this island. In addition, this island is the only habitat for threatened status of frogs, Bufo valhallae (genus Bufo). Coral reefs around the island is known as a habitat for various fish species.
Geography
Weh Island is located in the Andaman Sea, where 2 groups of islands, the Nicobar Islands and Andaman Islands, scattered in a line from Sumatra to the Burma plate. Andaman Sea is located in a small tectonic plate which is active. Complex fault systems and volcanic island arcs have been formed along the sea by tectonic plate movement. This island extends along 15 kilometers (10 miles) at the northernmost tip of Sumatra. The island is only a small island with an area of 156.3 km², but it has lots of mountains. The highest peak of this island is a volcano high fumarolik with 617 meters (2024 feet).
The last eruption of this mountain is estimated to occur in the Pleistocene era. As a result of this eruption, some of the mountain collapsed, filled with the sea and formed a separate island. At a depth of nine meters (29.5 feet) near the town of Sabang, underwater fumaroles emerge from the seabed. Volcanic cone can be found in the woods. There are 3 areas solfatara: one is located 750 meters southeast of the summit and the other is located 5 km and 11.5 km northwest part of the peak on the west coast bay Perialakot Lhok. There are four small islands around Weh Island: Klah, Rubiah, Seulako, and Rondo. Among the four, Rubiah famous as tourist dive for coral reefs. Rubiah a haven Indonesian Muslims to perform pilgrimage to the sea before and after the Mecca.
Population
Weh Island is part of the province of Aceh. 1993 census showed there were 24,700 residents on the island. The majority of the population is ethnic Acehnese and the rest of Minangkabau, Javanese, Batak, and Tionghoa. It is unknown when the island was first inhabited. Islam is the main religion, because the special province of Aceh is a set Sharia law. However, there are some Christians and Buddhists on the island. They mostly tribes Java, Batak, and Tionghoa. On December 26, 2004 earthquake under the sea a large (9 on the Richter scale) occurred in the Andaman Sea. This earthquake triggered a series of tsunamis that killed at least 130,000 people in Indonesia. The effect of a relatively small island of Weh, but it is unknown how many residents of the island who died from the earthquake. The island is sinking in the incident.
Ecosystem
During the years 1997-1999, Conservation International conducted a survey of coral reefs in the region. According to the survey, relatively few coral diversity, but diversity of fish species is very large. Some species found during the survey including Pogonoperca ocellata, Chaetodon gardneri, Chaetodon xanthocephalus, Centropyge flavipectoralis, Genicanthus caudovittatus, Halichoeres cosmetus, Stethojulis albovittatus, Scarus enneacanthus, Scarus scaber and Zebrasoma desjardinii.

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Cause of earthquake in Aceh and around the Andaman Sea in 2004, On March 13, 2004, specimens of rare and unusual species of big-mouthed shark, beached Gapang. Megamouth shark has a typical big mouth, the nose is very short and wide. These specimens is the discovery that the 21 (some say to-23) of the species since its discovery in 1976. Bull shark measuring 1.7 meters long (5.58 feet) and weighs 13.82 kg (30.5 pounds) of frozen sent to the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) for further research. Until the year 2006, there were only 36 big-mouthed shark discovery in the Pacific Ocean, Indian, and Atlantic.
The earthquake and tsunami in 2004 affected the island’s ecosystem. In the village Iboih, plots of mangrove plants were destroyed. Debris from land piled on the rocks surrounding the tsunami. In 2005, about 14,400 mangrove seedlings replanted mangrove forests to save them. In addition to the underwater ecosystem, the island of Weh is the only habitat of the endangered frog species, named Bufo valhallae (genus “Bufo”). The species is only known from the illustrations of this island. Because of deforestation on the island of Weh, the population of these species is uncertain. Hopefully!
I Love Weh Island, and one of my dreams is going to be there
Amien… Amien…











