in the 90s, yet ownership of Sipadan remained under dispute by Malaysia and Indonesia. The Philippines also laid claim to the island and many of the seafaring tribal people in Semporna are related those living in the Mindanao region of Sulu in the southern Philippines.
The 15th century Muslim state of the Sulu Sultanate once ruled the Philippine islands of Sulu, Mindanao, Palawan and included parts of the Malaysian states of Sarawak, and Sabah, including the Semporna Islands and Sipadan. The 1855 Treaty of Madrid divided the Sultanate among the European colonists, ceding the Semporna islands and Borneo to British control.
On the basis of this historical control of Northern Borneo, the Philippines applied to the International Court of Justice to intervene in the Malaysian claim, but the request was denied by the Court in 2001. In 2002 the Court of Justice awarded Malaysia claim to the island, based primarily on their occupation of Sipadan.
Not only divers had their eye on the riches of Sipadan. In 2000, 21 people were kidnapped from Sipadan by a Filipino terrorist group Abu Sayyaf's (at the time linked to al Quieda) and brought to the Philippine island of Solo for ransom, the seat of the former Sultanate. All victims were eventually released safely, but the practice of kidnapping foreign tourists for ransom by the Islamic group continued. In 2004 the Government of Malaysia ordered all dive and resort operators on Sipadan to move their structures and vacate the island. Most of the resorts moved to nearby Mabul Island, serving as the divers gateway to Sipadan.
The Malaysian government declared the island a marine protected area called Sipadan Island Marine Park. The MPA has been instituted and is managed by Sabah Parks under the authority of the National Security Council. Other islands like Mabul and nearby Kalapuan, Pom Pom host dive resorts, some budget and some high end attracting international tourists and increasingly, tourist packages from South Korea and China. The state of the reefs on these islands is not so healthy. Apparently these resorts did not learn the lesson of Sipadan, and wastewater and sewage discharge as well as smothering the reef with sediments disturbed during their construction killed the reefs. House reefs constructed of discarded building materials host invertebrates and small fish but much of the coral has been lost on the resort islands other than Sipadan. Divers can still be thrilled by non commercial species like frogfish, pygmy sea horses, blue ringed octopus, crocidle and lizard fish at these islands. Scuba Junkie and other resorts protect sea turtles as they nest and hatch, and efforts to restore the lost reefs are being made.
In 2010 terrorists from the militant Abu Sayyuf struck the region again, kidnapping guests from a dive resort on Mabul, killing a guard in the abduction creating a decline in tourism. A kidnapping and murder from nearby Pom Pom in 2013 again by Abu Sayyaf added to the region’s woes, closing resorts and causing the relocation of a research and diving center for over a year. That laboratory- the Tropical Reef and Conservation Centre has since been reoccupied and is active in reef restoration and shark conservation. Australia, the US, Britian and Canada all currently advise against travel to the Semporna region and the eastern islands. Since the 2014 incidents, Malaysian government and military formed the Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCOM) which oversees the security stretching from the north of Sabah, along the entire east coast including Sandakan, Lahad Datu, Semporna and Tawau. Tody, the Malaysian military inhabits Sipadan, and most of the island is off-limit except to permitted dive tourists during the day only. Our resort on Mabul was routinely patrolled by armed soldiers and police ashore and the nearby waters by police and naval boats at night. A perhaps unintentional benefit is a complete curfew to fishing or vessel traffic at night in the region deterring fishing, particularly poaching off protected areas like Sipadan.
A different kind of terrorism is occurring now, not on tourists but on sharks and large rays. Malaysia is ranked 9th in shark fishing globally and has moved up to 3rd in the shark fin trade. Sharks and rays are being wiped out throughout the region. A market survey conducted by TRAFFIC estimates that 90-99% of sharks are gone from waters in the region. Internationally the shark fin trade- driven by the demand the delicacy shark fin soup- has wiped out populations of large sharks and demand of shark fin and consumption of shark fin soup is high in Malaysia. A demand for dried gills- a Chinese Traditional Medicine- is killing off eagle rays and the giant manta rays.
Conservation groups like ours have urged the government to increase marine protected areas including cessation of fishing inside the MPAS. A large MPA exists at the Tun Sakaran Marine Park in the Semporna islands but subsistence fishing pressure, including harmful fish bombing is killing sharks and the reef. Because of the protection and military presence at Sipadan, the population of sharks is relatively robust and reef sharks are common, as well as seasonally migratory sharks like whale sharks and hammerheads. Sea turtles are also protected and nest on the beaches, and are abundant in Sipadan waters and a delight to dive with. Coral cover and biodiversity is high along the Sipadan shallows, and spectacular walls plunge into the abyss. Since April 2008, Sabah Parks Sipadan has instituted a permit system allowing only 120 divers per day to the island, and divers compete for the opportunity to obtain permits.
110 - SEVENSEAS