Overview of physical oceanographic condition at Biawak Island: Past achievement and future challenge

Abstract

Biawak Islands is one of Marine Protected Areas (MPA) in Java Seas and categorized as remote area. The purpose of this research is to assess data's from 2011-2017 and to understand about these island from oceanographic point of view. Due to its location in the center of Java Sea (JS), variations of oceanographic condition at Biawak Island is supposed to be similarity with JS. Seasonal variations in this shallow-flat topography of JS are mostly influenced by the monsoon due to the sea level difference between Pacific and Indian Ocean. Water masses from the South China Sea (SCS) and Pacific Ocean (PO) take turns to enter JS at two distinct monsoon seasons. The results showed that temperature ranges 26.28 - 34.3 °C, salinity ranges 27.5 - 34.5 psu, transparency ranges 0.7 - 20 m, dissolved oxygen ranges 4.1 - 6.5 mg/L, and pH 6.30-8.5. Tides with mixed tide prevailing diurnal. The wind pattern with monsunal variation and the surface current is about 0.2-0.8 m/sec. The dominant substrat in the Biawak is sand and coral. Further, there is a need long-term programs concentrate on delivering quantification data related to environmental issues.