Kakaban Island

Indonesia / Kalimantan Timur / Tanjung Redeb /
Kakaban island can easily be reached by boat from Sangalaki in 20 to 30 minutes. The island is quite steep with limestone cliffs covered with dense jungle right down to the water's edge. The most unique feature is that in the middle of this island is a mangrove fringed lake, slightly above sea level, where thousands of non-stinging jellyfish live. The jellyfish consist of four different species. They are non stinging, having lost their natural defense system because of the lack of major predators in the lake. This place is similar to jellyfish-lake in Palau, Micronesia. The lake has warm brackish water and the bottom is covered with marine green algae. There are other animals living here, some sea cucumbers, gobies, anemones, tunicates, crustaceans, nudibranchs, orange purple and yellow clams on the branches and snakes. The lake is at most 17m deep and visibility is not so good. From the beach to the lake you have to walk for about 10 minutes. Kakaban was probably uplifted during the Holocene and sea water was trapped turning the area and formed a landlocked marine lake. The water is now a mixture of salt water and sweet water from the rain. There aren't many beaches around the island since it is surrounded by deep ocean. The wall drops to 180 m and currents can be strong with upwelling, downcurrent and reversing directions.
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   2°8'21"N   118°32'1"E

Comments

  • Amazing...jungle on the reef
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This article was last modified 4 years ago