Mabul Island
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|
 Location of Mabul Island in Darvel Bay | |
  Mabul Island | |
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 4°14′45″N 118°37′52″E / 4.24583°N 118.63111°E |
| Administration | |
| State |  Sabah |
Mabul (Malay: Pulau Mabul) is a small island off the south-eastern coast of Sabah in Malaysia. The island has been a fishing village since the 1970s. In the 1990s, it first became popular to divers due to its proximity to Sipadan island.
Located 15 km from Sipadan, this 20-hectare piece of land surfaces 2–3 metres above sea level, consists mostly flat grounds and aerial view is oval-shaped. Surrounding it are sandy beaches, perched on the northwest corner of a larger two-square-kilometre reef.
Mabul island is administered as a part of Semporna, Tawau district.
Native settlements
There are two main villages on the island, "Kampung Mabul" and "Kampung Musu". The 1999 census recorded approximately 2,000 villagers living in Mabul, half of them children under 14 years old. The majority are immigrants from relatively nearby clusters of islands in the southern Philippines. These residents are mainly Bajau Laut and Suluk Muslims who live a nomadic lifestyle.
Basic amenities include a mosque, schools, community and fishermen's hall. The main transportation mode between places is via boat.
As most residents mainly work as fishermen, the village source of income depends on ocean-based products such as squid and fish. Traditional fishing methods are called "Payau" and "Sangkaliya". Mabul fishermen prefer catches close to the Malaysia–Philippine borders, perhaps due to the abundance of fish stocks. An average fishing trip will take 3 to 5 days out at sea. When the men return, their catches are sold at Semporna on the mainland.
As of 2018, the population reach to 2,594.
Diving Mabul
Mabul's reef is on the edge of the continental shelf and the seabed surrounding the reef slopes out to a depth of 25 to 30 m. There are several dive resorts operating on Mabul island.
Flamboyant cuttlefish[1], blue-ringed octopus, mimic octopus and bobtail squids are just a few of the numerous types of cephalopods to be found on Mabul's reef. Many types of gobies can be found including the spike-fin goby, black sail-fin goby and metallic shrimp goby. Frogfish are prevalent; giant, painted and clown frogfish are regularly seen along with most of the scorpion fish family.[2]
See also
References
- ^ Jereb (2005). CEPHALOPODS OF THE WORLD. ISBN 92-5-105383-9.
- ^ Sipadan, Mabul Kapali, - Sabah's underwater treasure, published by Natural History Publications.
