In the southernmost reaches of Burma (Myanmar), along the border
with Thailand, lies the Mergui Archipelago. The archipelago in the Andaman Sea
is made up of more than 800 islands surrounded by extensive coral reefs.
This natural color image acquired by Landsat 5 on Dec. 14, 2004,
shows the middle portion of the archipelago, including Auckland and Whale Bays.
Swirling patterns are visible in the near-shore waters as sediments carried by
rivers slowly settle out and are deposited on the seafloor. The heavy sediment
loads make the river appear nearly white. As those sediments settle out, the
seawater appears deeper shades of blue. The tropical rainforests of the region
appear deep green.
Captain Thomas Forrest of the East India Company first described
the region to Europeans after a 1782 expedition in search of potential
sugar-growing lands. At that time, the islands were mainly inhabited by a
nomadic fishing culture. These people, known as the Moken, still call the archipelago
home and mostly live a hunter-gatherer lifestyle. As of 2006, 2,000 Moken were
known to inhabit the Burmese portion of Mergui.
The small population of the archipelago has helped preserve its
high diversity of plants and animals. In 1997, Burma opened the region to
foreign tourism and in the years since it has become a major diving
destination. A valued species of pearl oyster (Pinctada
maxima) are found in nearby waters. Today, overfishing is emerging as
a regional problem.
1. References
2.
Alagarswami, K. (1983).
The Black-Lip Pearl Oyster Resource and Pearl Culture Potential. CMFRI
Bulletin, 34: Mariculture Potential, pp. 72–78.
3.
Anderson, John
(1890). The Selungs of the Mergui Archipelago. Trübner & Co., Ludgate Hill,
London. (http://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015058537070)
4.
Arunotai, Narumon
(2006). Moken traditional knowledge: an unrecognized form of natural resources
management and conservation. UNESCO. Blackwell Publishing Ltd., Oxford, UK.
5.
Brown, R.N.R.
(1907). The Mergui Archipelago: Its People and Products. Scottish Geographical
Magazine, vol. 23, issue 9, pp. 463–483. (http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00369220708733785)
6.
Wikipedia (2012). Mergui
Archipelago. Accessed 23 Nov. 2012.
Landsat image created by Michael Taylor, Landsat Project Science
Office. Caption by Laura Rocchio.
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