Sorong, Ekuatorial – Despite of early warning on high tides, people were still running about their routines either to sold coconut or to fish in the sea, said a local villager of Soop island, Sorong district, last week.
“[The] south season has come with high tide but we are used to sign nature’s signs, such as wind or tide. I still go to Sorong to sell my coconuts when it’s rain even if there’s high tide, I usually still go,” said Vero Burdam, a coconut seller who spends at least 30 minutes to reach Sorong using a small boat. “I used to go out around 6 am and comes back around 6 pm. I usually bring 100 coconuts with me and wait for the wind to calm a bit too return to [Soop] island. I am used to with the high tide ocean.
Meanwhile, Meky Beritabui, a Soop fisherman, said that during high tide, he would normally fished around the island and never went far away. “If the wind is like this, I prefer closer areas to the island. If it’s calmer, I will fish to Rumbabo island for as long as one week,” said Beritabui adding that less fish means that high price.
Up to Tuesday (7/7), strong wind accompanied by cold weather still hit Sorong district especially in the morning, noon, and afternoon. In addition, the temperature can reach to 20 degress Celsius, the coolest for Sorong district.
Despite of the field condition, Adi Saputra of Sorong Meteorology Climatology and Geophysics said that the district should have entered dry season.
“In general, Indonesia has already entered dry season with faster wind and cooler temperature in eastern part of the country as a result of different pressure in Australia and Asia,” said Saputra adding that the temperature reached 20-22 degrees Celsius from midnight to 7 am and it rose up to 28 to 22 degrees Celsius.
Furthermore, he said that the strong wind and cool temperature can trigger high tide and warned for small boats and fishermen to be careful in the sea.
“The speed can reach 12 knots or 25 km/hour to 40 km/hour. It’s an early warning for southern part of Papua,” he said adding that the tide usually goes up to a maximum of five meters which can harm small or fishermen boats. Niken Proboretno