The Malaysian Insight

A DISPUTE over who discovered the twin blue holes in Lahad Datu’s Darvel Bay ended today with Sabah Parks conceding the find to local dive instructor Glen Hapirullah.

Sabah Parks director Dr Jamili Nais said while there were many divers in the area, it was “Glen and his team who had taken aerial photos and found the blue holes first”.

“We have to give credit where credit is due,” he said during a press conference in Kota Kinabalu.

The conference was held to clarify who had discovered the twin blue holes in Tingkayu Reef in Darvel Bay, on the Sabah east coast.  

A blue hole is a large marine cavern or sinkhole, which is open to the surface and has developed in a bank or island composed of a carbonate bedrock.

On March 10, Sabah Parks announced the discovery of the twin blue holes, perhaps the only blue holes in Malaysia, on February 14 during an expedition in Darvel Bay.

But local divers who knew Glen disagreed and launched a social media war to dispute the park’s claim. 

Dr Jamili today conceded the discovery to Glen. Jamili said he had dived at the Tingkayu Reef twice, in 1990 and 1995, but could not establish the location of the blue holes due to the lack of the right surveying gear. 

“Previously, the State Tourism Ministry had instructed the park to hold an expedition in Darvel Bay for the purpose of turning it into a Marine Park. 

“But we did not have equipment such as drones back then. 

“They were many divers who had dived in Tingkayu Reef but it is Glen and his team who had taken aerial photos and found the blue holes first,” he said. 

He said Glen had been invited to the  February expedition but had declined because he was in Singapore to celebrate the Chinese New Year with his spouse. 

Glen, who was present, said he had announced his discovery of the blue holes’ on social media in 2018.

The Pirate Dives proprieter said aerial and underwater photos of the site had gone viral.

The diver who has run a diving business  or close to nine years in Lahad Datu had also identified the site as the Blue Rings Reef.  

“Actually, I posted my discovery on Facebook. People start seeing the photos and they went viral,” Glen said.

“But some people acted as though that was nothing,” he said.

The twin blue holes discovered by Glen are located about an hour from Sipadan, and about two hours by boat from Semporna. 

Both holes are each about 15-20 metres deep, depending on the tides.

Blue holes are a boon for divers and their discovery could launch Lahad Datu and Darvel Bay as an international tourist spot.

In 2017, Sabah earned RM7.8 billion from tourism and an estimated RM300-RM400 million annually came from the diving industry alone.

Meanwhile, Dr Jamili said the February expedition was to gather data for a white paper to gazette Darvel Bay as a marine park, a first step to preserve marine life in the area, which has lots of coral, but minimal fish.

“When we dived to a depth of 13 metres, we found traces of overfishing,” he said, adding that the coral also did not appear to be thriving. – March 15, 2019.