Pulau Maratua, Pulau Kakaban and Pulau Nunukan are part of the Derawan Islands off the coast of East Kalimantan. Most of these islands are atolls originally formed by volcanic action. The volcanoes slowly sank as coral reefs grew around the old rim, resulting in the formation of shallow lagoons and saline lakes connected to the sea by underground passages. The Derawan islands are separated from mainland Borneo by a 200 m deep sea trench and were never connected to mainland Borneo during the low sea levels of the ice ages. The result is a unique fauna and flora with several endemic birds and plants found nowhere else in the world.
Approaching two small islands at the southern end of the very shallow Maratua Lagoon. On the left is Pulau Nunukan and on the right is Pulau Bakungan. P. Bakungan has a small village and a lighthouse.When we visited in 2014, Pulau Nunukan and Pulau Bakungan were joined a footbridge made of Belian ironwood (Eusideroxylon zwageri) several hundred meters long. The bridge was built as part of a failed dive resort project intended to attract German diving tourists. Pulau Bakungan (above) is mostly covered in planted coconuts. This photo was taken from Pulau Nunukan.Pulau Nunukan is the smaller island and is uninhabited. The whole island is part of an ancient coral reef . There was only a short path and the jagged coral rocks made exploring difficult.At least two islands off the coast of F. Borneo are called Pulau Nunukan. The largest island is just south of the Sabah border near Tawau. Nunuk is a local name for fig in both Bajau (Sea Gypsy) and some Dusun dialects.The tiny island of Pulau Nunukan in the Maratua lagoon certainly lives up to it’s name of “Fig Island” . Two species of rare fig are present in abundance. Ficus prasinicarpa shown above and Ficus tinctoria var tinctoria.
