KRAKATAU FLORA AND FAUNA

Krakatau FLORA nad FAUNA
Majority of krakatau archipelago vegetated by Csuarina Cemara,going ashore you willnotice other tres and sapling here and there among the cemara and wild sugarcane the forest is begining to change to mixed secondary forest.two species of fig trees are present,and they were first seen fruiting in 1985.there are thre species of the bats on the island [of total of 11 on the archipelago],two kind of dog faced fruit bat and roussette.All three are fig eater.Also two species are fruit eating pigeon[pink-neckedpigeon and cuckoo dove] as wellas
the yellow vented Bul_buland thye striking,yellow and black,Black-naped oriole now live on the island.Three birds and bats spreads fig by dropping or axcreting their sed,and probably were responsible for bringing the fig species to the Lrakatraus from the mainland,and to Anak Krakatau ,and the change towards mixed forest is likely to accelerate in the nex few years.Kind of the animals are live in krakataus such as Olive-backed Sunbird,Yellow breasted bird,The flyeater,The white breasted wood,-swallow,coloured kingfisher,and greeny blue with white "collar"So of the land birds are live in krakatau colonised the island from java and sumatra in periode over than hundred years after 1883.Other kind of animals founds sre Varanus salvator,paradise tree snake[Chrysopele paradisi],Rat{ratus-ratus],countryu rat[Rat Tiomanicus],tokay[gecko],black eagle,phytonand false vampire bat[which are also predator]

YOUR VISIT
The journey to the Krakatau islandtakes 1,5 hrs or four hrs by slow boat.nad the best time of the year to make the trip between may to Oktober.Along the journey keep your eyes open,and you may see a frigatebird soaring high overhead.flicking its scissor like tail as it changedirection with hardly aflap of its wing ,you will almost certainly spot flying fish making thire longlow glides above the sea surface.
Some of them Fly for tens of meters and are air born for several seconds.Aproachinfg the Archipelago from java by the route shown ,dolphin often come to greaetthe boat and play along side it or in front of the prow.You may be also lucky enough to see a white -Bellied Sea eagle as you aproach the island .It has a slow ,gliding flight the wing held in ashllow "V"as it soars,searching for sea snake ,fish and crab swimming near the surface.
As you near the Archipelago ,the triangular silhouette Of Rakata,loom ahead.the island takes it names from Krakatau's largest volcano,of which it is the remaining half .Cloud often covers the peak down to about 550 m,and above this height the forest begins to take diffrentr characters.Mosses fastoon the branches of the trees,which are stunted at thepeak.To the south near the left side of the island as you aproach,it is bay in which sttler named handl lived with his family for a few years from about 1915.There have been no other permanent inhabitants on the island since 1883,altough fishing boat visit 6the archipelago regularly,yhe waters within the island group often being clmer than the open sea.PANJANG island ,formerly called lang islandand sometimes known as rakata kecil,was never part of Krakatau,but once of the part huge predecessor,'ANCIENT KRAKATAU'like rakata and sertung,it was covered in tens of metres of hot ash in 1883,and this hasbeen eroded over the past century into-v shapedgulleys separated by sharp ridges.Like the other two island.it is now covered in forest,some of them vallets are now"hanging",because the ash cliff has been out back by the action of the sea so that the valley floor
now open at considerebleheight above the shore

krakataukrakatoavolcano

KRAKATAU KRAKATOA VOLCANO

To anyone iterested in natural processes,krkatau is the most fascinating areas in the world.the catalysmic eruption of 1883capture the imagination,and spectacular volcanic activity continous to the present.To those interested in Biology and the way
island colonized by plants and animals.Not only the island which life was eradicted by the 1883 eruption,but also the new island of Anak Krakatau the area hold unique attraction.The Krakatau volcano is a part of ujung Kulon National Park previously
,today its belongs to Lampung Povince.

THE VOLCANIC HISTORY

The three outer island of the present Krakatau group [ Rakata,Sertung and Panjang ] are thougt to be the remmants of one previous.
Huge Volcanic island called " Ancient Krakarau ",it was some 11 km in diameter and 2 km high,according to history Javanese bookof KIng it exploded and collaps,perhaps in pre hitoric time but possible as recently as 416 AD.Three island remained on the
rim of it submerged,7 km diameter,central caldera [ collapse crater ].The southern mostof these ,Rkta grew by volcanic activity untill it was about 830 mt high and 5 km diameter.Two smaller volcanic island ,Danan [450 mt] and Perbuatan [120 mt],than develop in line to its North,within the ancient caldera ,the three islands later joined up in to one.Krakatau this about 9 km long
and 5 km wide .There are record of seven eruption of Krkatau between the 9th and the 16th Century it was regarded as dormant.

THE 1883 EXPLOSSIVE ERUPTION

Volcanic activity recommende in May,1883,and continued into August.The first eruption appearing in the northern,perbuatan Volcano.
The number of active vents increased on both the northern volcanos.On the 26th and 27th August a series of catalysmic explossionoccured which were heard as faraway as South Australia and Ceylon.The generated Tsunami [Tidal wave] that were registered evenin English Channel.And which in Sunda Strait area were Devastating,and killing 36.000 people.The total volume of the material ejected by the eruption estimated at some 18-20 cubic kilometers.With an ash/dust cloud circling the Earth several times,causing"BLUE SUN and ORANGE MOON".In UEROPE and NORTH AMERICA ,the amount of the sun energy reaching the EARTH was reduced,and in the
year or two that followed.Annual average temperature sin the Northern hemisphere were lower than usual.In the aftermath of the explossion only about a third of Krakatau remained.The northern two-third including volcanos Perbuatan
and Danan,and the northern half of the rakata Volcano were gone.In their place was collapsed crater 200 mt beneath the Sea.Covering an area of about 28 square kilometers.The remaining,Southern of Rakata was left as aproximate half-cone with an almost perpendicular cliff from the summit [813]to the Sea.Providing a Natural,Geological section trough the Volcano.The other two islands,Sertung and Panjang were Enlarged considerablyby the glowing ash and fumice which smoother the to a depth 30 mt.On Rakata The south and west coast were extended almost akilometer Seaward and the ash layer riched a thickness of 60 mtin some areas.Altough probably much shallower on the steeper slopes.Week after the explosion rained water turn into steam as it trickled into crevices and even a month later the surface was to hot
for bare feet.It is believed that all life,plants and animal was destroyed on the island,yet the three Islands are now covered in Forest,and over 200 species of higher plants and 36 species of land bird have been found in RAKATA island.