KUALA TERENGGANU: A German couple traveled more than 9,000km, spent 13 hours in flight, drove across six states and will drive through another five in the peninsula.
And, it’s all for the love of watching fish swim in their native habitat as well as sample local delicacies.
Stanislav Kislyuk, 33, a manager of a firm in Germany and his wife Kateryna Kaliushko, 31, a physician, left Frankfurt on Aug 14 at 10pm and arrived in Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Aug 15 at 10pm.
Despite suffering from jet lag on arrival, they were as eager as ever to visit the habitats of fishes endemic to Peninsular Malaysia.
They have so far visited fish habitats, taken pictures of biotopes, swam with leeches, been drenched in muddy water and waded through rivers littered with trash in Selangor, Perak, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu.
A biotope is the region of a habitat associated with a particular ecological community.
“It is our hobby and our presence here in Malaysia has nothing to do with our work.
“We just wanted to fulfil our dream of finding a perfect biotope of fishes in Malaysia and sampling local foods,” said Kislyuk who arrived in Kuala Terengganu yesterday and will move on to Kemaman later today.
The couple will stop at several black water rivers in Pahang and travel south to Mersing and Muar in Johor before catching a flight home.
Kislyuk said he had visited Malaysia thrice and revisited some of the fish habitats to see for himself that they were not disturbed or destroyed by rapid development.
“Most people forget that a healthy biotope is a reflection of our love and care for the environment.
“A healthy aquatic habitat is also a barometer on atmospheric influence as pollution settles in the water body and may affect the rich biodiversity from year to year.
“That is why we will return here whenever opportunity presents (itself) just to make sure that the fish that we discover today are still around when we plan our next visit next year,” he told the New Straits Times, today.
Kaliushko said it was a healthy activity and added that she had found sweating it out in humid locations during the sampling trips invigorating.
She said her experience with leeches in some of the rivers had driven away her fear of the blood suckers.
“It is all fun and worthwhile traveling all the way from Germany to Malaysia to visit (the) habitats of fishes not found in our rivers.
“We take pictures of what we find and share what we ‘catch’ with a group of people who share the same hobby.
“Some of the fishes and the conditions of the habitat found would trigger some serious discussions back home and would lead further to improving our knowledge on the diversity of the aquatic environment in Malaysia,” she added.
The couple’s excursions in Malaysia were made possible by Mohd Ilham Norhakim Lokman, 33, from Muar who has made a name for himself as a “kampung ichthyologist”.
Despite being a Form Five dropout he has appeared in print and broadcast media thanks to his extensive knowledge of local fishes.
“I am now trying to promote biotope tourism because I’ve learnt that there are many hobbyists in Europe who love to visit the habitats of fishes and take pictures of the environment.
“It also involves a bit of both adventure and science.
“They also get to visit the entire country, if they plan their holidays, and (have) an opportunity to sample local food and fruits.
“I am just doing my bit to promote Malaysia in my own way,” said the fish monger, who is taking the German couple on a nationwide tour for about three weeks.