The research addresses a significant gap in the literature regarding the Sustainable Development Goals, specifically SDG 1 (No Poverty), SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being), and SDG 14 (Life Below Water). Existing frameworks often rely on externally imposed indicators that fail to capture the nuanced realities of coastal life, limiting their utility for effective sustainability policy. By examining how local communities define and experience well-being, the study aims to provide an empirical basis for culturally grounded interventions. This approach is crucial for ensuring that sustainability efforts in maritime regions do not inadvertently disrupt the social fabrics that keep these communities resilient in the face of environmental and economic uncertainty.

To investigate these complex social dynamics, the research team employed a qualitative exploratory design, conducting semi-structured interviews with 104 participants from two purposively selected regencies in South Sulawesi: Takalar, associated with the Makassar ethnic group, and Pangkep, associated with the Bugis ethnic group. The study utilized inductive reflexive thematic analysis to identify patterns in the participants’ narratives. This methodological choice allowed the researchers to remain open to the specific cultural contexts of the participants, avoiding the imposition of pre-existing theoretical categories that might not align with local realities. The selection of these two regencies provided a comparative perspective on how different ethnic groups within the same geographic region conceptualize well-being, highlighting both convergences and divergences in their social structures.

The analysis revealed that well-being in these communities is a multidimensional and relational construct spanning family, economic, social, psychological, spiritual, and physical domains. While these domains largely converge with those reported in cross-cultural studies, the study identifies a distinctive organizational structure: family operates as the central axis around which all other domains are ordered. This finding suggests that individual well-being is inextricably linked to one’s role and responsibilities within the family unit. Material security, for instance, is not valued for its contribution to individual accumulation or personal luxury, but rather for its role in ensuring collective continuity and the ability to fulfill familial obligations.

A key technical aspect of the study involves the examination of locally institutionalized reciprocity systems that enact this ordering of well-being. The researchers highlight the punggawa-sawi system, a form of collective fishing labor, and the marriage exchange of uang panai’ as concrete mechanisms through which social and economic bonds are reinforced. The punggawa-sawi system illustrates how labor is shared and how the proceeds of maritime activities are distributed to support the broader community, thereby embedding economic activity within a web of social obligation. Similarly, the practice of uang panai’ in marriage exchanges serves to strengthen alliances between families, ensuring that social ties are maintained across generations. These systems demonstrate that economic and social well-being are produced through continuous acts of reciprocity and mutual support.

The study further emphasizes the role of social ties and spirituality as key coping resources under conditions of environmental and economic uncertainty. For the participants, spiritual meaning provides a framework for interpreting life’s challenges, while social solidarity offers practical support during times of crisis. This relational view of well-being contrasts sharply with individualistic models that prioritize personal autonomy and self-actualization. Instead, the research shows that in ecologically dependent settings, well-being emerges through the maintenance of strong social networks and a sense of purpose derived from spiritual beliefs. This perspective has important implications for mental health interventions, suggesting that community-based approaches that strengthen social cohesion may be more effective than individual-focused therapies in these contexts.

Theoretically, the study extends universalized and individualistic models of well-being by demonstrating that shared domains can be differently configured and produced in relational, ecologically dependent settings. This challenges the assumption that well-being is a universal construct that can be measured using the same indicators across all cultures. By highlighting the specific ways in which family, reciprocity, and spirituality shape well-being in South Sulawesi, the research contributes to a more nuanced understanding of human flourishing in diverse cultural contexts. It suggests that sustainability policies must be tailored to the specific social and cultural dynamics of the communities they aim to support, rather than relying on one-size-fits-all approaches.

Practically, the findings offer an empirical basis for designing culturally grounded sustainability interventions that strengthen family resilience, social cohesion, and sustainable livelihoods in maritime regions. Policymakers and development practitioners can use these insights to create programs that align with local values and social structures, thereby increasing their acceptance and effectiveness. For example, initiatives that support the punggawa-sawi system or other forms of collective labor could enhance economic sustainability while reinforcing social bonds. Similarly, programs that incorporate spiritual and cultural elements into their design may be better received by communities that view well-being as a relational and spiritual experience.

The study was funded by the 2025 Professorial Grant from Universitas Hasanuddin and received ethical approval from the Health Research Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Nursing. The authors, affiliated with the Psychology Study Program at the Faculty of Medicine, emphasize the importance of community-defined well-being in achieving sustainable development goals. By centering the voices of the participants, the research provides a powerful critique of top-down approaches to sustainability and advocates for a more inclusive, community-driven model. This approach not only respects the cultural integrity of the communities involved but also leverages their existing social capital to achieve long-term sustainability. The study serves as a model for future research in other maritime regions, highlighting the need for contextually grounded scholarship that bridges the gap between global sustainability goals and local realities.

Subject of Research: Community-defined well-being and sustainable maritime livelihoods in South Sulawesi, Indonesia

Article Title: Uncovering community-defined well-being for sustainable maritime livelihoods among Indonesia’s coastal communities

Article References: Tamar, M., Muhiddin, S., & Wirawan, H. (2026). Uncovering community-defined well-being for sustainable maritime livelihoods among Indonesia’s coastal communities. Discover Sustainability. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43621-026-04974-0

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1007/s43621-026-04974-0

Keywords: coastal communities, well-being, South Sulawesi, sustainable livelihoods, maritime culture, social solidarity, family resilience, qualitative research, SDG 14, Indonesia, Uncovering, community-defined

The study area could hardly be more exposed to petroleum pollution. The Arabian Sea receives more than 700 tonnes of oil spill input annually, a burden driven by some of the world’s busiest international tanker routes connecting Middle Eastern oil producers with Japan via the Malacca Strait and with South Africa via the Mozambique Channel. The eastern Arabian Sea, bordering the Indian states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and Kerala, is also dotted with offshore oil installations, major ports, and shipping lanes where wrecks and accidents occur with troubling regularity. Operational discharges such as tank washings and cargo residues add a steady background of petroleum input, while natural seepage from subsurface reservoirs contributes the remainder. Globally, anthropogenic sources account for slightly more than half of the marine tar load, and the Arabian Sea sits at the intersection of nearly every major contributor.

Tarballs are the end product of a chemical and physical transformation sequence that begins the moment crude oil hits seawater. Lighter hydrocarbon fractions evaporate or dissolve within hours, while wave turbulence and wind shear whip the remaining oil into a water-in-oil emulsion that is foamy and stickier than the parent crude. Roughly half of a typical spill disperses through weathering within twenty-four hours, but the heavier asphaltene-rich residue persists, accumulating debris and fragmenting into small, dark aggregates that are hard and brittle on the outside and soft and semi-solid within. Because these aggregates are less dense than seawater, they float at the surface, riding currents and winds for weeks. The study reports that floating tarballs can remain in the marine environment for sixty to ninety days, ample time to travel hundreds of kilometres before washing onto beaches, mangroves and other sensitive coastal habitats.

The fieldwork behind the new findings was conducted as part of the Marine Ecosystem Dynamics of Eastern Arabian Sea programme, a national initiative of India’s Ministry of Earth Sciences. Researchers aboard the vessels ORV Sagar Kanya and FORV Sagar Sampada repeatedly occupied ten transects running from Cape Comorin in the south to Okha in the north, visually surveying the sea surface each month. Tarballs appeared only in May, September, October, November and December of 2018, and were collected at stations off Mumbai, Goa, Ratnagiri and Bhatkal using buckets and a towed bongo net. The observed tarballs ranged from 0.1 to 4 centimetres in diameter, with the largest specimens, between 2 and 4 centimetres, found off Mumbai in November and December. Notably, no tarballs were sighted during the peak summer monsoon months of June through August, when winds exceeded 9 metres per second and rough seas likely broke oil patches into fragments scattered over much wider areas.

The spatial pattern of sightings maps neatly onto the region’s reversing circulation. The West India Coastal Current flows poleward from November to February and equatorward from April to September, and the researchers used satellite-derived surface current data from NASA’s OSCAR dataset to show how these currents, combined with cross-shore winds, herd tarballs toward or away from the coast. In May, tarballs appeared near Mumbai under onshore-directed currents of less than 0.15 metres per second. By December, during the winter monsoon, tarballs were detected in open-ocean waters as far as 350 kilometres from the coast, caught in well-defined northward current pathways. Many of the tarballs carried goose barnacles of varying sizes, a biological clock of sorts: large barnacles off Bhatkal in September suggested prolonged residence at sea, while small ones off Mumbai indicated fresher arrivals. The authors argue that these sighting locations can be used to validate forward-tracking and backtracking models capable of pinpointing the original sources of the oil.

Chemical analysis revealed that the tarballs are far more than a nuisance for beachgoers. Using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry, the team measured ten metals and found strikingly elevated concentrations, particularly at nearshore stations off Mumbai, where zinc reached 2,039 parts per million, copper 2,514.8 ppm, nickel 2,293.7 ppm, cobalt 2,220.6 ppm, chromium 2,746.3 ppm, lead 1,396.3 ppm and cadmium as high as 1,354.0 ppm. Iron peaked at 20,052.5 ppm at a station between Ratnagiri and Mumbai, and magnesium reached 53,385.5 ppm off Mumbai. The authors attribute the higher nearshore values to land runoff and industrial activity, noting that the tarballs’ high surface area and hydrophobic chemistry allow them to adsorb additional trace metals from the water column as they drift through polluted coastal waters. The heavy metal burden is partly inherited from the asphaltene fraction of the parent crude oil, which acts as a natural chelating agent for elements such as nickel, vanadium, iron and copper.

The organic fraction of the tarballs proved equally alarming. Gas chromatography tandem mass spectrometry identified eleven polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, a class of fused-ring compounds listed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency as priority pollutants for their carcinogenic, mutagenic and toxic properties. Low molecular weight PAHs with two to three rings dominated at stations off Mumbai and Ratnagiri, reaching concentrations of 1,497 and 525 micrograms per gram respectively, a signature the researchers interpret as evidence of relatively fresh petrogenic input, since these lighter compounds degrade and volatilise readily. Four-ring PAHs dominated at four other stations, indicating older, more weathered material. Because low molecular weight PAHs are more water-soluble and bioavailable, freshly formed tarballs are actually more toxic than aged ones, and small tarballs can enter the food chain most easily, consumed directly by filter feeders including whales, sharks, fish and zooplankton.

To trace where the oil came from, the team applied diagnostic ratio analysis, comparing the relative abundance of anthracene to phenanthrene and fluoranthene to pyrene. These isomer pairs form at different rates depending on whether petroleum matured slowly at low temperature underground or was generated by high-temperature combustion. The ratios pointed overwhelmingly to a petrogenic origin, meaning the tarballs derive from crude oil or refined petroleum released through spills, shipping operations or natural seepage, with only a few samples showing values consistent with fossil fuel combustion, plausibly linked to the region’s heavy marine traffic. The authors caution that diagnostic ratios alone provide only a preliminary source assessment, and that definitive fingerprinting would require biomarker or isotopic techniques. Even so, the analysis confirms that the Eastern Arabian Sea is receiving continuous inputs of fresh petroleum rather than merely recycling old residues.

The ecological consequences extend well beyond chemical toxicity. Oil films at the sea surface can impede air-sea gas exchange, promoting temporary anoxia in a basin already notorious for its expanding oxygen minimum zone. Tarballs that beach can fuse with plastic debris to form composite aggregates called plastitar, a newly recognised sink for coastal plastic contamination. Following a shipwreck off Kochi in May 2025, oil contamination was detected in zooplankton, raising the prospect of petroleum residues moving up the food web into fish. Perhaps most unsettling for public health, previous research has found that disease-causing bacteria, including Vibrio vulnificus, occur on tarball surfaces at counts significantly higher than in surrounding sand and seawater, meaning tarballs may serve as rafts dispersing pathogens and non-indigenous species such as barnacles across entire ocean basins.

The study’s authors are candid about its limitations: sampling was opportunistic rather than standardized, no quantitative density measurements were possible, and some samples could not be retained for full chemical characterisation. They frame the work as a qualitative baseline and call for standardized monitoring, improved oil spill response and stronger regulation. With heavy metals known to cause renal failure, birth defects, and damage to the nervous, cardiovascular and respiratory systems, and with PAHs bioaccumulating and biomagnifying through marine food webs to reach human consumers, the stakes are high. The findings feed directly into United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 14 on conserving oceans, and they deliver a clear message: the monsoon that replenishes India’s west coast also delivers its oil pollution, and only sustained observation can reveal where it comes from and how to stop it.

Subject of Research: Spatial and temporal distribution of floating tarballs and their associated heavy metal and PAH pollution in the Eastern Arabian Sea

Article Title: Spatial and temporal distribution of floating tarballs and associated ecological pollution in the Eastern Arabian Sea

Article References: Shaju, S. S., Naseera, K., Ramu, C. V., Ardra, K. R., Kumar, V. A., & Gupta, G. V. M. (2026). Spatial and temporal distribution of floating tarballs and associated ecological pollution in the Eastern Arabian Sea. Discover Oceans, 3(1), Article 65. https://doi.org/10.1007/s44289-026-00180-y

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1007/s44289-026-00180-y

Keywords: tarballs, oil pollution, Eastern Arabian Sea, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, heavy metals, monsoon currents, West India Coastal Current, marine ecotoxicology, goose barnacles, Vibrio, coastal pollution, SDG 14

The Spermonde Archipelago, which stretches off the coast of South Sulawesi near Makassar, contains roughly 120 coral islands and sits within one of the planet’s great centers of marine biodiversity. The reefs of this region are part of the Coral Triangle, an area renowned for its extraordinary species richness. Yet the archipelago’s reefs are under mounting stress from pollution, destructive fishing practices, coastal development, and a range of other human activities. The scale of the decline is sobering: live coral cover in the region has fallen from 45 percent to 28 percent over the past two decades. That downward trajectory underscores why effective, repeatable monitoring is not a luxury but a necessity. Without accurate information about what is happening on the reef, managers cannot target interventions, evaluate their success, or adapt to changing conditions. The new study set out to address a deceptively simple question that had never before been systematically answered for this region: which monitoring approach works best under the dynamic and often challenging conditions of the Spermonde Archipelago?

To answer that question, the researchers evaluated three widely used methods for assessing reef condition. The first, Line Intercept Transects, or LIT, is a classic technique in which divers record the type of substrate found at intervals along a measured line laid across the reef. It yields precise, quantitative data about what covers the seafloor, but it demands trained divers, careful underwater work, and specialized equipment. The second method, Underwater Photo Transects, or UPT, involves photographing the seafloor along transect lines and then estimating substrate coverage from those images, either by manual annotation or software analysis. UPT reduces the time divers spend underwater and creates a permanent visual record, but it still depends on diving expertise and clear water for usable images. The third approach, drone surveys, captures broad aerial views of the reef from above the water surface. Drones can cover large areas quickly and safely, without the need for experienced divers, but their ability to distinguish fine substrate categories is limited, particularly when the water itself is murky.

The study sites were chosen to represent a gradient of water-quality conditions across the archipelago. Lae-Lae Island, located close to the mainland and the city of Makassar, experiences highly turbid water clouded by sediment and influenced by urban runoff. Kodingareng Lompo Island, farther offshore, has moderate water clarity. Lanyukang Island, the most distant of the three, enjoys relatively clear water. By applying the same monitoring toolkit across these contrasting environments, the team could assess not only how the reefs differed but also how the reliability of each method changed with water conditions. The results were instructive. Both LIT and UPT showed better reef conditions in the clearer waters of Kodingareng Lompo and Lanyukang, where live hard coral remained relatively abundant. In contrast, the turbid waters surrounding Lae-Lae revealed a reef dominated by rock, coral rubble, and dead coral covered with algae, a signature of degradation. Drone mapping delivered a valuable broader perspective of reef structure, but in the highly turbid waters of Lae-Lae it could not reliably distinguish between different substrate types, a limitation that matters when the goal is to quantify coral cover.

These findings point to a practical conclusion: the three methods are complementary rather than interchangeable. LIT and UPT provide the detailed, substrate-level information needed to track coral health and mortality, but they require trained divers and specialized gear, which raises costs and limits how often surveys can be repeated. Drone mapping, by contrast, can survey large reef areas efficiently and without diving expertise, making it attractive for routine, wide-scale surveillance, but it sacrifices the fine detail that underwater methods capture. For a country with thousands of islands and limited monitoring resources, the implication is that a tiered strategy, using drones for broad coverage and underwater surveys for detailed assessment at key sites, offers the most realistic path to sustained reef monitoring. Such a strategy aligns directly with United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 14, Life Below Water, which calls for the conservation and sustainable use of marine ecosystems, and it supports SDG 13, Climate Action, by strengthening the capacity to detect and respond to climate-driven pressures on reefs.

What elevates the study beyond a technical comparison of methods is its second pillar: the systematic incorporation of community perspectives. The researchers conducted focus group discussions with 33 residents across the three islands, exploring how local people perceive reef degradation and what conservation measures they believe would work in their own contexts. The results were revealing in both encouraging and sobering ways. On the encouraging side, communities were clearly aware that their reefs are in decline. More than half of the respondents considered reef conditions to be either deteriorating or severely deteriorating, a perception that matched the ecological data. On the sobering side, their understanding of the causes of decline was more limited. Only 26.5 percent of participants were able to correctly identify different stages of coral health when shown images, suggesting a gap between lived awareness of decline and the ecological literacy needed to interpret it precisely.

Despite that gap, the discussions demonstrated that residents recognize the specific environmental problems affecting their islands and can propose solutions tailored to local conditions. On Lae-Lae, where turbid and waste-affected water was the dominant concern, participants emphasized waste management as the priority. On Kodingareng Lompo, residents proposed combining patrols and enforcement with coral transplantation, an approach that pairs protection with active restoration. On Lanyukang, where water clarity remains relatively high and the reef is in better condition, participants placed greater emphasis on controlling destructive fishing, aiming to prevent the degradation that has already occurred elsewhere. This pattern is significant for conservation planners: communities are not blank slates waiting for external prescriptions. They hold contextual knowledge about their environment and can articulate locally appropriate responses, but they need support to translate that knowledge into effective action.

The study also quantified a critical barrier to community-driven conservation: readiness. Only 29.4 percent of respondents reported a high level of readiness to participate in reef conservation and monitoring, and half said they had never taken part in any conservation activity organized by outside groups. These numbers reveal an unmet demand for engagement infrastructure. The researchers argue that the way to close this gap is through simple monitoring tools that non-specialists can use, practical training that builds ecological and technical skills, and financial support that makes participation sustainable for people who depend on the sea for their livelihoods. They further recommend embedding community-based efforts within integrated coastal zone management, marine protection, and climate adaptation programs at the provincial and national levels, so that local action is reinforced rather than isolated. As Professor Jompa explained, the team aimed to provide an evidence-based foundation for conservation policies while enhancing the adaptive capacity of local communities and stakeholders in responding to evolving ecological challenges in the Spermonde Archipelago.

The broader lesson from the Spermonde Archipelago extends well beyond Indonesia. Around the world, coral reef conservation has often been designed top-down, with scientists and governments setting priorities and communities cast as implementers or bystanders. This study demonstrates a different model, one in which scientific monitoring defines the ecological baseline and the most reliable tools for tracking change, while community knowledge identifies local pressures, shapes acceptable solutions, and provides the sustained presence that no external project can match. Empowering communities with the knowledge, tools, and resources to participate in monitoring and management could produce conservation strategies better suited to the diverse conditions of Indonesia’s reef ecosystems, which vary enormously in water quality, exposure, and human use. As Professor Jompa noted, successful mitigation requires partnerships involving communities, government support, NGO training, and academic assistance. With live coral cover already down to 28 percent and climate pressures intensifying, the window for such partnerships is narrowing, but the Spermonde study shows that the ingredients for effective, locally grounded reef stewardship are already present, waiting to be combined.

Subject of Research: Comparative coral reef monitoring methods and community-based conservation in Indonesia's Spermonde Archipelago

Article Title: How combining science and community knowledge could shape coral reef conservation in Indonesia

Article References: How combining science and community knowledge could shape coral reef conservation in Indonesia. (n.d.). Original publication

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: Not provided

Keywords: coral reefs, Indonesia, Spermonde Archipelago, marine conservation, community-based monitoring, Line Intercept Transects, Underwater Photo Transects, drone surveys, water turbidity, SDG 14, climate resilience, Hasanuddin University