Life and learning at Sabah's Turtle Islands
Liz Price
Sunday, August 5, 2007
THE conversation was starting to dry up as people began to feel sleepy after a huge and satisfying dinner. We were sitting in the cafeteria waiting for our call to see the turtles.
We had no idea how long we would have to wait, but knew it could be hours before the female turtles came ashore to lay their eggs. The previous evening saw the first landing at 10.30pm, which wasn't too bad. So we were pleasantly surprised when the guide came in and called us at 8.30pm. The first female turtle had already been sighted laying her eggs.
We were at Turtle Islands 40km northeast of Sandakan on Sabah's southeast coast. Turtle Islands comprise three islands separated by coral reefs, and we were on Pulau Selingaan, the only one set up for visitors and with accommodation facilities. The islands became a turtle sanctuary in 1972.
Malaysia has four species of turtle out of the seven species remaining on earth. Two of these species come to these islands. The Green Turtles come to these islands to lay their eggs from July to December and the Hawksbill Turtles from January to June. This means these reptiles are coming to the Turtle Islands Park all year round.
Pulau Selingaan's area is 8.1 hectares, and rangers patrol the beach each night to watch for turtles coming ashore. On the night prior to our visit, 21 turtles landed and 17 of those had laid 1,369 eggs.
The itinerary is scheduled so that boats leave the Sabah Parks jetty in Sandakan 9.30am or later. It takes an hour by speedboat and on arrival at the island, guests check in and pay their conservation fee and nonflashlight camera fee. Visitors are restricted to 50 per night.
The rest of the day is free for swimming and snorkelling. It doesn't take long to walk around the small island, although it's easy to get distracted and look at the corals and crabs at low tide.
The park's exhibition hall opens at 6.30pm and has a good display on turtles and marine life, and there is also a video show about turtles. Dinner is at 7pm and after, visitors are requested to stay in the cafeteria until called to see the turtles.
As soon as we were called to go to the beach, we rushed out and it was a scramble to find our shoes and make our way in the dark to the beach. We arrived to find the turtle already more than halfway through laying.
The whole process is strictly controlled no torchlights are allowed and flash photography is banned. Therefore it is virtually impossible to get any photos of the process.
The ranger had placed a torch by the turtle's rear end, so that we could see the eggs being laid and dropping into the hole it had dug. We were not allowed to stand in front of the turtle, although it seemed unconcerned by our presence. So we crouched in a semicircle behind and watched in fascination. As each egg dropped, the ranger scooped it up and into a bucket.
Ours was a Green turtle. The average clutch size is 83-165 eggs, but our girl laid only about 40. The turtle lays three to seven clutches a season, over a period of 10-15 days.
When our turtle had finished laying, the ranger measured the length and width of the carapace she was 95cm long. She was a newcomer to these islands and was untagged, so the ranger had to tag both front flippers. As the tag was attached the turtle struggled briefly.
It is a pity we were not allowed to watch the whole process of seeing the turtle come out of the sea and ploughing her way up the beach before digging the large hole in order to lay the eggs. We were only allowed to see one mother turtle laying eggs. This is good for conservation purposes but a bit disappointing to visitors who had hoped to see more.
As soon as the ranger had placed the tags, we were told to leave and therefore couldn't see the turtle return to the sea. Instead we had to hurry to the hatchery. Here we watched the ranger bury the eggs our turtle had laid.
The hole looked quite deep and I wondered how the newly hatched turtles are able to dig their way to the surface. As the guide explained, it's not a funeral but the beginning of life. A circle of wire netting is placed around the hole to prevent any predators from getting the eggs. An identification marker is then put in place.
Half of the hatchery is open to direct sunlight while the other half is shaded by trees or a roof. This is because temperature has a direct effect on the sex of the young turtles. Higher temperatures form females, cooler ones produce males. As our guide told us, "hot chicks, cool men". The incubation period takes seven to 12 weeks.
The final programme was to see some hatchlings being released into the sea. The hatchlings or young turtles normally emerge after sundown when it is a bit cooler. They dig themselves out of the hole and make their way down to the sea. This is a hazardous journey as many predators can be waiting. I read somewhere that only one in 100 survive the journey to adulthood.
The ranger had the turtles in a plastic tray. When he released them they looked like little clockwork toys scurrying down to the water's edge and disappearing into the ocean. Most headed straight for the sea but a few were a bit disorientated and went the wrong way and needed a helping hand.
We wished them well on their hazardous journey and hoped that in about 30 years, some of the females would return to these shores to lay their own eggs. The Brunei Times
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Source URL:
http://www.bt.com.bn/en/en/classification/life/travel/2007/08/05/life_and_learning_at_sabahs_turtle_islands
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