HEIDI MUNAN (Pictures by NADIM BOKHARI, KHAMSIAH BOHARI, Heidi MUNAN and sarawak forestry)
Move over, doggy! Move over, kitty! HEIDI MUNAN only has eyes for sea turtles though she admits they are not pets to cuddle up with
DOGS and cats are all very well and, if you’ve got the space, a cow or a pony might be pleasant additions to the family. There’s something even to be said for pythons or cockatoos and goldfish do have a following.
But the really cool pet of the century is the sea turtle. Admittedly, they are not very cuddly. If you want to take yours for a walk you’ll need a very long leash – their average travelling radius is 3,000 kms!
They reach maturity at an average 15-20 years, the average number of eggs a female can lay is 100-120. And their average lifespan is 100 years... IF the creature survives that long!
The Island Of Talang Talang Besar
Please Protect Us
Sea turtles have everything going against them. Predators, both human and animal, greedily eat their eggs. Sea birds and fish gobble up baby turtles the minute they leave their sandy cradles and wriggle their way to the sea.
Fishing nets routinely entangle and drown turtles – though it’s a sea creature, the turtle needs to come up and breathe at regular intervals.
Drifting rubbish, particularly plastic and rubber, chokes and strangles turtles who mistake the flotsam for food. Plastic bags resemble jellyfish, one of their favourite foods! A distressing number of turtles end up in cooking pots of those who crave exotic treats.
“I’d say about one in 1,000 hatchlings (turtle-speak for “babies”) survives to maturity and lives a normal lifespan,” says a Sarawak Forestry officer who is well-versed in the problems of turtle conservation.
What has the Sarawak Forestry got to do with sea turtles? Are these reptiles forest dwellers?
They’re not, but wildlife protection on land and sea is managed by the department. There’s a special Working Group for Turtle Conservation and they’ve come up with a Sea Turtle Adoption Programme, a scheme under which anyone can adopt an adult turtle or a “nest” of eggs on an island in the South China Sea.
Adoptive parents will be informed about the welfare of their wards, for instance how many hatchlings have left the nest and started their life in the dangerous element they love, or how many eggs an adult turtle has laid.
Besides adopting a turtle, wildlife friends from far and wide can sign up as volunteers.
The National Park Quarters Near The Hatchery
Turtle Volunteers
What does a “turtle volunteer” do? Most of them will simply contribute a set sum of money for the support of the Sea Turtles project. But if they happen to be in Sarawak during the “nesting” months from May to September, they can apply to do a stint of actual volunteer work at the Talang-Talang turtle islands complex!
This is a privilege few people other than Sarawak Forestry officers ever enjoy as the islands are strictly off limits to casual visitors with fingers and toes!
Registered participants in the project, however, will be allowed to work on the island for three days so they can see for themselves what’s being done and what still needs to be done to save one of the world’s most ancient surviving creatures.
Sea Turtle Volunteers will share the spartan accommodations of a Forestry officer. They’ll patrol the beaches at night, torchlight in hand, to supervise turtle landings. They’ll be carefully securing new nests.
They’ll be counting eggs, and later hatchlings, to get accurate statistics on fertility rates. They’ll spend quite a bit of time with charts and tables and records. They’ll nurse hatchlings in shallow ponds till they’re at least big enough to evade the smaller of the enemies waiting for them in the dark blue deep.
A word of warning: Volunteer work in the Sea Turtle Programme is not suitable for a school excursion or a social club outing. Only a few volunteers are admitted to the island at any one time and their “slots” are carefully regulated. Talang-Talang belongs to the turtles, not humans, and it’s going to stay that way.
Sematan Pasar Is The Usual Staging Point For Talang Talang
Adopt A Turtle
Sea turtles, as a species, date back… millenniae? Millions of years? Well, a long time! But their friends are well provided with up-to-the-minute technology. All the details on how to become a turtle sponsor, how to adopt one of the interesting reptiles, how to sign up for an unforgettable working holiday on Turtle Island, are to be found on www.sarawakforestry.com
If you don’t feel comfortable with websites, call Francis Gombek at 082-610 088082-610 088 for a wee chat and let them tell you all about it.
Protecting Turtle Eggs From Predators Is A Full Time Job
A Distant View
Everybody can help preserve turtles, whether as sponsor of a turtle, a nest, or a signed-up volunteer. Unfortunately, not everybody can get a turn at island duty.
But take a holiday on Sematan beach, immediately opposite the newly-gazetted National Park of Talang-Satang, and gaze at the green hillocks on the marine horizon. That’s where your pet lives, where its eggs are hatched and where your contribution is being put to good use.
Having gazed your fill, go sailing, kayaking, hill-trekking (some lovely waterfalls in vicinity) or seafood-gobbling in Sematan or nearby Lundu.
By the way — when ordering dinner, DO NOT ask for Turtle Soup!
Netting Protects The Precious Turtle Eggs While They Hatch
No comments:
Post a Comment