Have you read this in The Star today?
So, apparently, the Asian Giant Softshell Turtle (Pelochelys cantorii) was found dead at the Marine Park Unit dock in the afternoon two days ago. The Head of the Marine Park Unit, Shireen Hing, contacted my Supervisor, and we rushed to town to have a look at the animal carcass.
When we arrived, the carcass was tied to a pole at the dock, and it was bloated and floating.
We wanted to do some measuring so we pulled the carcass to the side. It looked soooo much bigger when it was pulled it up, compared to just by looking at it from the top.
Check out the cute little eyes. And the even cuter nostrils.
So we got down to measuring its length and width. No, I wasn’t SITTING on the stick. Or rock. Or whatever.
And we turned it turtle. And then we took more close-up pictures of the eyes, nostrils, claws, bloated limbs and what-nots.
Then the next day (which was yesterday), we arranged for a Rodeo to haul the carcass back to campus. Thank God the driver and the other students were there to help out. Otherwise we would need to get help from the Marine Park staff.
So back at KUSTEM, we dug a hole to bury it, but before that, we performed a “post-mortem” on it.
I am sure vets will laugh at the way we did it. But hey, what do you expect from biologists?! None of us were trained vets, you know. And yours truly wasn’t involved in cutting it open - she was busy documenting the whole process. Lame, I know *winks*
And, if you noticed, I mentioned “post-mortem” in inverted commas because it wasn’t exactly one. Apart from the empty stomach and collapsed lungs, we didn’t really discover anything else. Oh yes, and the fact that we couldn’t find the gonads. Opps..
So, if you think gory pictures will NOT affect your appetite, click here to view the insides of the softshell turtle (opens in a new window).
And finally, we burried the turtle. May you rest in peace, and may the rest of your kind escape such fate.
More about Pelochelys cantorii here and here.
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Wah, a CSI case…. Has the cause of death been determined?
It’s sad… and even more so if it is definitely proven that human action was involved.
that picture of bloated turtle is beyond words.
erm … ew ew ew .. poor turtle!
pelf: Yea, poor turtle
Sigh.. yup i read that news. Sad.. sad… really hope for more conservation works. Sigh.. the thing is most of the people not aware of these… (any animals). What a pity..=(
pelf: *sigh*
The overturned softshell turtle looked like a pig, no? Haahaa!
pelf: PIG your head la! Go check your eyes, quick!
Wow you must really love animals, what I see is a mayat yet you see an opportunity to learn. Bravo to you
pelf: Well, I wouldn’t say I LOVE animals.. But the turtles.. And yes, apart from the foul smell, I could tolerate a few more post-mortems. It’s not everyday that I get to see what’s inside the turtles you know
I swear your blog hates me. First I couldn’t comment (browser kept wanting to download a php page instead) and then your blog wouldn’t load on my home computer. No fate haha!
pelf: And I swear my blog hates me too. I was having problem viewing and logging in. Well, maybe the university blocked MY BLOG. Oppss…
Anyway, that turtle looks so strange. So albino like
pelf: No, it’s not an albino. The colour is such, dirty-green. But then again, you don’t expect a carcass to look beatiful, do you?
I thought you were the one who wrote the news.
Ahaks.
The terrapin/thing looks like some weird thing thingy and gives me the creep (picture of the face and the neck) Haha! At one point, it reminded me of pigs.
pelf: It looked weird because it was bloated
See? Even Bro. Jason said it looked like a pig! Check your eyes la!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (= keekee
pelf: Hmmph..
The last of it’s kind and it dies like this. Sad. I wonder how we’ll pay for all this in the end?
pelf: Good question. But I don’t have an answer
Ps. why your blog asking mathematic question all la. Like back in school again
pelf: Because I’ve been receiving a lot of SPAMs, that’s why :))
back to check out the turtles =)
and this turtle is big…
sad lar…this is the first time i’ve seen a turtle grave..
and the guy looked very happy while digging the hole… =P
pelf: I am sure you would also try cheer everybody up if a turtle carcass was lying beside you and that it was covered with flies and worms.
@bawangmerah : pelf was afraid that we couldn’t even do simple maths. so she had to do so haha =)
pelf: Hahahah, acceptable also
Ooi, you dont call that kind of eyes CUTE la please… i feel geli. :p
pelf: Muahhaha, geli your head la