So, I went to Redang over the weekend to assist my Supervisor conduct two turtle camps for the kids of SK Pulau Redang. The 40+ kids were separated into 4 smaller groups so that they are more manageable. Some of the kids were adorable, some naughty, some sweet, some polite and some, well.. Banyak orang, banyak ragam, they say :)

And I will be going in to Redang again tomorrow, and I will be conducting the camps myself this time around. Yes, I know I promised lots pictures *winks*

I’ll quickly go through the pictures because my eyes are drooping and I need some sleep before subjecting myself to lots of “Kak Pelf! Kak Pelf!”

(1) Berjaya sponsors the boat tranfer from Berjaya Resort to Chagar Hutang beach. But because the dive boat was quite a big boat, we had to use SEATRU’s small boat to transfer everybody onto the beach.

(2) Upon arriving at the campsite, we made the kids introduce themselves. But they never went beyond “Nama saya Siti. Hobi saya ialah bermain bola jaring.” Apparently, most of the girls LOVE to play netball, and most of the boys, computer games.

(3) After the short introduction and a briefing, I took them on a walk down the beach. The main purpose of the walk was to get them to do beach clean-up. But we saw a dead green turtle hatchling trapped in between the net mesh instead :(

(4) We believed that the hatchlings were already emerging from that particular nest, hence a nest excavation was performed. True enough, we managed to rescue most of the hatchlings from being predated by ants.

(5) It was the first time the kids have ever seen a real, live turtle hatchling. They may have eaten turtle eggs throughout their 11 years of living, but they have never been so close to a live turtle.

(6) A nest excavation was performed whenever a nest is suspected of being predated upon, usually by ants. Like in this case, the hatchlings were being forced out of their nest because of the ants.

(7) Some hatchlings have just hatched from their eggs! :)

(8) The eggs that did not hatch were also analyzed. The egg shells were torn open to tell at which stage the embryo died, e.g. whether the vital organs have been formed, or whether the egg was fertilized at all.

(9) The kids found more dead hatchlings along the beach, which was indeed a sad sight. They were believed to have been chased out of their own nest by ants, but did not make it to the sea due to the hot weather (and sand). This is also one of the reasons why we would prefer to release hatchlings at night, during the high tide.

(10) A closer look at one of the dead hatchlings that was predated upon by ants.

(11) At night, we played games with the kids. They were made to swim like a turtle, act like how a female turtle would when she is laying her eggs, etc. After the games, they were all asked to get some rest before we woke them up in the middle of the night to witness a turtle nesting.

(12) The next morning, there was a drawing-and-colouring contest whereby each student was supposed to complete their artwork in an hour. The top three artwork were presented with presents. After that, there was a 10-question quiz and similarly, the three students with the highest marks were given a present each.

(13) The kids posing with their artwork.

(14) This is redundant, but I just wanted to show off the pretty banner *smiles* Before leaving, the students were each presented with a certificate of participation.

THE END.

Good night.

Have you ever heard about the “community message” on the green turtles on Light and Easy? Well, the first time I heard it on air was on July 13th. I remember it very well because I got home and immediately sent an email to Light and Easy for the inaccurate information.

The message sounded something like this:

.. The green turtles of Malaysia.. Each turtle lays 200 eggs.. So you may adopt a turtle for RM150.. You will receive a certificate, a specially-designed Ma’ Daerah T-shirt.. Call WWF.. For further information..

So I wrote them an email, and I said that green turtles do NOT lay 200 eggs each time. The average number of eggs laid by green turtles is 100. Hawksbill turtles, on the other hand, MAY lay up to 200 eggs though they would normally lay 160 or so eggs.

They did not reply my email, and right after that I did not hear the particular message on air anymore. Until this afternoon. The message was unchanged, as if they never received my email at all.

Did they receive the email I sent? Did it get lost in cyberspace? Or did they choose to ignore the mistake?

Anyway, since I am already here, I might as well promote our Sea Turtle Research Unit’s (SEATRU) Turtle and Nest Adoptions. Each adoption costs RM 100, or USD 40, and will be furnished with:

• A Certificate of Adoption
• An “Endangered Turtles of Malaysia” T-shirt
• A green turtle postcard
• An official receipt from KUSTEM. And if you provide us your Malaysian IC number, your adoption is tax-deductible.

At the end of the season, i.e. during the monsoon, we will send you information on that particular turtle or nest that you have adopted. Information about the turtle include the year in which that particular turtle was first tagged, the number of times she had nested in Redang eversince, the number of eggs she had laid, etc. And you may name your turtle too *smiles* Information about the nest include the number of eggs deposited in the nest, the number of healthy hatchlings produced, the number of dead hatchlings or infertile eggs, etc.

If you are interested, you may download the adoption forms here:

• Turtle Adoption Form
• Nest Adoption Form

Further questions can either be directed to me or to turtle@umt.edu.my though you may expect the same person to reply you *winks*

A lot have been reported on the status of the leatherback turtles in Terengganu of late. Scientists have estimated the extinction of the leathery turtles in 1996 but a recent report released by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) confirmed it. A front-page article concerning this was published in The Star on 13 August 2006. And last month, I blogged about a similar article that was published in New Straits Times. Same facts, same story, same intensity of denial, what’s new?

Yes, we are losing them, whether we like it or not. In fact, we are not only losing another species of turtles, we are losing a very important part of our heritage that we were once very famous for.

There is nothing we can do to repopulate the leatherbacks in our waters because they are “effectively extinct”, meaning the adult population in the waters is NOT enough to reproduce to sustain anymore future generations. The five-pathetic-nests of eggs that were laid this year by two-pathetic-leatherbacks will NOT produce 100% hatch rates and subsequently survival rates.

But is our friend, Mr. K, accepting the fact? No.

In fact, he insisted that the leatherbacks are technically not extinct and that they are returning to lay eggs. Now tell me, if the fact that a population of thousands of leatherback turtles in the 1950s dwindled to only two individuals in 2006 does NOT reflect the fact that they are “effectively extinct”, what will? It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand the figures and trends that would categorize the leatherbacks as being effectively extinct, you know..

But why do you think I am sooo concerned over what Mr. K thinks? Because he is the Director of Turtle and Marine Ecosystem Centre (TUMEC) – the national agency mandated to save the turtles – and he is potentially capable of draining the country’s turtle conservation resourses in his personal mission to revive the leatherback population by proposing absurd multi-million ringgit plans like this.

A friend of mine recently said:

It is a great loss that we should give up on the leatherback turtle, but sometimes, when enough mistakes are made… life must go on. We need to urge those in power to learn from these mistakes and apply this knowledge to the other turtle species that stands a chance.

So now, I need a favour from YOU. Please read and analyze this article carefully and send your opinions to the Editors of various newspapers:

1. The Star –> editor@thestar.com.my
2. New Straits Times –> letters@nstp.com.my
3. The Sun –> chenghai@thesundaily.com
4. Berita Harian –> bhsurat@bharian.com.my
5. Utusan Melayu –> online@utusan.com.my

And if you have the emails for the Chinese press Editors, do let me know :)

Please help us. Saving them saves us.