Spy in the sky confirms Hong Kong as turtle haven

Timothy Chui, The Standard 26 Mar 09;

Satellite-tracking tags have confirmed that the city's eastern waters are a vital transit route for the endangered green turtle.

Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department biologists tracked four female green turtles that came to nest in the territory.

"Our data showed they do migrate among feeding grounds in waters near Hong Kong, migrating from the Philippines to China to lay eggs," AFCD wetland and fauna conservation officer Cheung Ka-shing said.

Of the seven existing marine turtle species, four have been spotted in the territory.

The leatherback and hawkbill species are critically endangered while olive ridley and green turtles are on the endangered list.

To turn the tide, the AFCD has incubated roughly 910 eggs and has been caring for 22 baby turtles. Hatched in December, the baby turtles were from the seventh batch of eggs laid by the first recorded green turtle that returned to nest near Hong Kong.

On July 26 last year, AFCD wardens at Lamma Island's Sham Wan beach restricted area spotted a female green turtle dubbed "Hong Kong 2" that was last seen nesting in 2003.

With the mother laying seven clutches of eggs from July 26 to October 11, the AFCD decided to artificially incubate batches four to seven out of fear that temperatures would be too cold since the egg's 50-day hatching cycle would mean they would hatch in the middle of winter.

The incubation yielded more than 80 percent hatching rate versus nature's one in 1,000.

Hatchlings from batches four through six were introduced into the wild in October while batch seven and its 22 babies will remain on show at Tin Shui Wai's Hong Kong Wetland Park until July 31.

The green turtles have been listed on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources' Red List as endangered since 2004.