Turtles aren't coming back says Malaysian don

Zainuddin Muhammad, New Straits Times 25 Jan 10;

KUALA TERENGGANU: The turtles are not coming back to Batu Buruk beach, here.

It was sad but true, said Turtle Conservation Centre co-founder and chief executive officer Prof Dr Chan Eng Heng who is one of the country's leading experts in turtle research, conservation and education.

Commenting on the recent find of a turtle's nest at Batu Buruk beach, the retired marine biodiversity and conservation professor at Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, said it was an isolated case where one or two turtles found their way back to their old nesting ground.

"I have been told that eight green turtle hatchlings were found crawling at the Batu Buruk Beach Resort and later, officers from the Turtle and Marine Ecosystem Centre (Tumec) in Rantau Abang, Dungun, found a nest with more than 70 eggs in it.

"It is good to see turtles making an appearance again at the beach but chances are that the turtle that laid the eggs is what's left of the old batch of turtles that used to nest here and we are not likely to see another turtle for a while."

She said similar occurences could also be detected at other beaches in the state such at Mengabang Telipot, Batu Rakit and Chendering.

"But all is not lost as the number of turtle landings and nestings in Ma'daerah, Pulau Redang, Pulau Perhentian and Rantau Abang have been encouraging in the past few years," she said.

Tumec supervisor Abdul Halim Mat Nor said the eight baby turtles from Batu Buruk had been relocated to the Turtles Information Centre in Rantau Abang.

"The turtle that laid the eggs must have landed on the beach in December but out of 83 eggs, only eight hatched as the rest were ruined after being prematurely exposed to sea water.

"Too bad the turtle was not a leatherback, as Batu Buruk used to be the nesting ground for the largest of all living sea turtles," said Halim, who revealed there were nine leatherback landings in Rantau Abang last year.