PHUKET: Experts believe a 200kg leatherback sea turtle found floating in the shallows of Klong Tha Cheen in Phuket yesterday afternoon died after becoming entangled in a fishing net.
The death comes amid what one expert has described as a “crisis” for the endangered species.
The body of the turtle, estimated at between 15 and 25 years old, was discovered floating in mangrove forest by residents of the Bang Hon Sai Thong residential estate in Rassada subdistrict.
The villagers hauled the carcass onto the beach and alerted officials from the Marine Endangered Species Unit at the Phuket Marine Biological Center at Cape Panwa.
The animal had large wounds to its front legs thought to have been made by fish hooks. A large cut in its mouth was also consistent with entanglement with a fishing line.
The officers loaded the heavy creature onto a truck and drove it to the PMBC for further examination.
The body, weighing 196 kilograms, had a circumference of almost three metres. Officials estimated it died no more than two days before its body was discovered.
PMBC director Wannakiat Tubtimsaeng said the turtle was of mating age and it was likely swimming ashore to lay eggs on one of Phuket's beaches.
However, the area where the turtle was found was not a place where leatherbacks traditionally laid eggs.
The most common nesting spot is Mai Khao beach in Thalang district.
Leatherback turtles have also been known to lay on other west coast beaches including Kata, Karon and Patong.
Fishermen apparently pulled the creature onto a boat to disentangle it before throwing it back into the sea in Klong Tha Cheen. The animal was found several kilometers upstream, not an area where pelagic sea turtles like the leatherback would normally venture.
The official cause of death will be determined pending a full autopsy, he said.
Mr Wannakiat said the situation looked grim for turtles in Phuket this season, with no turtles of any type laying eggs on any beaches so far. In particular, no leatherbacks have been seen laying eggs anywhere along Thailand's Andaman coastline.
He called the situation a “crisis” for the population of leatherbacks, the most endangered species of turtle in the region.
Giant Phuket Turtle Loses Fight to Exist
Pathomporn Kaenkrachang PhuketWan 3 Mar 11;
A GIANT leatherback turtle has been found dead near a pier in Phuket City, spotlighting the sad decline in turtles of all species of turtles as tourism and trawlers take over the Andaman coastline.
The turtle, a female, weighed 196 kilos and measured 157 centimetres from tip to tail. Villagers found the turtle in the water near Rassada Pier, the spot in Phuket City where tourists catch ferries to Phi Phi.
Biologists from the Phuket Marine Biology Centre plan an autopsy to see if they can determine what killed the turtle. It appeared to be about 15 years old, an ideal age for egg-laying.
Villagers believe it was probably a victim of an encounter with a trawler net, but the biologists say the turtle may have died from any one of a number of causes.
In bygone days, leatherbacks came ashore in numbers to leave eggs at Mai Khao, on Phuket's west coast, and further north at Thai Muang in Phang Nga.
There were four deposits of leatherback eggs detected at Thai Muang and two at Mai Khao last year, but nearly all were unfertilised eggs. The laying season runs from November to March.
No deposits of eggs have been detected so far this year.
Phuket Reminder: It’s sink or swim for the leatherback
Phuket Gazette 29 Mar 11;
PHUKET: A dead 200-kilogram leatherback turtle washed up in Phuket earlier this month, adding to fears of the imminent extinction of the pacific subspecies.
The male, which had not quite reached full maturity, ingested a plastic bag and died from intestinal blockage, an autopsy by the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) revealed.
Sixty years ago, Phuket’s beaches were host to 400-500 leatherback turtle nests. Last year there were seven – this year there have been none.
This does not bode well for the turtle, as December, January and February mark the nesting season.
The Pacific subspecies of the leatherback is “the world’s most endangered marine turtle population”, with only about 2,300 females remaining, according to a World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) estimate.
Dr Kongkiat Kittiwattanawont from the PMBC explains why the pacific population has suffered so badly:
“There used to be direct hunting of sea turtles in Phuket about 40 years ago. Their shells and products were sold for export,” he says.
“Also, Thai people used to eat the eggs, and that is actually the main factor in the destruction of the population” he adds.
In the past, almost all leatherback eggs laid in Thailand were poached, the WWF reports.
“Now, because of campaigns and law changes, the public has become more educated and aware of this issue, and illegal consumption of sea turtles appears to be very rare,” he said.
But the damage has been done. The survival of the species seems to have taken an irreparable blow from the years of poaching. And a variety of new threats have come about as a byproduct of Thailand’s economic development.
“Recently, new threats like coastal fishing have arisen. We have found many turtles caught in fishing gear. Pollution is another reason for the decline. We have found that about 5 to 10 per cent of sea turtles stranded on the beach have eaten plastic bags or other trash,” Dr Kongkiat said.
Climate change is also playing a role in the demise of the leatherback.
“Last year we saw just a quarter of the usual nesting statistics, and that was because it was very warm. Sea turtles prefer to lay eggs in temperatures of about 29 to 30 degrees in the sand... last year it was an average of 32 degrees under water,” Dr Kongkiat explains.
PMBC efforts to raise leatherbacks have proven problematic as the species does not do well in captivity.
“The best thing for us to do is to take care of nature. We cannot save the sea turtle by itself; we have to save its habitat as well – like sea grass beds and coral reefs.
"People can help by trying not to destroy the habitat and putting trash in the sea. If they help preserve the environment, they help preserve the sea turtles as well,” Dr Kongkiat says.