Save Ocean Turtle is a wildlife and conservation photography project, carried out in the state of Sarawak, Borneo, Malaysia.

   Sarawak,s first marine national park, Talang Satang was established with the primary aim of conserving Sarawak,s marine turtle population. The park comprises the coastline and sea surrounding four inlands of the southwest coast of Sarawak: Pulau Talang Besar { Greater Taland Island } and Pulau Talang Kecil { Lesser Taland Island } off Sematan, and Pulau Satang Besar { Greater Satang Island } and Pulau Satang Kecil { Lesser Satang Island } off Santubong, near Kuching { Sarawak capital }. These four " turtle Islands " are responsible for 95% of all the turtle landings in Sarawak. The park also includes the Pulau Tukong Ara-Banun Wildlife Sanctuary, two tiny islets which are important nesting sites for colonies of Bridled Terns and Black-Naped Terns.

   Talang Satang National Park was gazetted in 1999, and covers a total area of approximately 19.400 hectares { 19.4 sg km }, and comprises all lands below the high tide marks on the respective islands, and the surrounding seas for a radius of 4.8 km from the highest point on each island. Beautiful shallow reef areas surround all the " four islands ". The reefs generally consist of several species of hard coral and colonies of soft coral. They provide shelter and resting grounds for sea turtles, and are also important fish breeding areas. 

   The islands that make up the Talang Satang National Park are privately owned, the government of Sarawak rents them by paying an economic rent to their owners, to use them as a conservation center for sea turtle.

   Pulau Talang Besar is the island where the highest concentration of turtles come to lay their eggs, and it is where I made this photographic report. Located 30 minutes offshore from Sematan in southwest Sarawak. This little island serve as sanctuarie for Green and Hawksbill turtles. Over 90% of turtle landing are from Green Turtles { Chelonia Mydas }. The island are Sarawak,s most important turtle conservation site.

   Owing to their small size and fragile environment, the Talang islands have not been developed for tourism. Instead the government,s emphasis has been on turtle conservation.

   Sarawak is a pioneer of turtle conservation with Talang Besar being the first site in the world to be the focus of turtle research and management activities. The now common turtle conservation strategies of tagging adult turtles and relocating eggs to hatcheries were first tried out on the small island of Talang Besar.

   Conservation work on the Talang islands began in the 1940,s when the Sarawak Museum started a long-tern research project. Data on turtle landings and nests at Talang dates back to 1946. Conservation efforts were accelerated in the 1950,s when turtle eggs were collected from various sites and transferred to a natural beach hatchery on Pulau Taland Besar. 

   In 1953 a new method of tagging marine turtles was pioneered in the Talang islands when American zoologist John R. Hendrickson came up with the idea of using self-piercing, self clinching cow ear tags. Prior to this it was common for researchers to drill a hole in the turtle and attach a tag with wire. These tags were not very durable and often subject to corrosion. Hendrickson ordered a batch of custom made cow ear tags from a supplier in Kentucky. He then set about tagging as many turtles as possible with the new tags attached to the turtle,s foreflipper. Tom Harrison, the head of the Sarawak Museum, was skeptical of the new approach. In 1956 the first flipper-tagged green turtle landed on Talang Besar to the amazement of Tom Harrison and his wife Barbara who happened to be staying on the island.

   Conservation work continues today. Park rangers monitor the beaches, record turtles landings, nests, number of eggs and hatchlings. 

   Whilst turtles land on the island,s beaches throughout the year, the main turtle nesting season is from April to October. June, July and August are the busiest months with 20 or more turtle landings per night. 2.000-2.500 nests and 150.000-200.000 eggs are recorded on Pulau Talang Besar each year. On average 65% of eggs hatch.

   A turtle volunteer programme on Pulau Talang Besar offers visitors the chance to participate in Saawak,s turtle conservation efforts. 

   Marine turtles are amongst the world,s longest-live creatures, which many reaching a lifespan of more than 100 years. Adult Green turtles grow to 1.5 meters long. The average weight of mature individuals is 68-190 kg, and the average carapace length is 78-112 cm. Exceptional specimens can weigh more than 300 kg. Graceful swimmers that spend most of their time underwater, they have survived almost unchanged since the Triassic period, some 200 million years ago. However the breeding habits that have served them so well for so long are now contributing to their extinction. International Status: Chelonia Mydas { Green Sea Turtle } are listed as Endangered { facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild in the near future } by the International Union for Conservation of Nature Resources in 1982.

   Marine turtles mature slowly, only starting to breed between 30 and 50 years of age, and once they commence breeding, females usually only produce eggs once every four of five years. They do not lay their eggs on just any beach, but migrate back to their beach of birth, sometimes across distances of more than 3.000 km. How they find their way back to that particular beach is one of nature,s great unsolved mysteries. It is also a major factor in the decline of turtle population, because as beaches around the world are developed for various purposes, the turtles are unable to move to undisturbed nesting sites. 

   Other factors that contribute to turtle mortality are deliberate poaching of turtles for meat and tortoiseshell; uncontrolled collecting of turtle eggs { a sea turtle egg is sold in the illegal trade for 3 Malaysian ringgit { about US$0.65 }; entrapment in fishing nets; destruction of feeding grounds such coral reef or sea grass beds; and ingestion of plastic bags which some species mistake for jellyfish, part of their natural diet. Even under perfect conditions, survival rates are very low. A female turtle may lay as many as 10.000 eggs in her lifetime, but because of nesting losses due to natural land predators { on the island of Talang Satang the only predator on land is the Water Monitor Lizard { Varanus Salvator }, which daily comes down to the beach from the edge of the jungle where they live, to detect turtle nests with its excellent olfactory tongue, and dig to eat the eggs }, and predation by fish once they reach the sea, as few as 10 hatchling will survive to reach maturity. 

   Because of the threat to marine turtles, a conservation programme is under way on Talang Satang,s three larger islands, and also in Tanjung Datu and Similajau National Parks on the Sarawak mainland. Eggs are either removed from nests and placed in guarded hatcheries by Sarawak Forestry rangers. After 40 to 60 days incubation, depending on the temperature of the sand { at higher temperatures it produces more females, and at lower temperatures more males }, young hatchlings are released at nightfall to reduce losses from predators. The programme appears to be working well, as the number of landings has stabilized at between 1.500 to 3.000 per year over a 10 year period, after sinking to an all time low of under 1.000 in the early 1980s. 

   The conservation programme has been carefully planned to involve local communities. The traditional rights and practices of the local landowners, villagers, and fishermen are recognized, and Sarawak Forestry works in close co-operation with them to ensure sustainable usage of the resources they are entitled to.

   Like most protected areas in Sarawak { TPAs } " Totally Protected Areas ". Talang Satang National Park is managed by Sarawak Forestry Corporation { SFC }, what is a statutory body of the Sarawak Government formed under Sarawak Forestry Corporation Ordinance 1995. Which in turn is monitored by the turtle management board { LPP } by its acronym in Malay " Lembaga Pengurusan Penyu ", section belonging to the Sarawak Museum. 

Early in the morning a green turtle has finished laying its eggs and rest for a moment on top of a small dune before returning to the ocean.
Dozens of recently hatched green turtles in an individual hatchery net.
The ranger deposits the eggs recently taken from the place where the green turtle spawned and deposits them in a hole inside the hatchery.
General view of the sea turtle hatchery with the background of Pueh Mountain.
Boy apprentice ranger collects freshly dug up green turtle eggs early in the morning to transport them to the hatchery.
Footprints in the sand of turtles returning to the ocean after laying eggs.
Green turtle that just finished spawning.
Aldrin and Aidil ranger and controller of LPP respectively, who just before nightfall release hundreds of baby turtles born that same day in the hatchery.
A newborn green turtle.
Front flipper breaks and just appears in the egg of the green turtle yet to be born.
View of the sea turtle hatchery and the rangers house.
Early in the morning, a ranger collects the eggs that a sea turtle laid the night before.
A dawn, two green turtle return to the ocean after laying their eggs.
The heads of three newborn green turtle appear in the sand of their individual hatchery.
Two green turtle eggs: Normal egg { left } and oval egg { right }
View of the individual hatcheries with their nameplates.
Green turtle spawning.
Different deformed green turtle eggs, only the first one on the left has the normal size, color and shape.
View of the sea turtle hatchery and the rangers house on a stormy afternoon with rainbows.
Newborn green turtle emerging from the sand, hatched naturally on the beach.
Water monitor lizard runs away from my presence with a sea turtle egg in its mouth.
hatched cross paths towards the ocean.
The ranger deposits the green turtle eggs collected moments before in their new and final nest inside the hatchery.
Ranger removes eggs from the nest where a green turtle laid them under a lush stormy sky.
Iron tool made to measure in an artisan way that the rangers use to locate the exact place where the nest with the sea turtle eggs are.
Ranger pierces and insects into the left front flipper of a green turtle a small metal plate with its registration number.
Baby green turtle coming out of the egg in its individual nest in the hatchery.
Green turtle entering the ocean after spawning.
At night rangers using the tool in search of the exact location of the sea turtle nest.
Footprints in the sand of turtles returning to the ocean after laying eggs.
Green turtle with Barnacles Crustacean { Chelonibia Testudinaria } attached to shell.
Two newborn green turtles peek through the sand in their individual nest in the hatchery.
Ranger Aldrin digs a hole in the hatchery to deposit green turtle eggs just collected from their original nest.
Information map in the guest house.
Water monitor lizard { Varanus Salvator } digs for sea turtle eggs.
Green turtle egg accidentally broken while ranger digging with almost formed baby turtle.
Two green turtles return to the ocean after having deposited their eggs in their nest in the sand on the beach.
Two bucket with green turtle eggs just taken from their nests.
Aidil, LPP controler, removes green turtle eggs from its nest.
Close-up portrait of a green turtle.
Large cubes used as nest in the hatchery for sea turtle eggs in the rainy season, when the high tide covers the entire beach.
General view of the sea turtle hatchery.
Ranger records the number of sea turtle eggs rehomed that morning from each nest at the hatchery.
Early morning ranger Chris removes sea turtle eggs from their nest, Pueh Mountain in the background.
Green turtle with many Barnacles crustaceans attached to its shell swims on shore at sunset.
Early in the morning a green turtle returns to the ocean after laying its eggs, in the background Aidil and Aldrin collect eggs from other nests.
Barnacles crustacean { Chelonibia Testudinaria } attached to the shell of a green turtle.
Green turtle entering the ocean after spawning.
A baby green turtle probably killed by a crab on the ocean shore and then washed up on the beach.
Sea turtle bones found by the author of this work among the rocks at the end of the beach, and which make up almost a complete skeleton.
At sunset dozens of baby green turtles run into the ocean immediately after hatching naturally from a nest on the beach.
Four green turtle eggs of different sizes and shapes { only the third from the left has the normal size and shape }
House for the employees of the LPP { Lembaga Penguasan Penyu } section belonging to the Kuching museum.
A water monitor lizard near the sea turtle hatchery.
Portrait of a green turtle with Barnacles crustaceans attached very close to its mouth and nostrils.
View of the sea turtle hatchery and two rangers carrying out maintenance and repair work, with the small island of Talang Kecil in the background.
Early in the morning, ranger Aldrin collects green turtle eggs deposited in the nest the night before for later transfer to the hatchery.
Accounting of sea turtle eggs deposited in the hatchery that day.
Ranger pierces and insects into the right front flipper of a green turtle a small metal plate with its registration number.
Early in the morning a ranger uses the tool to find the exact location of the sea turtle nest, while his assistant watches and waits with plastic tubes to mark the nest once it is found.
Sea turtle footprints at sunrise.
At dawn a green turtle makes its way to the ocean after laying its eggs.
Portrait of a green turtle that seems to smile.
A newborn green turtle swims for the first time in the transparent waters of the Pacific Ocean coast.
A ranger lays green turtle eggs in their new nest at the hatchery.
The only three buildings on Talang Besar island. From right to left: House of the rangers. House of LPP employees. Visitor house.
Large water monitor lizard in the jungle near the coast.
Green turtle on top of a dune at sunrise.
Rangers deposit and record sea turtle eggs at the hatchery.
Mohamad, driver of the LPP boat collects sea turtle eggs at dawn.
View of the sticks that the rangers use to mark sea turtle nests, they are made of wood, plastic and metal.
At night a ranger measures a green turtle.
Ranger uses the tool to find the exact spot where the green turtle just laid eggs.
Footprints from the sea to the beach of water monitor lizard.
Seven sacks, about 70 kilos of waste: plastic, cans, glass, polystyrene, ropes and fishing nets, collected on the beach and rocky area, by the author of Save Ocean Turtle, during his stay on the islan
Partial view of the garbage collected on the beach by the author.
Of all the debris accumulated on the beach, the most harmful and dangerous for sea turtle are undoubtedly the old fishing nets.
Plastic and other debris are washed away by sea currents until they reach the beach of the Talang Satang National Park where about 20 sea turtle lay their eggs every day.
Close-up of the head, neck, and from flippers of a green turtle.
The same net that protects you kills you. A dead baby green turtle in the hatchery net.
Swarm of tiny flies feed on a sea turtle egg.
Right front flipper of a green turtle with its tag identification number.
Green turtle just finished spawning and in the background a ranger reviews the spawning data, measurements and identification number.
Early in the morning a green turtle returns to the ocean after laying its eggs.
View of the sea turtle hatchery and Gading Mountain in the background.
Early in the morning, Aidil, controller of the LPP, collects sea turtle eggs to transport them to the hatchery.
A plier-like tool that rangers use to pierce and insert the small registration number plate in to both front flippers of each sea turtle that comes to nest in Talang Satang National Park.
Record number engraved on one side of the small metal plates that are inserted into front flippers of sea turtles { the letters MYSA stand for Malaysia-Sarawak, and the number is specific to each sea
The other side of the small metal identification tags that are attached to both front flippers of nesting sea turtle in Talang Satang National Park.
The piercing part of the small metal identification tags that are attached to both front flippers of nesting sea turtles in Talang Satang National Park.
A green turtle on its way back to the ocean passes Aidil collecting eggs from a nest.
Ranger measures a green turtle.
Footprints in the sand of turtles returning to the ocean after laying eggs.
Early in the morning a green turtle enters the ocean after laying its eggs on the beach.
Newborn green turtle in individual nest with their identification and control plate in the hatchery.
Courtship and mating of green turtles at dawn in shallow water, with Talang Kecil island and Pueh Mountain in the background.
Three green turtle eggs, only the one in the center has the normal size and shape, however, it is not a recently laid egg, which are more yellowish in color, this is an egg that has been incubating fo
Views of the rangers house and the sea turtle hatchery.
Green turtle laying eggs at sunrise.
Green turtle eggs just taken from the nest, and a ranger collects eggs from another nest early in the morning.
Sea turtle control notebook on buckets used to transport eggs from the nest on the beach to the hatchery.
At night, a ranger repairs the net of the sea turtle hatchery.
Portrait of a green turtle.
Newborn green turtles in their individual nest at the hatchery.
Small oval green turtle egg next to a normal egg.
Information sign in the visitor house.
Water monitor lizard swims on the shoreline near the beach.
Courtship and mating of green turtle at dawn in shallow water.
Green turtle at sunrise.
New individual nest ready to deposit eggs collected that morning next to the nest already incubating in the hatchery.
Ranger collects green turtle eggs on a stormy sunset.
Ranger shows the iron tool they use to located the exact place where the sea turtle eggs are.
LPP controller Aidil uses the iron tool to pinpoint the exact location of the eggs, as a green turtle slowly makes its way back into the ocean after laying its eggs.
Early in the morning, the ranger removes the sea turtle eggs from their nest, spawned the night before, to deposit them in their new nest at the hatchery.
Footprints in the sand of turtle returning to the ocean after laying eggs.
Front right flipper of a green turtle with its metal identification plate attached.
Newborn green turtle hatched naturally emerging from the sand on the beach.
Sea turtle bones found by the author of this work among the rocks at the end of the beach, and which make up almost a complete skeleton.
Front flipper break and just appears in the egg of the green turtle yet to be born.
House for LPP workers { right } and house for visitors { left }
Close-up portrait of a green turtle after laying its eggs.
View of the sea turtle hatchery with the Gading mountain in the background.
Ranger removes sea turtle eggs from their nest on the beach to transfer them to their nest at the hatchery.
Ranger observes a green turtle laying its eggs on the beach.
Aidil carries out the monthly count of sea turtle and eggs.
Ranger uses the tool to located the exact location of the eggs that the green turtle laid about 20 minutes earlier.
Green turtle uses its front flippers to cover the nest where it has just spawned with sand.
Footprints in the sand of turtle returning to the ocean after laying eggs.
Comical moment of three newborn green turtles lying on their backs in the hatchery nest.
Baby green sea turtle swimming for the first time in the ocean.
A stick placed by a ranger marks the exact place where the nest with the sea turtle eggs is.
A ranger collects eggs to transfer them to the hatchery while a green turtle finishes covering the nest where it has just deposited its eggs with sand.
A water monitor lizard emerges from a hole in the sand on the beach where it has been searching for sea turtles eggs.
A green turtle rest for a moment on the sand on its way back to the ocean after laying its eggs.
Front view of the rangers house and sea turtle hatchery.
Rangers scour the beach at sunset.
At sunset two rangers collect sea turtle eggs in various nests.
Ranger measuring a green turtle.
Two worker repair the simple pipes to collect rainwater.
Footprints of sea turtle in the sand as they return to the ocean after laying their eggs.
Portrait of a green turtle.
Green turtle being born in a hatchery nest.
Aldrin and Aidil release the green turtles born that day on the beach.
Normal egg and oval egg of green turtle.
Drawing on the wall of a house in Sematan.
Green turtle that just finished spawning and thet when digging it took out some eggs from other nest that were already deposited there days or weeks befora.
View of the sea turtle hatchery.
Individual nest in a large plastic bowl with its identification and control plate. These large plastic bowls are used in the rainy season, and a couple of months more, when the high tide covers the en
At sunset, a ranger collects green turtle eggs removed from their nest for transport to their new nest at the hatchery.
View of the sticks that the rangers use to mark the sea turtle nests, they are made of wood, plastic, and metal.
Aidil gently pushes a green turtle that was about to dig its nest right in the protection net of the hatchery.
Green turtle entering the ocean after laying its eggs.
Ranger measuring a green turtle.
Tracks of water monitor lizard coming from the ocean towards the beach.
Newborn albino green turtle. Only one albino turtle is born for every 100.000 hatched eggs.
Dozens of newborn green turtles in their individual nest at the hatchery.
Two buckets full of green turtle eggs just taken from their nests and ready to be transferred to the hatchery.
Aidil writes down the eggs collected as indicated by the ranger.
View of the ranger house with the hatchery in front, and behind the dense forest.
Sand-covered water monitor lizard having been digging for sea turtle eggs.
Close portrait of a green turtle.
Close-up portrait of a Barnacles crustacean { Chelonibia Testudinaria } attached to the front flipper of a green turtle.
With the sun already high, a green turtle rests for a moment on its way back to the ocean, in the background the small island Talang Kecil.
Details of the back of the green turtle.
Already in the morning green turtle goes down a dune on the beach on its return to the ocean after laying its eggs.
Ranger moves green turtle eggs into their new nests at the hatchery.
Partial view of individual sea turtle nests in the hatchery.
Aidil removes sea turtles eggs from their nest to transfer them to the hatchery.
Metal plates with control and tracking number that will be inserted in the front flippers of sea turtles.
The other side of the metal plates.
The " third face " of the metal plates that will be inserted into the front flippers of sea turtles.
Green turtle coming out of the hole where it deposited its eggs.
Ranger removes barnacles crustaceans that a green turtle has attached to its shell.
Footprints in the sand of a sea turtle on its return to the ocean, with Gading Mountain in the background.
Green turtle hatching in their individual nest at the hatchery.
The shadows on the newly hatched green turtles produce by the nest netting in the hatchery form a interesting contrast and pattern.
Recently broken green turtle egg even with the entire baby turtle inside.
Close view of hind leg and tail of green turtle.
Green turtle come to spawn unusually early in the afternoon.
Green turtle perched on a rock on the beach.
Green turtle egg of approximately 2 weeks of incubation broken on the beach.
Two green turtle eggs: the one on the left that is more yellowish and soft is a recently laid egg, the one on the right that is whiter and harder is an egg that has been incubated for some time.
Front view of the sea turtle hatchery and the rangers house.
Early in the morning a ranger collects green turtle eggs to transport them to the hatchery.
Recently removed green turtle eggs from its nest.
Ranger writes down information about the day eggs and hatchings.
Newborn green turtle on its way to the sea.
Solar panels and pipes for collecting rainwater in the rangers house.
Green turtle returning to the ocean seen from behind, with the small island Talang Kecil and Pueh Mountain in the background.
Green turtle eggs recently removed from their nest.
LPP boat driver Mohamad collects green turtle eggs.
View of the individual sea turtle nests in the hatchery.
Bucket with green turtle eggs recently removed from their nest.
Portrait of green turtle with attached Barnacles crustacean near its nostrils.
Green turtle eggs collected early in the morning are deposited by the ranger in their new nests on the hatchery.
Dozens of newborn green turtle race into the ocean.
Two green turtle eggs joined by a kind of umbilical cord.
At dawn, a green turtle returns to the ocean after laying its eggs.
View of individual nests in the hatchery and ranger moving eggs into their new nests.
At sunset, rangers remove green turtle eggs from their nests to transfer to the hatchery.
Curious image of three newborn green turtles, two move towards the sea, the third goes back and moves away from the sea.
Ranger goes into the sea with the light of a lantern to attract the newly hatched green turtles towards the sea.
Ranger digs new individual nests in the hatchery.
Dozens of newborn green turtles in their individual hatchery nests.
Three green turtle eggs, only the one on the left is normal in size, shape and color.
Green turtle egg shells already hatched.
Green turtle coming out of the hole where it hatched at dawn.
Views of the sea turtle hatchery next to the rangers house with its solar panels, and in the background the visitors house.
Ranger collects green turtle eggs from nest for transfer to hatchery.
Late at night, ranger removes green turtle eggs from nest to transfer to their new nest at the hatchery.
Ranger Chris collects green turtle eggs at sunrise.
Dozens of newborn green turtles race into the ocean.
Green turtle eggs collected from the nest that will shortly be transferred to the hatchery.
Assistant ranger boy places the nets in the individual nests at the sea turtle hatchery.
Sea turtle eggs freshly laid and freshly removed from their nest.
Sea turtle eggs with a certain incubation time that have been accidentally removed from their nest by a turtle when digging to spawn.
Ranger places the last of the sea turtle eggs in their new nest at the hatchery.
Slightly disoriented newborn green turtles run over each other on their way to the ocean.
A view of the individual nests at the sea turtle hatchery at sunset.
Ranger Chris removing sea turtle eggs from a deep nest.
Ranger places green turtles eggs in their new hatchery nests while his assistant records the number of eggs in each nest.
Ranger Aldrin removes sea turtle eggs from its nest bothered by numerous flies.
Chris and Aidil release dozens of green turtles hatched that day.
Baby green turtle ready for the adventure of a lifetime.
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