Save Ocean Turtle

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 female 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

Park ranger deposits the eggs recently taken from the place where the green turtle spawned 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.

At dusk, two young park rangers release hundreds of green sea turtle born that same day in the hatchery onto the beach

The front flipper of a green sea turtle break the egg and appears just before hatching

View of the sea turtle hatchery and the rangers house

early in the morning, the park ranger digs up and takes the eggs from the place where a sea turtle laid the night before, to re-bury them in the hatchery

A dawn, two female green turtles return to the ocean after laying their eggs.

The heads of three newborn green turtles appear in the sand of their individual hatchery

Two green turtle eggs, normal shape egg {left}, and unusual oval shape egg {right}

View of the individual hatcheries with their nameplates

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 park rangers house

Newborn green turtles emerging from the sand, hatched naturally on the beach

Water monitor lizard runs away with a sea turtle egg in its mouth

The ranger deposits the green turtle eggs collected moments before in their new and final nesting side the hatchery

Rager 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

At night, park ranger pierces and inserts into the left front flipper of a female green turtle a small metal plate with its registration number

Baby green turtle coming out of the egg in its individual nest in the hactchery

Green turtle entering the ocean after spawning.

At night, rangers using the tool in search of the exact location of the sea turtle nest

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

Park ranger digs a hole in the hatchery to deposit green turtle eggs just collected from their original nest

Information map in the guest visitor house center

Water monitor lizard {Varanus Salvator} digs for sea turtle eggs

Two female green turtles return to the ocean after having deposited their eggs in their nests in the sand on the beach

Two buckets with green turtle eggs just taken from their nests

Early in the morning, the park ranger digs up and takes the eggs from the place where sea turtle laid them the night before, to re-bury them in the hatchery

Large cubes used as nest in the hatchery for sea turtle eggs in the rainy season, when the high tide covers the entire beach

Ranger records the number of sea turtle eggs rehoned that morning from each nest at the hatchery

Early in the morning park ranger removes sea turtle eggs from their nests with the Pueh Mountain in the backgound

Green turtle with many Barnacles crustaceans attached to its shell swims on shore at sunset.

Early in the morning, female green turtle returns to the ocean after laying its eggs, in the background two rangers collect eggs from other nests

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 me 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 female green turtle with Barnacles Crustaceans {Chelonibia Testudinaria} 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 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

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

Portrait of a green turtle that seems to smile.

A newborn green turtle swim 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 building on Talang Besar island. From right to left: House of the rangers. House of LPP employees. Visitor house

Green turtle on top of a dune at sunrise.

Ranger deposit and record sea turtle eggs at the hatchery

Par ranger collects sea turtle eggs at dawn

View of the sticks that the rangers use to mark the sea turtle nests, they are made of wood, plastic and metal

Rager uses the tool to locate the exact location of the eggs that the green turtle laid about 20 minutes earlier

Footprints from the sea to the beach of water monitor lizard

Seven sacks, about 70 kilos of waste: plastics, cans, glass, polystyrene, ropes and fishing nets, collected on the beach by the author of this work during his stay on the island

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 turtles are undoubtedly the old fishing nets

Plastic and other debris are washed away sea current 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 female green turtle with its tag identification number

Female green turtle just finished spawning and in the background a ranger review 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

A plier-like tool that rangers use to pierce and insert the small registration number plate into both front flipper 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 the front flipper of sea turtles

The other side of the small metal identification tags that are attached to both front flipper of nesting sea turtle in Talang Satang National Park

The piercing part of the small metal identification tags that attached to both front flippers of nesting sea turtles in Talang Satang National Park

Early in the morning, female green turtle on its way back to the ocean passes ranger collecting eggs from a nest

At night, park ranger measures a female green turtle

Early in the morning a green turtle enters the ocean after laying its eggs on the beach.

Newborn green turtles in individual nest with their identification and control plate in the hatchery

At dawn, in shallow waters, a male green turtle above the sea during courtship and mating, with Talang Kecil island and Pueh Mountain in the background

Three green turtle eggs, only the one in the center has normal size and shape, however, it is not a recently laid egg, this is an egg that has been incubating for some time

Views of the rangers house and the sea turtle hatchery

Green turtle eggs just taken from the nest, and a ranger collects eggs from other nest early in the morning

At night, park ranger assitant records the number of eggs collected from a nest just after a green turtle deposited them on the beach

Sea turtle control notebock 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

Newborn green turtles in their individual nest at the hatchery

Unusual small oval green turtle egg next to a normal shape and size egg

Water monitor lizard swims on the shoreline near the beach

Courtship and mating of green turtle at dawn in shallow water.

New individual nests ready to deposit eggs collected that morning next to the nests already incubating in the hatchery

Ranger collects green turtle eggs on a stormy sunset

Ranger shows the iron tool they use to locate the exact place where the sea turtle eggs are

Park ranger 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.

Newborn green turtles hatched naturally emerging from the sand on the beach

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

Park ranger carries out the monthly count of sea turtles and eggs

Green turtle uses its front flippers to cover the nest where it has just spawned with sand.

Comical moment of three newborn green turtles lying on their backs in the hatchery net

A stick placed by a ranger marks the exact place where the nest with the sea turtle eggs it

A ranger collects eggs to transfer them to the hatchery while a green turtle finished 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 turtle 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

Two park rangers repair the simple pipes to collect rainwater

Footprints of sea turtle in the sand as they return to the ocean after laying their eggs

Green turtles being born in a hatchery nest

Drawing on the wall of a house in Sematan

Female green turtle that just finished spawning and that when digging it took out some eggs from other nest that were already deposited there days or weeks before

Individual nest in a large plastic bowl with its identification and control plate

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, platic and metal

Park ranger gently pushes a female green turtle that was about to dig its nest right in the protection net of the hatchery

Female green turtle entering the ocean after laying its eggs

At night, park ranger measuring a female 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

Rangers count and record a green turtle egg laying, before placing them in their new nest in the hatchery

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-up portrait of a Barnacles Crustacean {Chelonibia Testudinaria} attached to the front flipper of a female 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 female green turtle

Already in the morning, female 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 nest in the hatchery

Park ranger removes sea turtle eggs from their nest to transfer them to the hatchery

Metal plates with control and tracking number that will be inserted in the front flipper of sea turtles

The "third face" of the metal sheets that will be inserted into the front flippers of sea turtles

Green turtle coming out of the hole where it deposited its eggs.

Footprints in the sand of a sea turtle on its return to the ocean, with Gading Mountain in the background.

Green turtles hatching in their individual nest at the hatchery

The shadows on the newly hatched green turtles produced by the nest netting in the hatchery form a interesting contrast and pattern

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

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.

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 turtles race into the ocean

Two green turtle eggs joined by a kind of umbilical cord

At dawn, a female green turtle returns to the ocean after laying its eggs

View of individual nets 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 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 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 visitor house

Ranger collects green turtle eggs from nest for transfer to hatchery

Park ranger collects green turtle eggs from nest for transfer to hatchery

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

Park ranger removing sea turtle eggs from a deep nest

Ranger places green turtle eggs in their new hatchery nests while his assistant records the number of eggs in each nest

Two park rangers release dozens of green turtles hatched that day

Baby green turtle ready for the adventure of a lifetime

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