A Turtle-watching Weekend in Kemaman, Terengganu.

rosenmakeup Haziran 17, 2022

Watch a giant turtle wade through the sand with its heavy shell and gigantic body, and it’s a time to contemplate.

It was past 9pm on a starlit night, on a quiet stretch of the beach. A green turtle emerged from the waters, and slowly, very slowly, it heaves its gigantic body, one mighty step at a time, out of the waters. As it puts in every ounce on its flippers to move itself, you hear the turtle sigh. Slowly, but surely, she heaves to the perfect spot to begin its quest for the continuation of life.

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Many of us would have grown up with ambiguous differentiation of turtles and tortoise. I am undeniably one of them. Being a city kid, my introduction to creatures of nature nevertheless comes from anamorphic representations in storybooks or pop cultural characters. I recall my brother’s favourite toy – a figurine of Ninja Turtle that we used to play with. No one could blame us for associating these reptiles as creatures that stand on two feet like humans, with a shell perched on their backs, talk like humans, do martial arts, and bear names of Italian Florentine artists.

Well, my ignorance was dispelled that weekend when Marcus and I went on a turtle conservation trip organized by the Turtle Conservation Society (TCS) in Kemaman, Terengganu. So, one salient difference between turtle and tortoises - the former wades with flippers, its body constantly in contact with the ground, and lives largely in water; while tortoises live largely on land, and the body is off the ground, supported by the stumpy legs.

Gutsy turtle conservationist Pelf is a co-founder of TCS. The months of February to June are turtle egg-laying seasons, but trips like these are organized occasionally to raise awareness about the plight of these soft-spoken creatures. Surely we all know that certain species of turtles are endangered, largely through man-made reasons of turtle eggs over-consumption, large-scale poaching of turtles for its medicinal values, and fish trawling. However despite the awareness, conservation efforts by the government remain lax. The sale of turtle eggs is not banned, thus permitting villagers to continue their sales for additional income; supply of tags for turtle counts remain aloof, as such researchers are unable to monitor their survival rate. The stretch of beach along Kemaman is, however gazetted for turtles to lay eggs. Rangers patrol the night to mark the spots where eggs are laid, to be later transported for incubation at the conservation center. Pelf opines that the only way to protect the turtles is through education and outreach, which is what the TCS sets out to do.

It was very heartening to see the collaborative efforts by Pelf and a team of villagers to conserve the River terrapins along Kemaman River. River terrapins are one of the endangered species, and in a collaborative effort, Pelf and the villagers nurse a few hundred baby terrapins for a couple of months at a villager's home. We were very fortunate to come in time for their release to the waters. In one of these tubs, tiny waddling creatures climb on top of each other, trying to crawl their way out. And in just about half hours’ time, their wishes would be fulfilled. Out to the river, these tiny-lings scratched with their thorny little feet and struggled against our grasp for their final call to freedom. And off they go into the mercy of the wilderness.

Hey, your foot is in my nose!

Terrapin hatchlings eager for a taste of the world outside the tub

No, turtles don't grow from the ground. (The eggs are Incubating)

Forced kissing of baby terrapins. Hey, turtles have rights to free love too!

A human-turtle bonding session

The TCS

Pelf (lady in blue on the right), directing the release

The very first swim of its life. The start of journey

A pose with the village children

That evening, we arrived at one of the gazetted beaches on a starlit night. It was dark and quiet apart from the small contingent of humans taking our nature lessons. A turtle was sighted. It found the spot just right next to the rocks, half-shaded and obscure. She begins to shaft loads of sand with her hind legs, creating a nest where the fertilized eggs would incubate for the next one month. Heaves and heaves of sand fly in waves through the air. About 60cm deep later, she executed her mission. She extends a tube from her body, extended down to where the nest is, and for the next 1 hour, the turtle lays the eggs, one or two drops at every interval. We see eggs the size of ping pong balls fall out and tumble into the nest. And tears roll out of her eyes. It can be scientifically explained that the moisture protects the eyes from the sand. But on a more melancholic note, perhaps the tears convey her silent pain of birth, or her sadness of what lies ahead of their fate?

83 eggs later, another laborious undertaking began. After burying the eggs, she moved aside, shoving more sand to a spot with her powerful flippers, creating a mound. This was, according to Pelf, her attempt to camouflage the eggs from potential predators the likes of crocodiles and monitor lizards. Then, she heaved herself with enormous effort once more, one step at a time, slowly back to the embrace of the sea.

Not far from her, a basket of 3 hour-old tiny green turtle hatch lings struggled to make their first contact with the sea. Looking at how vast and enormous the sea was…and how tiny the creatures were waddling in the little basket, the juxtaposition was perturbing. With a hatch ling in each of our hands, the little hatch lings finally set out for their journey with the release. Directed by their instinct, they waddle towards the ocean, moving through our feet, dangerously at the risk of being crushed to death with a wrong step. It made many attempts to enter the water, only to be repeatedly pushed back by the mighty waves. Eventually, they got swept under the blanket of waves. Off they embark on a perilous journey, vulnerable to the deadly predators at sea, the scarcity of food, and the dangers of fishing trawlers.

As a father holding his little daughter in his arms said when the hatch lings began their journey:

“Semoga dia sihat and rahmat, dan berjaya membesar menjadi dewasa"

(“Hope she grows up, stays safe in her sea and grows up to be an adult.”)

According to Pelf, that's 1 to 2 in every 1000 hatchlings that go out to sea. What an alarming survival rate. In the mercy of nature, we wish them well.