The first actual beach patrol started off on the third day. We set off with a biologist named Hakim to the beach Telaga Papan. It was a long drive there and we were all very tired, yet we were determined and excited to see a turtle. I was very excited and eager to spot a turtle nesting, but since this was our first beach patrol of the trip, I managed my expectations and focused on the cause rather than simply treating this as a wildlife safari expedition. Surprisingly we were blessed with good weather and luck.
As soon as we set foot on the beach and walked a few steps with Hakim, he received a phone call and immediately told us that a ranger had found a mother turtle and that she was currently laying eggs. We immediately rushed over and caught the rare sight of the rangers tagging the massive 90 cm green turtle. Everything happened so fats that I couldn’t even keep up. Soon after the turtle laid and buried the eggs, it swam away, despite us having to wait for about 1 hour and having slept on the beach the rangers immediately got to work and started to search for the eggs that the turtle had buried. It took nearly an hour for them to find the eggs, as the turtle had laid its eggs in loose sand, making it hard for them to shove their stick into the ground and feel the difference in the looseness of the sand. After finding the eggs we were surprised to see that only 37 eggs had been laid. Usually, a turtle of that size would lay more eggs, even up to 250 eggs.Nevertheless I was very thankful to even get to see the whole process on our first patrol.
Subsequently we collected the eggs in a bucket and continued to walk along the beach for further sightings, and to our surprise, we spotted another mother turtle, this time the turtle was much smaller and had already laid its eggs by the time we reached that part of the beach, the turtle had left. This was followed by returning to the hatchery to bury the eggs in a more controlled and conducive environment. Eventually, we returned to our beach house at 2 am to sleep. The overall experience was extremely exciting and heartening, knowing that we can help conserve these turtles and prevent them from going extinct.
We had another chance to patrol the beach for nesting turtles during the night of Day 4. We were extremely lucky to encounter 5 turtles during our patrol, with 3 laying eggs in nests along the beach. In total, we collected 286 turtles eggs and transported them back to the hatchery, where they will be kept safe from predators and maintained at a cool temperature. This is so that the turtles would hatch with an even distribution of genders, as hatching in hot weather would yield almost exclusively female turtles.
Our group had to ensure that the eggs weren’t being rotated during the transfer from the nest to the bucket, and later from the bucket to the hatchery nest. We were told that this is so that the turtle embryos are not disrupted within the egg. We also learnt about the issues that arise when barnacles grow on the flippers or shell on the turtle and as a result the need to remove them from the turtle before it returns to the water.
The reason why I loved the project so much may simply be because as turtle conservationists we get to experience all of the ground work and also see how our actions make a difference and impacts the environment.
This idea is in line with doing the nest excavation and hatchling release after experiencing beach patrolling. If we had only done beach patrolling and not experience the nest excavation and hatchling release, the process wouldn’t have been as impactful. I was personally moved after seeing the hatchlings crawl out of the sand while we were excavating their nests. Seeing the whole life cycle of the turtles was extremely fascinating!
Starting with the mother turtles swimming up to the shore to lay eggs and painstakingly locating the eggs at midnight when the moon is at its brightest and then collecting them in large buckets to be buried at the hatcheries. After the turtles hatch we excavate their nests and finally release the hatchlings into the sea. Many Orion batches later, the hatchlings we released will eventually return to the same shore due to embedding to lay more eggs. Having realised this at this point, I understood how gifted I was To be able to participate in this.
Our first nest excavation session was very shocking as it was coincidental that there were hatchlings that needed rescuing. We had the opportunity to excavate a total of 4 nests and manage to “rescue” a total of 6 hatchlings. The purpose of doing excavation is to reduce the chances of the turtles not being born and maximise the hatch rate of all the eggs. When turtles lay eggs on the shore, there is a chance of the weather conditions not being conducive for the turtles to hatch. Factors such as temperature, light and external factors can disrupt this process.
By relocating the eggs to a new nest we can prevent poachers from stealing them and also keep the eggs in a cooler place. In fact we learnt from the ranger at the beach that hot weathers cause more female turtles to be born, and this is not a good thing as having an equal number male and female turtles is very important. The hatchery is also more effective as it prevents predators such as crabs and birds from feeding on the eggs. Even though this process is highly time-consuming it is better as we can ensure more turtles being hatched and in the long-run . Thats the success story of Project Orion!
After all the excavating, on the second last day of the trip, we had to say goodbye to our little friends and release them into the sea. As we were all unexperienced and unclear about the whole process, Our mentor Si Jie (Dreamcatcher) explained to us that we had to release the turtles when the sun had set and when there was little daylight left in the sky.
The next rule was that we had to release the turtles about 5 meters from the shoreline so that the turtles could crawl their way back into the sea. This process was known as embedding. When the turtle crawls towards the sea and recognises the shore, studies have shown that the turtles will return to the same shore when it is ready to lay eggs, hence our mentor was very strict in ensuring this process occured and that every step was taken in ensuring that the turtles are released carefully. wWatching the turtles crawl towards the sea was the most rewarding experience one can get in this project. After patrolling excavating and collecting them, to finally see them swim into the Ocean is a reward for turtle conservationist, knowing that they can rest well having tried their best to ensure the continuity and survival of the turtle.
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