Monday, June 15, 2009

On the plight of turtles

1. The hawksbill turtles (Penyu karah) had been landing on the beaches of Melaka for centuries. The local communities, especially the fishermen had been collecting the eggs either to sell in the local markets or eat them. The eggs are a delicacy but they are said to contain cholesterols. These had been going on ......

2. Many of them were caught in the net of the fishermen, got drowned and died. Many of them were caught by the Chinese fishermen and taken back to China, consumed as foods. The carapace were made into ornamentals.

3. Many of them returned to Melaka beach to find out:

a) the beaches had been destroyed by land reclamation as the Mahkota Parade
b) the beach at Padag Kemunting had been eroded that they crawled up so close to concrete
c) the beach at Pulau Upeh had been turned rock-hard, so much so that the turtles had problems in digging the beach to lay their eggs

4. When the babies are released into the sea, they are believed to return to the same beach, if they survive at all, in 30 years time. Just imagine those that were released at Padang Kemunting on the night of June 2009 will return in 2039. What would be the condition of the said beach then?

5. Thanks to the Department of Fsheries Melaka which had cooperated with WWF Malaysia in trying to ensure the conservation and survival of the hawksbills. They said the turtle eggs contain life, save them, don't take lives

2 comments:

Khairill said...

save the turtles....save the world

pakteh said...

My argument is simple, we are ready to donate a couple of dollars to save the panda in China or the gorilla in Africa, how many are ready to donate the same to save our own turtle and rafflesia