March 20, 2012
IF, as some mythologies would have it, the world really is held up by giant turtles, then, by the speed with which turtles are disappearing, this world is in big trouble. Of the 30 turtlespecies discovered, 23 no longer exist. Of the remaining seven, six are listed as "critically endangered" and "endangered" in the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species. Hundreds of thousands of turtles are caught in trawl nets and gill nets each year and drown because they were unable to surface for air.
Beyond mythology, turtles play a vital role in keeping ocean ecosystems in balance. For instance, Hawksbill turtles maintain the marine sponge balance in the ocean, and this allows coral reefs to grow. Leatherback turtles, which feed on jellyfish and have been known to eat up to 200kg of jellyfish a day, keep the jellyfish population in check. Too much jellyfish can adversely affect fish stocks, since they feed on fish eggs and larvae.
Yet, though so vital to the environment, turtles face many hurdles in their quest for survival. Even though a female turtle can lay hundreds of eggs, only one in 1,000 hatchlings will make it to adulthood. Turtle eggs have many predators, among whom are humans. Hatchlings that live take decades to mature. If they survive to that stage, death can come in the form of discarded plastic bags (that they mistake as jellyfish, and eat), trawl nets and poachers. And when mature and ready to set up family, turtles are deterred from mating or laying eggs if their beach is disturbed in the slightest. Bright lights, noise, human activity, or any coastal development, will drive them away.
In Malaysia, turtles play another important role - as an eco-tourism attraction. Tourists flock to turtle beaches like Cherating, Pulau Tioman and Pulau Perhentian, and pay a lot of money to see the turtles. The small village of Rantau Abang in Terengganu exists in the national consciousness solely because it was once home to the leatherback turtle. Though recent landings have given the village a spark of hope, a severe drop in turtle sightings and returns over the last 30 years drove the government to declare the leatherback locally extinct, virtually killing the tourism industry there. To revive its turtle populations, Malaysia must institute a total ban on the sale and consumption of turtle eggs, remove turtles from the jurisdiction of the Fisheries Act 1985 and place them under the protection of the stringent Wildlife Conservation Act 2010.
