Conserving Turtles, Caring for Life
A total of 142 baby lekang (olive ridley) turtles have been released on Sodong Beach in Cilacap, Central Java.
A total of 142 baby lekang (olive ridley) turtles have been released on Sodong Beach in Cilacap, Central Java. The presence of turtles laying eggs in the Sodong area is an indication that the habitat is still in pristine condition. The turtle conservation has become a challenge to sustain and an opportunity to develop educational tourism.
Dozens of residents, young and old, male and female, cheerfully picked baby turtles out of buckets and placed them at the edge of the sea. The cute reptiles readily moved their four fin-like legs to head for the open sea.
Their wiggling crawl left tracks on the wet sand. Breaking waves covered with foam welcomed them. Several times, they were washed ashore but were eventually carried to sea.
Also read: Kastam, Night Patrol to Protect Turtles
“Turtles, especially in Cilacap, are already very rare. Hopefully with this conservation effort, turtles on the beaches of Cilacap will continue to survive,” said Jumawan, chairman of the Cilacap Nagaraja Turtle Conservation Group, on Sodong Beach on Monday (14/9/2020).
Along with about 15 young people from Karangbenda, Adipala district, Cilacap regency, Jumawan is spreading enthusiasm for turtle conservation. They cruise the beach at night, searching and for turtles laying eggs. They gather the eggs, safeguard them from predators and hatch them for later release.
Turtles, especially in Cilacap, are already very rare. Hopefully with this conservation effort, turtles on the beaches of Cilacap will continue to survive
Threats
The threat of turtle egg hunting for food remains. Some people value the eggs’ high protein content and their supposed ability to boost stamina and intelligence. Some horse owners feed their horses turtle eggs, thinking it will make them stronger and healthier. Jumawan personally approaches people hunting eggs and asks them to give up their eggs to the group for hatching.
Over the last year his group rescued about 450 turtle eggs, but most of them came from fishermen and had been washed, so a large number failed to hatch. “The hatching rate is still low due to the effect of water. The eggs found were washed, which makes their hatching defective,” he said.
In 2019, the group released 32 young turtles in the same location. In turtle captive breeding, the cost of feeding and water replacement is quite high. “Daily feeding costs Rp 25,000 to buy fish, oysters and shrimp,” he said. For sea water, a jug containing about 20 liters costs Rp 5,000. Some 150 to 200 liters are needed per week.
Also read: Helping Baby Turtles into the Sawu Sea
The young people who belong to the turtle conservation group say they are happy and enthusiastic about taking care of the turtles and setting them free. They say they build a bond with the turtles after caring for them for months.
“Since this is conservation, they have to be released. If they’re just kept, it’s not conservation because we don’t support the protection of nature. When they grow up, let’s hope they will return here to lay eggs,” said Latif Aprianto, 22, a member of the conservation group.
Rizki Rifai, 19, another group member, expressed his interest in and enthusiasm for joining the beach patrol with his peers. On one occasion he was shocked to discover a snake on the beach. “We brought flashlights and had to be careful. I was taken aback to find a snake there, about one meter long. It was brown, and we just left it,” he said.
He has joined the beach patrol twice, from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m., to observe and safeguard turtles laying eggs on the shore, amid strong winds, sleepiness and the chill of the night. They walked 5 kilometers from Bedahan to the Glempang estuary with no guarantee of discovering turtle eggs.
“To avoid getting cold, we chatted and roasted cassava,” said Latif, who is a recent graduate of Yogyakarta State University.
Karangbenda Village Head Sakino said he appreciated the presence of the conservation group over the past two years. Through the group, he said, a number of young people had found a forum for discussion and positive activities. He said teen drinking had been declining.
“This activity is beneficial for tourism and for their habit of sitting around and boozing, as we observe it has been even more abandoned,” said Sakino.
Also read: I Made Kikik: Saving the Olive Ridley Sea Turtle
This village is inhabited by 1,100 families consisting of 3,800 people, 60 percent of whom are farmers, 15 percent are fisherman and the rest employees and traders. Sakino hopes his village will preserve its natural condition, develop tourism and promote the welfare of local people.
Turtle conservation in this area is supported by the corporate social responsibility (CSR) scheme of PT Pertamina (Persero). A turtle captive breeding facility is being built for the continuity of the conservation effort.
“Turtles have been protected by the government since 1990, and today they are threatened with extinction. Through the CSR program, as a collaboration of three fuel terminals of Pertamina, we are committed to rescuing these turtles and inviting the public to conserve nature,” said Sylvia Grace Yuvenna, general manager of marketing operations for Region IV of PT Pertamina.
Romanus Edy Prabowo, a marine biology lecturer at the Jenderal Soedirman University Faculty of Biology in Purwokerto, said the release of the turtles was good news for the preservation of biological diversity.
“Turtles are a threatened species in Indonesia, especially in southern Java. If young turtles are released, I think it’s a very positive event,” said Romanus.
Romanus said the southern coast of Java was an area for turtles to land and lay eggs, extending from around Pangandaran to Purworejo. For the food chain and ecosystem, the presence of turtles in nature is important.
“If turtles are gone, jellyfish may abound and plankton will be totally consumed by jellyfish,” he said.
Teluk Penyu Beach in Cilacap, Romanus added, used to be an area where turtles came ashore. However, it had ended because of massive urban growth, bright lighting and environmental conditions that were not conducive to egg laying.
“A noisy zone can’t serve as an egg-laying site. Turtles lay eggs on open beaches that are clean, quiet, have minimum noise and are dark,” he said. Therefore, more remote places like Sodong were potential areas to be sustained.
If turtles are gone, jellyfish may abound and plankton will be totally consumed by jellyfish
Turtle carcasses
At least 13 turtle carcasses have been discovered in 2020 in the coastal region of Cilacap. The dead turtles found included the ridley, green and leatherback species. They were discovered on the beaches of Jetis, Kemiren, Bunton and Teluk Penyu. Their sizes ranged from 60 centimeters to 2.5 meters.
Responding to the discovery, Dedi Rusyanto, head of the Cilacap Regional Conservation Area, which forms part of the Central Java Natural Resources Conservation Agency, said his office and a veterinary team had examined two turtle carcasses and had found no foreign objects or waste inside their bodies.
“In addition, as they had decomposed, toxic materials or poisonous substances were not found,” he said, adding that his office would pay special attention to the findings.
According to Romanus, several factors can cause the death of turtles, such as old age, navigational disturbance as a result of excessively bright lighting, human activities at sea like getting entangled in fishermen’s nets, and sea contamination by chemicals dumped into rivers emptying into the sea.
“Pollution can be one of the factors, but through direct observation, it is indeed invisible. It has to be seen by curative means,” he said.
Hundreds of young turtles have returned to the open sea along with their tracks washed away by the waves. The struggle of the small reptiles has just begun. Likewise, the conservation of the surrounding environment needs to continue so that later, as they grow up, the hundreds of turtles can come back, lay eggs and bring the blessing of life.