Happy World Sea Turtle Day (16th of June)

Sea turtles, what many would call them as ancient mariners. This marine wonder has been around for more than 200 million years, just among the few who were present with the dinosaurs.However, they are now faced with the biggest threat in their lives, human impact. With issues ranging from egg poaching to infecting diseases, all sea turtles are categorized as endangeredin the IUCN Red List. However, humans also serves as the guardians & protectors to these wonder of the sea, and none can be greater than Dr. Archie Carr. To honour his causes & services to the world, the World Sea Turtle Day was created and is celebrated on his birthday.

Dr. Archie Fairly Carr, Jr.(June 16, 1909 - May 21, 1987) was a renowned sea turtle expert who was the pioneer in sea turtle conservation. A former high school teacher and author, he studied zoology and further his studies in sea turtles. Among his achievements, Archie Carr found and became scientific director of Caribbean Conservation Corporation (a not-for-profit 501(c)(3)

membership organization based in Gainesville, Florida) from 1959 until his death in 1987. In addition, Archie Carr was chairman of MarineTurtle Specialist Group of IUCN's Survival Service Commission for 20 years. His dedication and hard work has result in many of sea turtle experts who were close to him as his children. Any sea turtle research would always involve the work done by Archie Carr directly or indirectly through his students. Among them are myself and one of Malaysia's leading experts in sea turtles, Prof. Chan Eng Heng.

[Source: http://www.cccturtle.org/aboutccc.php?page=carr]

In Malaysia, we are known to have four sea turtle species (common name in English & BM,

scientific name, status in IUCN Red List):

i) Leatherback Turtle, penyu belimbing (Dermochelys coriacea) - Critically Endangered;

ii) Green Turtle, penyu agar(Chelonia mydas) - Endangered;

iii) Hawksbill Turtle, penyukarah (Eretmochelys imbricata) - Critically Endangered; and

iv) Olive Ridley Turtle, penyu lipas (Lepidochelys olivacea) - Vulnerable.

These are reported throughout the coastline of Malaysia from Langkawi all the way south to Johor, and back up north to Kelantan, and more are found on the coast of Sabah and

Sarawak. Among the four species, the green turtle is the most abundant; while the leatherback is near to extinction in Malaysia with only two reported nesting last year. Unfortunately, the sea turtles face the threats from human directly and indirectly. The number one threat would be egg poaching, which is very obvious along the east coasts and a few places that are within the nesting sites for the turtles. In addition to the list of threats, others may include:
i) coastal development, where nesting beaches are adversely affected by the change in scenery;

ii) boat accidents where turtles may get themselves injured or killed from boat propellers;

iii) pollution is an obvious one where water quality can affect the health of the turtles and can pass down into their eggs; and

iv) climate change where warmer temperatures would result in more female turtle hatched, thus leaving many females to be without a male to mate.

[Sources: http://www.umt.edu.my/turtle/; http://www.wwf.org.my/about_wwf/what_we_do/species_main/turtles/; http://www.iucn-mtsg.org/]

As someone who doesn't get so much exposure to sea turtle conservation, what can one person do? As there is still hope, there are ways which the public can help. First of all, it would be to find out more information about sea turtles and education others in order to raise the awareness. Of course, one way is to show support to such causes like Universiti Malaysia Terengganu's Turtle Research &Rehabilitation Group volunteering programme in Pulau Redang and their adoption schemes. Another would be the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) Malaysia's online petition to support ban on commercialization of sea turtle eggs at http://www.saveturtles.my.

On this 16th of June, let us all remember the ancient mariners that have embraced in our seas and beaches that have been a symbol of our national heritage. Until then, I bid you all a Happy World Sea Turtle Day.