Where have all our marine turtles gone?

by Gerry T. Estrera
Tawi-tawi, located in the country’s southernmost province, is home to the Turtle Islands, a group of seven islets between the Philippines and Malaysia’s Sandakan.  The islets are Southeast Asia’s single most important green turtle conservation area.
 “Endangered sea turtle eggs are being harvested in Tawi-tawi seas,” wrote Vincent Go of Vera Files, “and sold in the public market of Bongao, despite various laws banning such activities.  “Sea turtle eggs are harvested mostly by the Badjaos or Samals, the dominant ethnic group in Tawi-tawi.”
 The marine turtle eggs are being sold for only P100 for 15 pieces, or P50 for 7 pieces.  Locals believe these eggs contain aphrodisiac properties, with some men even attesting to the supposed “virility powers” of eating raw turtle eggs.
 In the coastal barangay of Pasil in Cebu City, marine turtles – locally known as “pawikan” – are highly valued for its meat.  Diners reportedly go to a makeshift eatery to eat the stewed pawikan. A bowl, served with corn grits costs P70.
 Customers said the meat tastes like beef.  “Once you get a taste of this, you’ll surely come back here frequently,” one of the vendors was quoted as saying by Cebu Daily News.  Aside from its distinct taste, most customers believe the exotic dish is an aphrodisiac.
 Unknowingly, whether a customer or a vendor, all are liable under Republic Act 9147 or the Wildlife Conservation and Protection Act.  The law said that anyone who is involved in the selling and trade of marine turtle meat shall be imprisoned for two years and is mandated to pay a fine of up to P200,000.  The same penalty applies for anyone who eats the meat of the endangered species.
 There is a stiffer penalty – four to six years of imprisonment as well as a fine of P500,000 – for those who slaughter the pawikan.
 Unknowingly, tourism may also play a big part in making marine turtles extinct.  “Tourism in natural places that does not take into account the effect they have to the environment is the threat,” explained Dr. Arnel “AA” Yaptinchay, founder and director of the Marine Wildlife Watch of the Philippines.  “In the Philippines, where it seems that every inch of our beaches will soon be developed for tourism, this will become a big threat for marine turtles.”
 According to Dr. Yaptinchay, development of the coast where buildings are to be constructed will displace marine turtles from one of their most important life cycle habitats, referring to the nesting beach.
 “Lights, infrastructure, noise, domestic animals, and pollution will not only disturb those nesting females but also their hatchlings,” he said. “Marine turtles will not nest when disturbed.”
 Studies have shown that marine turtles spend most of their life in the sea and get all the things they need there.  They even mate in the sea.  But when the time comes to lay their eggs, the females return to shore, usually in the same place where they were hatched.
 “If you imagine a first time nester approaching its place of birth, how much do you think of its birth place or nesting beach remains over the last 35-50 years?” Dr. Yaptinchay asked.  “I would guess there would be very little space left for it to nest and enough disturbance developed to shoo it away. We are preventing them from fulfilling their life purpose. For me this is very tragic.”
 In some instances, some tourism facilities view marine turtles as attractions.  “This is fine if you view marine turtles from a distance, but most (beach owners) are greedy and would take a turtle and put it in a tank for secured viewing for their guests,” Dr. Yaptinchay said.
 But what he considered as worrisome is when beach owners would tie the turtle to a tree. “This has happened and is still happening,” deplored Dr. Yaptinchay.
 Those resorts located in islands sometimes think they are helping marine turtles by keeping hatchlings in containers and allow them to grow for a few months before releasing them into the open sea.
 “What they do not realize is that they have just disrupted the whole life cycle of the turtles,” Dr. Yaptinchay said. “Hatchlings are supposed to be in open pelagic waters for the first decade of their lives. Again an important phase in their lives is affected.”
 However, Dr. Yaptinchay believes there are ways to develop tourism without compromising the integrity of the environment. “Technology and knowledge already exists,” he said. “We just need to learn to give the environment more importance than the money we earn.”
 According to Dr. Yaptinchay, his organization is working with the tourism department in developing interaction guidelines for tourists, resorts, and dive operators to prevent disturbance to marine turtles.
 Marine turtles belong to the order Chelonia, an order of reptiles that has existed and flourished since prehistory with very little change in their basic structure. 
 Of the eight species of marine turtles known to man, five of them can be found in the Philippines. These are the Green Sea (known in the science world as “Chelonia mydas”), Hawksbill (“Eretmochelys imbricate”), Loggerhead (“Caretta caretta”), Olive Ridley (“Lepidochelys olivacea”), and Leatherback (“Dermocheyls coriacea”).
 The three others are the Kemp’s Ridley (“Lepidochelys kempi”), Flatback (“Chelonia depressa”), and Black Sea (“Chelonia agassizi”).
 Unfortunately, all eight species are listed under the Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, which means the trade of these species and subspecies is strictly “prohibited except for educational, scientific or research and study purposes.”
 The Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources has also classified the eight species as endangered. This is so because “their populations are in danger of extinction and whose survival is unlikely if the causal factors continue to operate.”
 The Philippines is a signatory of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and implements the Pawikan Conservation Project nationwide through the Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Since 2001, hunting, sale and killing of marine turtles have been banned in the country.
 But despite sincere efforts by the government and some environmentalist groups to save marine turtles from extinction, the decimation of the endangered species continues unabated.
 “All of the species found in our country are endangered except for the Hawksbill which is critically endangered,” Dr. Yaptinchay said. “The only sure thing is that marine turtle populations are under tremendous threats and if these are not stopped, extinction is imminent.”
 Haribon Foundation for the Conservation of Natural Resources believes so, too. “Unless we, Filipinos, seriously take on the task of protecting the much endangered marine turtles, these ancient creatures will soon be gone (from our waters),” Haribon, which is regarded as a pioneer of the environmental movement in the Philippines, said in a statement.
 If left alone, marine turtles would survive several centuries. In March 2006, a giant tortoise said to be as old as 250 years died in a Calcutta zoo, having been taken to India by British sailors, records suggest, during the reign of King George II. Three months later, newspapers around the world noted the passing of Harriet, a Galapagos tortoise that died in the Australia Zoo at age 176 – 171 years after Charles Darwin “plucked her from her equatorial home.”
 Behind such Biblical longevity is the marine turtle’s stubborn refusal to senesce – to grow old. Don’t be fooled by the wrinkles, the halting gait and the rheumy gaze. Researchers lately have been astonished to discover that in contrast to nearly every other animal studied, a turtle’s organs do not gradually break down or become less efficient over time.
 But the question remains: Will there be marine turtles in the next century?