This was the first time we were in Cherating at the right season. You could be picked up at your hotel for RM50 per pax, or you could find your own way to Pantai Teluk Mak Nik (D'Monica Bay) at Kemaman, Terengganu and pay only RM30 per person. We opted for the latter, since Teluk Pantai Mak Nik was only a fifteen-minute-drive from our hotel in Cherating.
For the fee, you get to watch the turtles laid their eggs and helped to release the hatchlings into the sea. There were four turtles that came to nest on the beach that night. I couldn't take any pictures or video of the "action", the beach was pitch-dark and we were told not to switch on any torchlights so as not to traumatize the turtles in labour. But I managed to take some shots using the night scene mode.
One of the turtles digging the sand to prepare to lay her eggs. I could hear the explosion of breath and quick inhalation as the turtle laboured and expelled its eggs.
After the turtle has covered its eggs, the ranger removed them and took them to a sanctuary where they will hatch in 40 - 45 days' time. Once hatched, they would be released back to the sea.
A turtle heading back to the sea after its eggs were laid
78 eggs from turtle with tag no. 8991, to be handed over to the turtle sanctuary
The turtles we were asked to help release that night were only a few hours old. Some were going in the wrong direction....one even crawled towards me instead of the sea.
One of the hatchlings
Go baby, all the best, hope you make it, and grow into an adult turtle.
The odds are stacked against their survival. Out of one thousand hatchlings, only one or two survive to reach adulthood, at 25 years. They get caught in fishermen's nets, under a boat propeller, or preyed upon by fish, crabs, birds and humans We can't control the other factors, but we can say NO to turtle eggs and soup. There are many other eggs and meat, why consume turtles and their eggs??!!
The turtles' main diet are sea grass, seaweeds and jellyfish. When humans indiscriminately discard their used plastic bags at a beach or river, the garbage are carried into the sea. Mistaking the plastic bags for jellyfish, the turtles would eat them and die. So, please dispose your garbage into garbage bins only. Let each of us play a part to help protect our gentle, defenseless turtles.
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