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Malaysian Star, 18 Jan 05 Tsunami affects turtle conservation programmes by HILARY CHIEW Marine turtle conservation programmes surrounding the Indian Ocean suffered considerable damage from the giant ocean waves, severely undermining regional plans to save the highly endangered marine reptile. Six out of seven species of sea turtles in the world are found in this region which was ravaged by killer waves triggered by the Dec 26 undersea earthquake off Sumatra. The tsunami disaster has claimed over 150,000 lives, displaced hundreds of coastal communities and disrupted the livelihood of thousands of fisherfolk. The Indian Ocean and South East Asian Marine Turtle Memorandum of Understanding (IOSEA MoU) has started assessing the extent of damage following the tsunami tragedy. “The IOSEA MoU Secretariat is compiling information on turtle conservation projects around the Indian Ocean that may have been affected by the tsunami,” says its coordinator Douglas Hykle who is based in Bangkok. Sri Lankan tsunami survivor Dudley Pereira lost some 200 hawkbill sea turtles to the tsunami when the waves destroyed his sea turtle tanks. In his hands is all that’s left of his collection of the endangered turtles. The secretariat has been coordinating the turtle revival programme in the region since 2001. “We will also collaborate with other organisations which are conducting or supporting assessments on the ground to ensure that important turtle habitats such as nesting beaches, coral reefs, seagrass beds and mangroves are covered by these studies.” Facilities in the Indian Nicobar Islands, Sri Lanka and Thailand were the hardest hit with reports of dead and missing field staff and destruction of research stations. Wiped out The Andaman Nicobar Environment Trust field station at Campbell Bay in Great Nicobar was devastated when seismic waves slammed the island. Six out of seven field staff, including four scientists studying the Olive Ridley and Leatherback turtles, are still missing. A field assistant, Santosh Augu, who sustained two broken collarbones, miraculously survived after he was reported missing for 17 days. Santosh related that a few of them had clung on to a tree, which was uprooted after the third wave battered the coast. He has not seen his colleagues since. The Gahirmatha marine sanctuary in India’s Kendrapara district, the largest breeding ground for the Olive Ridley, escaped the wrath of the tsunami. Nesting at the sanctuary occurs on a cluster of islands – Barunei, Nasi-1, Nasi-2, Babubali and Agarnasi off the east coast. Waves surged into the Babubali and Agarnasi nesting grounds, causing minor erosion on the sandy beach. Forestry personnel who were present escaped unhurt as their camps were a safe distance from the coast. The Kosgoda nesting beach on the southern coast of Sri Lanka was hit by a six-metre high wave which surged 1.5km inland. The Turtle Conservation Project (TCP) is managed by 17 local egg-protectors, six research officers and some foreign volunteers. Everyone was saved except for three egg-protectors who were swept into the sea. The TCP field station located 1km inland was inundated and suffered damage to equipment and educational materials although the building remained intact. Immediate relief efforts went into operation to assess damage and provide basic humanitarian aid to the affected staff and their families. The turtle conservation project which finds its strength in community participation, needs to recommence operations as soon as possible to enable its staff to earn an income amidst the bleak future faced by the fishing community which has suffered heavy losses in terms of damaged fishing boats and gear. Two other nesting grounds at Rekawa and Bundala National Park have yet to be surveyed. Several privately-owned turtle hatcheries were also affected by the killer waves which shattered holding tanks and washed away the reptiles. One operator lost about 10,000 eggs and a few hundred hatchlings. In Thailand, three turtle research facilities were badly affected. At Koh Phra Thong, the Italian Naucrates conservation project was wiped out and suffered heavy losses. Two of its marine biologists, Rebecca Clark from Canada and Lisa Jones from Britain, who were working on the Golden Buddha Beach, were swept away by the giant waves. A memorial fund has been set up in the biologists’ names to continue Naucrates’s conservation work there. Clark was the science manager onboard Ocean Alliance’s whale-research vessel Odyssey before she went on sabbatical leave to Thailand. In memory of the young scientist, the alliance has set up an internship fund for young women from developing nations who are interested in science. Located in the same province of Phang Nga as Naucrates, the Thai navy’s turtle head-start programme at the Tap Lamu naval base was also in ruins. Two thousand turtles from two months to seven years old were lost. In neighbouring Phuket, the Marine and Coastal Resource Development and Research Institute which was conducting research on the Olive Ridley and green turtle, reported 20 missing Olive Ridley turtles. The institute’s biologist, Kongkiat Kittiwattanawong, fears that the tsunami incident may push the dwindling turtle population one step closer to extinction. “It’s too early to tell the full impact but this is certainly not going to help,” he reportedly told Reuters. Rare opportunity Like a true scientist, Kongkiat remains undaunted by the tsunami tragedy. He took advantage of the male green turtle brought in by the waves to chart the reptile’s movement to determine its migratory route. A satellite transmitter was attached to its carapace. Marine turtles are migratory reptiles with vastly separated feeding and breeding grounds as shown by the satellite tracking programme conducted on female animals which come ashore to lay eggs. “We have never been able to attach a transmitter to a male green turtle before, so this should help our understanding of how and where they live,” Kongkiat was quoted as saying. Kongkiat feared that sea turtles might be more adversely affected by the tsunami than other marine creatures as they need to surface regularly for oxygen. The battered nesting beaches strewn with debris and steep sand banks might also deter nesting females during the current nesting season. Hykle acknowledges that it may take months before some of the projects affected by the tsunami are once again operational. The priority now is on immediate relief efforts to get local communities back on their feet. “Nevertheless, it may be possible to coordinate the collection of baseline data from around the region and analyse the impact on nesting in the short-term,” says Hykle, adding that the matter would be raised at the upcoming signatories’ meeting in March. Twenty countries have since signed the MoU. As concern of destruction to coastal ecosystems mounts, it is feared that the surviving turtles may not find their regular food sources like seagrass, as in the case of the green turtle. Under IOSEA MoU’s conservation and management plan, turtle range states in the region are supposed to cooperate in protecting turtle habitats which include both nesting and feeding grounds. “In Thailand, for example, there is discussion about using this tragic event as an opportunity to review zoning regulations in coastal areas, though not necessarily with turtle conservation in mind. However, turtles could benefit if resorts were rebuilt with the integrity of coastal ecosystems in mind, and disturbance from light and other factors was reduced,” says Hykle. The sea turtle scientific community is appealing for public donations to assist in the reconstruction of affected conservation programmes. For more information go to www.seaturtle.org. For information on the memorial funds of Rebecca Clark and Lisa Jones, click on www.oceanalliance.org and www.naucrates.org links Related articles on Tsunami and the environment |
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