A young turtle hatchling rushing to get to sea from the Masarang Tulap Beach hatchery
A group of educators from HK schools and universities visiting the Tulap project
It’s World Sea Turtle Day on the 16th of June and what better time to talk about sea turtles? Around the world, sea turtles are perhaps the most well-known and beloved group of reptiles. Whereas many people recoil at the sight or even the thought of lizards, snakes and crocodiles, sea turtles seem to hold a special place in their hearts.
Unfortunately, as with similarly beloved species like orang-utans, public affection does not always translate into eco-friendly lifestyle changes that would benefit that species. All seven species of sea turtle are listed as vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered by the IUCN due to climate change, being caught as bycatch and most infamously of all, plastic pollution. However, just as people still buy products with palm oil even if they love orang-utans, their supposed love of turtles does not seem to stop them from buying single-use plastics, eating fish caught using unsustainable methods and making little attempt to reduce their carbon footprint as much as possible.
Yet in spite of these ongoing threats, hope does still exist for sea turtles, perhaps more so than for many other endangered species. Thanks to programs like Blue Planet 2 and A Plastic Ocean, consumers are at least starting to rethink their plastic usage and some countries like the UK have seen single-use plastic usage fall by as much as 53%. Meanwhile, conservation efforts over the past several decades have led to an increase in the populations of many turtle species, particularly green turtles.
One such conservation effort is the sea turtle conservation project carried out by the Masarang Foundation, which is well placed to carry out such efforts due to its strategic location. Just an hour’s drive away from Masarang’s headquarters in Tomohon, Sulawesi, lies Tulap beach, a 3 km stretch of prime turtle nesting gound. Five species of turtle are known to nest here from March to September, namely the Green, Loggerhead, Olive Ridley, Hawksbill and even the elusive, critically endangered Leatherback Turtle.
Tulap Beach
To ensure that the beach remains in prime condition for the turtles, Masarang conducts regular beach clean-ups with Tasikoki volunteers, removing what would otherwise be a plastic obstacle course adding to an already arduous climb up the beach. Clutches of eggs that are laid here are then gathered up every night and incubated in a turtle hatchery, after which the hatchlings are hand released into the sea to ensure that they survive this perilous journey of their lives without being picked off by crabs or seabirds. The survival percentage of the turtle hatchlings from our hatchery is 94%, which is mostly due to the 20 years experience and releasing over one million hatchlings by our Tulap manager Melky, who knows exactly how to find the nests, and how to perfectly rebury them immediately in our hatchery at the right depth for each species. This is important because after more than a day the embryo’s can be disturbed when relocating the nests. While visitors and volunteers with Masarang are allowed to see hatchlings and, on rare occasions, nesting mothers on the beach during night safaris, these are kept to a minimum and then only done in the presence of an experienced guide to reduce disturbance to the turtles.
Masarang staff Melky collecting eggs to transfer to the hatchery to protect them from poachers
Additionally, in light of the very small population of green turtles in local waters, Masarang has also stepped in to help fulfil a vital role that they would otherwise play in their ecosystem: sea grass maintenance. As a result of the absence of green turtles and dugongs due to local hunting pressure, the sea grass off the beach at Tasikoki had become severely overgrown, reducing the amount of light reaching the sea floor. This prevented the growth of small corals and also reduced the overall diversity of fish, crustaceans, marine invertebrates and other species living there.
So in order to address this issue (as well as to give Tasikoki volunteers a break from their usual duties), last year Tasikoki’s volunteer coordinator, Gavin, started a weekly activity to go snorkelling over the sea grass beds to trim the longer growths. Though this may seem more like a way to cool off in the fierce tropical sun (which it is) than an effective conservation strategy, but Tasikoki workers and volunteers have already reported dramatic and positive changes in the biodiversity of the sea grass beds, with species that had not been seen there in years prior to the project suddenly staging a comeback. With luck, the work of the Tasikoki teams and wonderful volunteers and others around the world fighting for turtle conservation, before too long perhaps the turtle numbers will once again be high enough to pick up where they left off on trimming these lawns of the sea. In addition the seagrass becomes a valuable additional component in our organic compost, contributing valuable nutrients to grow more organic food for the animals at the Tasikoki Wildlife Rescue and Education Center.
Thank you for the support on this special day for sea turtles to our highly appreciated supporters:
1. Island School, HK, and Morgan Stanley, HK, for funding the hatchery and a poacher rehabilitation programme.
2. LUSH for donating funds from their SLush fund last year for a project aiding security and protection for the turtles and eggs at Tulap beach. We hope to continue getting funds from their new Re:Fund system of support. Fingers crossed! https://hk.lush.com/article/goodbye-slush-hello-refund.
3. All the students, volunteers and supporters who are helping to clean the beach, protect the turtles/hatchlings and fund the important work being done by the Foundation.
4. Thank you to Ross Burrough, HK, for the photographs.
We are all grateful for this kind help and assistance. With over one hundred eggs in every nest on the beach, hundreds of thousands of turtle eggs have been protected at the Turtle beach over the last few years and this has resulted in hundreds of thousands of sea turtles getting a chance at life!
Please visit, volunteer, donate equipment or funds if you can to help the Foundation sea turtle projects.
Volunteer or Visit: volunteer@tasikoki.org
Donate Time, Equipment, Funds: masarang.hk@gmail.com
Thank you.
Masarang HK Team
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