Leatherback Turtle or NoMoreComeback Turtle

Last Sunday, there was this news about the species of Leatherback Turtle on the front page of The Star Newspaper, not Nanyang Siang Pau or Tamil Nessan, but The Star.The sad news is that they are reported totally extinct in Malaysia due to no more sighting of them landing at Rantau Abang, Terengganu and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) declares that the beleaguered leatherback of Terengganu was “effectively extinct”. But, this was denied by the Turtle and Marine Ecosystem Centre (Tumec) of Malaysia - the national agency mandated to save the turtle – that the turtles were still laying eggs and technically not extinct yet. According to them, to date, there have been five nesting by two leatherback turtles documented this season on the beaches of Dungun, Terengganu and their exact locations are being kept secret.
While agreeing that the population of leatherback turtles, which nest in a few beaches in the world, is on the decline, TUMEC insisted that it was not extinct but merely critically-endangered. In Rantau Abang, the statistics reveal the tragic fact that nestings have dwindled from the thousands in the 1960s to a meager average of 30 per season since 2000; a drastic 90% reduction in around two decades. It may be a case of semantics perhaps, but the fact remains that the majestic leatherback nestings that spawned a turtle-watching tourism industry from the 1960s right up to the 1980s will go down as a sad chapter in the nation’s environmental history. The eggs laid since 2001 did not produce any hatchlings because they were not fertilized by a male turtle. Scientists predict that for every one thousand hatchlings produced; only one will reach adulthood to sustain the population.
This was a sad sad situation for all of Malaysian and generally to the world. This species of turtle must not be extinct due to it is the biggest turtle in the world.
After my experienced being the volunteer for the Ma Daerah Turtle Sanctuary for Green Turtle, I have totally begin to like all of the turtle species and vow to myself that I will make sure that future generations still can see this turtle. How? I am not sure, but one way to help is not to consume any turtle eggs. And I do hope that many of us can have their picture taken as attach.

Ah Beng shirt and pants – RM20
Petrol and Tol – RM60
Challet – RM30
Turtle experiences - Priceless,
For others, there’s Mastercard and Visacard.