There are 7 species of sea turtles in the world, and all are endangered or vulnerable (green, hawksbill, olive ridley, leatherback turtles have lived in Malaysia; other species include loggerhead, Kemp’s ridley, flatback and leatherback). In Malaysia, all but two have become extinct or functionally extinct (not laying eggs). The two that are endangered but still laying eggs in Malaysia are the green sea turtles and the hawksbill sea turtle.
.
At Bubbles, they make their private beach turtle friendly: they only use red lights at night to avoid confusing them (turtles can’t see red), they bring turtle eggs to hatch in an area protected from predators and human clumsiness, assist hatchlings in getting to the sea, and guests are taught to be mindful of the turtles and eggs and are invited to participate in these conservation activities.
.
I was only able to stay at Bubbles for just less than 2 days and yet was able to witness a nighttime green turtle hatching, a mother green sea turtle laying and hiding her eggs (84 of them) and a rare daytime hatching. Plus the rare male green sea turtle sighting while snorkeling. Another guest told me that I was the luckiest person to have seen all that in the short time I was there. Indeed, it was very lucky, and I am grateful to the turtle spirits.
.
The nighttime photos are too blurry and grainy since there was only blunted red light illumination, but the daytime hatching was amazing to see and record. Baby turtle emerging from the sand nest (see the video of the hatchling above!):
Baby turtles in the bucket before their protected scramble to the sea:
The baby turtles at the bottom of the nest were covered in ants, which the volunteers and interns picked one by one with tweezers from their bodies. I wonder it that’s why they hatched during the day: to get out of the ant-infested nest before they got eaten alive.
.
When I donated money to sponsor a turtle and support their efforts, Ricky, one of the turtle project interns, asked me if I wanted to offer a name for a new/yet unnamed mama turtle who comes to nest. I was in a sleep deprived haze from the middle-of-the-night turtle observations, but finally I offered the name “Ginkgo.” Like the species of tree that endured and survived the atomic bomb, I hope the turtles manage to survive human encroachment and destruction of their natural habitat. At least there are some humans are willing to help them out, and for this I am grateful to the Bubbles turtle project, and others who are doing similar work for our marine ecosystems.
.