More turtles land on Cherating beach

KUANTAN: A total of 376 turtles have landed on Cherating beach here from January to June, compared to only 262 turtles last year.

Pahang Fisheries Department director Datuk Adnan Hussain said the total number of turtle eggs have increased with 34,869 during the same period, in comparison to only 24,204 eggs throughout last year.

"Turtles have landed along the 3.5-km Cherating beach and 95% of them are of Green Turtle species, while the rest are Hawksbill Turtles and Olive Ridley Turtles," he said.

Adnan told reporters this at the 'Turtle Awareness and Conservation Programme' officiated by the son of Tengku Mahkota of Pahang, Tengku Hassanal Ibrahim Tengku Abdullah at Cherating Turtle Sanctuary and Information Centre here, yesterday.

He also said as of June this year, 25 turtle deaths were recorded compared to eight last year.
"The trend of turtle deaths is in tandem with the increase in the numbers of landings. The main reason is that (these turtles) were hit by boat propellers or caught unintentionally by fishing trawlers," he said.

Adnan said the sanctuary centre managed to ensure more than 60% of eggs laid every year were hatched.

The biggest achievement for the centre since its establishment was in 2006 with 93.2% of eggs were hatched, he said. — Bernama