Ocean Sentry
(From news.bbc.co.uk)- Born in captivity, the next few hours are going to be hectic for this baby hawksbill turtle. The straits and the Indian Ocean beyond await them. But most will die young. The survival rate is atrocious – only 1 in 1,000 will make it from egg to adulthood. The hawksbill turtle is critically endangered.
For decades it has been hunted for its prized shell. But there is a more serious threat to this animal long before it reaches the ocean – human beings who eat its eggs.
Enforcement of laws which protect the hawksbill turtle is non-existent.
A notice board a few paces back from the edge of the beach in Melaka says:
“Welcome Home Hawksbill Turtles”. But home is where they are most in danger, from human development and human consumption.
(By Robin Brant)
