The Green Turtles - Living with Hazards and Hope   By Ahmer Ali Rizvi  remarkable decline has been observed in the turtle's visitation and nesting at Karachi beaches in  the last decade, despite commendable efforts of an overly dedicated team. The glimpse of a giant crawling creature emerging from sea to the sand excited me, since I was waiting so long for an interesting event to start. It was a full-sized matured female Green Turtle that was coming out of water to make a nest and lay eggs at Sandspit Beach. It was 10:45p.m. that night, and the moon was utterly absent from the sky. One could only see the twinkling stars and some gleaming waves scattering on the shore. I, along with my work-fellows, was walking along the shore intending to watch and photograph the entire session of digging nest by turtle, laying eggs, covering up the clutch with sand and returning to the sea. This activity is known as 'turtle's nesting', and it is accomplished in two to three hours, usually at night when there is little disturbance at the beach. The turtle started digging a pit after crawling slowly for 30 to 40 meters away from the shoreline. She first dug a larger pit to settle herself in. She then started scooping out the sand through her hind flippers to make a deeper burrow for the clutch. This hardship took more than an hour. Finally, she started laying numerous eggs one after another. Usually the clutch size of a Green Turtle varies from 80 to 120 eggs per nest. I could not count exactly the number of eggs she laid; however, I took some splendid snaps during the course. On her way back to the sea, I took some more snaps and left. It proved to be the most successful and easiest photograph session I had with an animal in the wild. I was advised not to appear around the turtle and to take photographs until she would have started laying eggs. Otherwise, it could make her return without nesting. Once a turtle starts laying eggs, she anyhow, completes the clutch even if she finds someone around. Prior to this excursion, I had never had a chance to watch marine turtles in real. I did not even know much about them and the nitty-gritty of their nesting at the beaches of Karachi. Before going to the expedition, I visited Sindh Wildlife Department and met with Mrs. Fehmida Asrar, the project officer in Marine Turtle Project. She is famed as 'Turtle Lady of Karachi', given that she is running the turtle's protection project with great devotion for the past 23 years. She briefed me about marine turtles, their nesting phenomenon and the threats facing by Green and Olive Ridley Turtles globally. She also informed me about the objectives and operations of the turtle project, as well as the efforts and dedications of her team with respect to the protection of turtles in this region. She further pointed out various constraints confronting her towards the achievement of the project's objectives. The Green Turtle is the second largest species of marine turtle family after the Leatherback turtle. It can grow up to 3.5 feet in carapace size, and could be as heavy as 180 kilogram. It is found throughout the world in all tropical and sub-tropical oceans. The prominent nesting beaches of Green Turtle include the U.S. Virgin Islands, Florida Bay, Mexican Islands, Costa Rica, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Pakistan, India, Indonesia, Philippine, Malaysia and Australia. Green Turtles breed in different countries in different seasons generally from July to November. In Pakistan, Green Turtle nests for eggs on Sandspit and Hawksbay beaches throughout the year with a remarkable apex from September to January. A breeding female nests three to four times during the season. Every year, an average of 800 nests has been observed at beaches of Karachi. Coastal areas of Balochistan are also believed to support a large number of Green Turtles. The Green Turtle species is facing various challenges in order to last in the marine world. The threats to its population include several factors, from its low growth rate to other environmental constraints. The rate of successful hatching from eggs in an ideal situation and habitat is only 55%. The eggs buried in sand are also foraged by crabs, crows, eagles, feral dogs etc. The survival rate of hatchlings in sea is as low as 0.1%, since a large number of baby turtles are eaten by fish and other underwater creatures. Many large and small turtles are also trapped in the nets of fish-trawlers. There is another perilous fact about newly born turtles that they start crawling towards light. Those who have been hatched in night hours near any house or hut with lights will move towards it instead of going into the sea. There is a risk of being consumed by dogs as well as quashing by any vehicle for those little turtles. Human intrusion is another key factor to the destruction of its population. The meat of Green Turtle is popular in many countries; therefore, it is netted largely. The eggs of Green Turtle are also taken away by people, since they are believed to cure various ailments. Commercial and industrial expansion on beaches like construction of private huts, hotels, resorts, recreational clubs and hydropower plants etc. cause a sever destruction to turtle's nesting grounds in many parts of the world. Presently, the status of the Green Turtle is endangered on all of its locales. Numerous projects are running in many countries in order to protect Green Turtles from total extinction. The Marine Turtle Project run by Sindh Wildlife Department is one of them. The project team works round the clock at Turtle Nursing Centers, two of them at Sandspit and one at Hawksbay. The team consists of five guards and a few volunteers who live nearby. They are providing protection both to the Green Turtles and its laid eggs by guarding them from predators. They start tracking along the beach soon after dark and mark the places where turtles are sighted on the course of laying eggs. After the return of turtle to sea, the workers dig the pit, collect eggs and transplant them in netted enclosures inside the hatcheries. The collected eggs are incubated under the sand in safe enclosures and the hatchlings are produced in 40 to 60 days. The workers are also responsible for checking each enclosure for new hatchlings every hour. As soon they find any baby turtle out from the egg, they immediately carry it to the shore and release it safely into the sea. During our expedition, we also entered one of the turtle's hatcheries and probed the newly born turtles in detail. We then took the baby turtles to the shore and release them into the sea. The project team is also maintaining a proper record of each egg and the hatchling since the project was started. "Approximately 1.7m eggs have been transplanted from open area to the safe enclosures and more than 0.5m hatchlings have been released into the sea since the project was started in 1980," informed Fehmida Asrar. Breeding females are also tagged with number plates on their front flippers. These tags help in determining the movement of Green Turtles across oceans since they have long migration tendency. In 1995, a female turtle was tagged and released in the sea by the Marine Turtle Project team at Hawksbay. The same turtle was recaptured from Beraisole Village, North East Africa exactly after 365 days. The distance negotiated by this turtle was about 3,240 km with an average of 8.9 km per day. Some other turtles tagged at Hawksbay have also been caught in Iran and India. A remarkable decline has been observed in the turtle's visitation and nesting at beaches of Karachi in the last decade, despite commendable efforts of an overly dedicated team for long. "There are many complex problems, which are increasing day by day in order to provide a healthier and safer environment to turtles at our beaches. Inadequate research facilities, lack of co-operation among environmental organisations and, above all, shortage of funds are the key problems," Fehmida added. Marine Turtle Project is the last hope for the survival of Green Turtles in this region. Though, the population of turtles has not been increased so far, however it has been sustained to an extent that the Green Turtle can still be seen nesting at the beaches of Karachi. If the project was not there, we would have been unable to explain to our next generation how the Green Turtle looked like. Public awareness and co-operation is essential in order to achieve the best of the turtle protection project. People who visit Sandspit and Hawksbay beaches for picnic, should realise that these beaches are the crucial abodes with no choice for turtles to multiply their population, in other words, to continue their existence in this region. Therefore, these turtles need people to ensure their safe existence and survival. Their nesting beaches also need to be taken care of. One should stay calm, quiet and distant when one spots any turtle coming out of water. It's better to get closer silently and photograph only when a turtle has started laying eggs. Pick up any found hatchling carefully and release it into the sea immediately. Inform Wildlife department staff (stationed nearby), if any turtle is found with tags in its flippers. Avoid throwing food-waste and garbage on beaches as well as in the sea.   Credits:   The News on Sunday, The News International (www.jang.com.pk) ©1997-2004 Wildlife of Pakistan-All Rights Reserved.