1. Vol. 1, No.1
May - December 2009
SEATRU news
Photo credit: Pin Shang
Sea Turtle Research Unit News and Updates on research and outreach programs
2009
SEATRU wishes you a Merry Christmas & a fruitful New Year
2010!
Without realizing it, we are almost at the end of 2009. It was indeed a great
Table of Contents:
year for SEATRU. In May 2009, SEATRU was handed over to the new
team headed by Dr. Juanita Joseph upon the retirement of Dr Chan Eng
Wishes from
Heng from the university. It was quite hard for us at first because we were
not familiar with the activities, and taking over in the middle of the nesting SEATRU
season surely made it more difficult for us. With high hopes and patience,
slowly the new team was formed. Indeed, I am very grateful with the new Summary of 2009
team. We have fun and the best thing is we have ended the season with Activities
joy and laughter!
SEATRU Going
This year we had a total of 405 nestings, of which 385 were green turtle
Global
nests and 20 were hawksbill turtle nests. A total of 63 new mothers visited
Chagar Hutang. A total of 33,771 eggs were incubated and from these we
Insight of 2010
have released about 23,223 hatchlings back to the sea. We had a total of
315 volunteers that helped us with the conservation work at Chagar
th Research
Hutang. We officially closed the field station on 17 October 2009.
Highlight for
The Year
2. We would like to take this opportunity, to thank the following for their help
and making it a successful year for SEATRU:
Dr. Chan Eng Heng and her team for their marvelous efforts and
hard work in developing SEATRU into a world re-known research
unit since 1993.
2009 Sea Turtle Volunteers for their kind help in assisting us with
the tedious conservation work at Chagar Hutang. We hope the one
week experience you have at Chagar Hutang will be the best in
your life.
Laguna Resort for giving us the unlimited complimentary ferry
passes from Merang to Redang Island.
Berjaya Redang Resort for their generous help in our research and
turtle camps.
To all nest/turtle adopters and as well as those who generously
donated to SEATRU
To Universiti Malaysia Terengganu for supporting our conservation
and research work.
Last but not least, our sincere thanks to all that involved directly or indirectly in making 2009 a
memorable year for SEATRU.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2010!
From all of us @ SEATRU
Team Leader: Dr. Juanita Joseph
SEATRU Consultant: Assoc. Prof. Liew Hock
Chark
Research Assistant: Yana
5. Summary of 2009 SEATRU activities:
1. Conservation Project at Chagar Hutang, Pulau Redang:
Nesting turtles:
A total of 91 green and 4 hawksbill turtles nested in Chagar Hutang, out of which 59 were newly -
tagged green turtles and 4 newly - tagged hawksbill turtles. The remaining 32 were remigrant turtles
that had been tagged and nested in previous years. The table below summarized the 2009 sea turtle
nesting at Chagar Hutang.
Year First Green Hawksbill Year First Green Hawksbill
Tagged Tagged
1994 2 - 2001 2 -
1995 4 - 2002 2 -
1996 2 - 2004 9 -
1997 2 - 2006 2 -
1998 1 - 2008 2 -
1999 3 - 2009 59 4
2000 1 - TOTAL 91 4
In-situ eggs incubation
A total of 405 nests (385 green turtle nests and 20 hawksbill turtle nests) were deposited in Chagar
Hutang beach in 2009. When we closed the camp at the end of October, there were 18 nests left to
complete their incubation on the beach. The analyses of these nests were performed by our workers.
Hatchlings
Green Turtle
A total of 31,742 green turtle eggs from 367 egg clutches (average of 87 eggs per nest) were
deposited at Chagar Hutang in 2009. From these, a total of 21,894 live hatchlings were produced with
67.4% of hatchling emergence success.
Hawksbill Turtle
The 4 hawksbills monitored in 2009 produced a total of 20 nests (2,029 eggs), with average number
of eggs per nest was 106. From these a total of 1,329 hatchlings were produced with 61.5% of
emergence success.
6. 2. Sea Turtle Outreach Program
i. Sea Turtle Volunteer Program
This year, starting from March until October a total of 315 volunteers from 28 slots participated in the
Volunteer Program. The majority (70%) of the volunteers were students. Starting from next year, each
slot will consists of 8 volunteers, and the program will be closed at the end of September.
ii. Turtle/nest adoption
This year a total of 12 nests and 3 turtles had been adopted. Our newly appointed Vice chancellor of
UMT, Prof Aziz Bin Deraman had also adopted a nest during his first visit to Chagar Hutang on the
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20 August 2009.
iii. Turtle camps
The camp, known as Kem Si Penyu by the Redang villagers, is held annually since 1996 by SEATRU
to educate the 11-year-old students on sea turtles biology and awareness.
rd th
This year, with sponsor from Berjaya Redang Beach Resort, the camp was held from 23 to 25 July
2009 for the Year 5 students of Sekolah Kebangsaan Pulau Redang. A total of 40 students
participated in this camp. We divided these kids into two groups (20 students each) and each group
was brought to Chagar Hutang for two days and one night. The students were exposed to sea turtle
conservation and research, watched nesting activities and emergence of hatchlings, and participated
in interactive activities. Facilitators came from the turtle volunteers and MBM3300 (Marine Biodiversity
and Conservation) students.
7. iv. Visits to Chagar Hutang
Starting from March until August 2009, Chagar Hutang welcomed visitors from fifteen (15)
schools/agencies with 849 participants.
Table below shows the details of the visits.
No. Name of Agencies Date of Visits No. of
Participants
1 Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Kepong Baru 8th March 2009 88
2 Program Penghayatan Taman Laut Zon Timur 23rd March 2009 100
Peringkat Kebangsaan Siri 1 2009
3 Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Perempuan (SMKP, 4th June 2009 40
Pasir Mas)
4 Program Penghayatan Taman Laut Zon Timur 22nd June 2009 100
Peringkat Kebangsaan Siri 2 2009
5 Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Agama Nurul Ittifaq 26th June 2009 80
6 RTM TV Crew 11th July 2009 9
7 Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Seri Selayang 26th July 2009 88
8 Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Seri Payong 3rd August 2009 50
9 Kelab Nuri 6th August 2009 40
10 Team Building Program (Jabatan Pelajaran 6th August 2009 80
Terengganu)
11 Zoo Melaka 11th August 2009 5
12 Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Landas 14th August 2009 110
13 Universiti Malaya 18th August 2009 21
14 Marine Awareness Program from Redang Pelangi 26th Sept. 2009 35
Resort
15 Kerabat Diraja Kedah 3
v. Collaboration with Manhattan Fish Market (MFM) Restaurant through the ‘Christmas under
the sea Campaign’
In this merry month, SEATRU and the Manhattan Fish Market (MFM) are collaborating to bring you
the ‘Christmas under the Sea’ Campaign.
The MFM will be selling Turtle merchandise in the form of a Christmas Pack, which consists of One
Loyalty Card, whereby guests will get a FREE Fish & Chips worth RM15.90 on their third visit; One
Free Fried Country Mushrooms (worth RM9.90) and One Turtle Gift Wrapper, for only RM10.00 per
pack as part of the fundraising activity. With this, 50% of the sales will be contributed to SEATRU for
our long-term conservation and sea turtle research at Chagar Hutang, Pulau Redang.
The launching ceremony for this campaign was held at The Curve, MFM branch on 24 November
2009. So head on to the nearest MFM to show your support!
8. 3. Research
Other than the long-term tagging, nesting and in-situ egg incubation of sea turtles at Chagar Hutang,
SEATRU is also conducting other research:
Monitoring and determination of sea turtles at feeding ground throughout Malaysian waters
using molecular genetics technique (Fundamental Research grant Vot. no. 59133)
Effect of incubation methods on crawling performance of green turtle hatchlings (SEATRU
63130)
Undergraduate Research 2009 (SEATRU 63130)
o Hatch success in in – situ and relocated nest of sea turtles incubated at
Chagar Hutang, Redang Island
o Nesting activities of sea turtles at Chagar Hutang, Redang Island,
Terengganu.
o Forensic investigation of sea turtle eggs sold at Pasar Payang, Kuala
Terengganu.
4. Other Activities
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Involved in exhibition during the 7 UMT convocation as an approach to spread sea turtle
awareness to public. Students of MBM3300 (Marine Biodiversity and Conservation) also
collected signatures for the ongoing ‘Do Not Eat Turtle Eggs Campaign’ organized by the
Turtle Conservation Centre (TTC).
The first visit by the newly appointed Vice chancellor of UMT, Prof Aziz Bin Deraman to
Chagar Hutang on the 20 August 2009.
Assoc. Prof. Liew Hock Chark and Uzair were invited to give talks to the participants of the
2009 Marine Awareness Program conducted by Redang Pelangi Resort (24 – 27 September
2009). The participants also visited Chagar Hutang Turtle Sanctuary.
Chagar Hutang was chosen for the Earth care program, Episode 11 on TV1. Filming for this
program was conducted on 29 & 30 July 2009. The program was aired on 9 December 2009
at 2.30pm (TV1).
9. SEATRU also accepted one intern student from Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Siti Norlida Bt.
Che Draman@Ramly, a student majoring in Conservation Biology. She did her 10 weeks
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internship starting from 25 May to 1 August 2009.
SEATRU with the help of Marine Biodiversity Students from Universiti Malaysia Terengganu
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conducted a Marine Awareness Program 2009: ‘Voices of the Sea’ on 15 October 2009. The
target of this program was the Primary Six students from school around UMT. The main
objective of this program is to increase awareness and to promote ocean conservation among
school children.
SEATRU going global……..
This year, SEATRU had gone global. It was indeed a happy moment for us, given the opportunity to
present and introduce SEATRU internationally.
Felicity Kuek won the first prize for the Malaysia BAYER 2009 awards on her proposal on the
sea turtle volunteer program conducted by SEATRU. Her project was on "Conservation
through Education", emphasizing on sea turtle conservation. The three main objectives of this
project were: i) to discourage the consumption of turtle eggs; ii) to create awareness on sea
turtle conservation, and iii) to encourage sharing of knowledge and experience. She was in
Leverkusen, Germany from 8 - 13 November 2009 to present the project she had conducted
at Chagar Hutang.
Uzair submitted a presentation on the sea turtle project he is currently doing for his master
research (Effect of incubation methods on crawling performance of green turtle hatchlings)
and was chosen as one of the candidate for the Japanese student exchange program. He will
be in Kagoshima University, Japan from 5 - 16 December 2009.
Lionel was in the Philippines from 23 - 27 November 2009 attending the East Asia Seas
Forum organized by PEMSEA. He presented the conservation activities conducted by
SEATRU.
Juanita was invited by the French Embassy in Malaysia to present on the sea turtle
conservation and research conducted by SEATRU at Redang Island. The conference was
held at the National Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung, Taiwan from the 25 – 29 November
2009.
We are hoping that more opportunities will come for SEATRU next year!
10. Research Highlight for the year:
Poaching of sea turtles at feeding ground around Malaysian waters had become one of the
worrying threats for sea turtles. Because of that, in 2008 we came up with a research
proposal to identify sea turtles populations at feeding ground. In 2009, the Ministry of Higher
education had granted a fund to conduct this research. This research aimed to identify
feeding grounds in Malaysia and to identify the turtle stocks occupying each area using
molecular DNA techniques. It is hoped by identifying turtles at feeding grounds, we can
determined which breeding populations are affected by commercial fisheries and poaching
activities.
To date, first and second samplings were conducted at Redang Island, Tun Sakaran Marine
Parks and Sipadan Island. A juvenile green and hawksbill turtles were caught at Redang
Island. On the other hand, a total of 69 green and 9 hawksbill turtles were caught during the
Sabah sampling trip. Blood samples were successfully collected for genetics study. The
turtles were also tagged, measured and examined for any injuries and ectoparasites before
releasing them to the water. Sampling throughout Redang, Bidong and Perhentian Islands
will be conducted until the end of 2010. The west coast of Sabah and Sarawak will be
sampled in January to April 2010.
Turtles were captured by snorkelling or SCUBA diving.
The turtles were measured, tagged and examined for any injuries and ectoparasites before
releasing them to the water. Blood samples were collected from the neck.
11. Insight of 2010:
Here at SEATRU we are working hard in making this unit as fantastic as it can be. There will
be so many changes to come. Of course, it will be the best for everyone - to the new
SEATRU management team, to our volunteers, to the university, etc. We will be having a
new building to replace the old Turtle house (though we have no clues where it going to be,
we will refurbish our boat Si Penyu 1 and many other new things added to enhance the
conservation and research program conducted by SEATRU.
Some insight of the 2010 activities:
January: We will start the New Year with our recycle project. The theme will be
‘RECYCLE campaign by SEATRU into a greener UMT’
February: Volunteer Program 2010 is open for registration. Space limited, so hurry
up!
March: Cleaning and preparing the research station for the 2010 Volunteers
April: Chagar Hutang will be opened to volunteers
May: Releasing of the head-started green and hawksbill turtles at Chagar Hutang.
These turtles are currently at KLCC Aquaria. Two of the hawksbill turtles will be
deployed with satellite transmitters.
June: Turtle camp (Kem si Penyu) for Year 5 students from SK. Pulau Redang
July: Photography competition
August: Cycling for the turtles!
September: Closing of the field station for the season at Chagar hutang
12. Acknowledgements:
We would like to thank the following parties for their support:
All participants of Sea Turtle Volunteers Program (STOP)
All nest/turtle adopters and as well as those agencies who
generously donated to SEATRU (listed alphabetically):
Kelab Borneo.
Redang Pelangi Beach Resort
Warga UMT
Berjaya Redang Beach Resort
Laguna Redang Island Resort
Terengganu State Government
The Manhattan Fish Market
13. Did you know?
We are very fortunate to have Assoc. Prof. Liew Hock Chark as our
consultant. He was one of the founder of SEATRU. He became the
co-project leader from 1993 – 2002. Assoc. Prof. Liew has years of
experience and an expert in sea turtles research and conservation,
and as well as on coral reef biology. He retired from UMT in 2007,
however in August 2009 he was offered to serve in UMT as a
contract lecturer. With his help and guidance, surely SEATRU will be
moving forward. SEATRU would like to thank Assoc. Prof. Liew for
his help, guidance and advices.
