A dead green sea turtle was found at the shoreline of Garcia Hernandez town in Bohol province Wednesday noon, August 26, 2020. (Photo courtesy of John Brian Galendez)
TAGBILARAN CITY –– A green sea turtle was found dead by residents of Sitio Camarus, Barangay West-Lungsodaan in Garcia Hernandez town on Wednesday noon.
The sea turtle has a length of 71 centimeters and a width of 63 centimeters.
It was buried by the residents at the shoreline.
Classified as endangered, green turtles are threatened by overharvesting of their eggs, hunting of adults, being caught in fishing gear, and loss of nesting beach sites.
Last month, seven sea turtles were found dead in Bohol.
A report by the National Museum of the Philippines (NMP) said two of the seven turtles (a leatherback turtle in Talibon and green sea turtle in Maribojoc town) had three pieces of plastic bags, a meter long of nylon fishing line, unraveled threads of nylon rope, candy wrapper, part of a biscuit wrapper, and several shorter strands of thin nylon lines inside their intestines.
The necropsy procedures on the leatherback turtle and the green sea turtle were conducted by Dr. Jo Marie Acebes, senior museum researcher of NMP in Tagbilaran, and volunteers from non-profit society Balyena.org.ph.
It was conducted at the laboratory of the College of Arts and Sciences of the Holy Name University, with assistance from their faculty and staff, the Bohol Environment Management Office (BEMO) and DENR-CENRO Tagbilaran and Cortes.
“Although the plastics found inside two of the animals cannot be directly linked to their strandings and eventual deaths, it certainly affected the overall health of the animals. These events are stark reminders of how plastic trash and other non-biodegradable garbage in the seas are harming marine life in this sea with one of the highest biodiversity in our country,” a portion of Acebes’ report read.
Acebes raised concerns over the many reports of strandings of these endangered species in a month.
“This is the highest number of strandings within a short period in the province. Several stretches of beaches of Bohol are known nesting sites for green and hawksbill turtles,” Acebes said.