More than 1,000 baby sea turtles to be released in Tayabas Bay

FREE AT LAST Baby sea turtles crawl back to their natural habitat in Tayabas Bay in Sariaya town, Quezon province, after they were freed into the sea by their local carers, composed mostly of
fishermen and municipal employees, on Friday. —PHOTO COURTESY OF SHERWIN ROSALES

LUCENA CITY—More than 1,000 baby sea turtles locally known as “pawikan” will be set free to their natural habitat in Tayabas Bay off Sariaya town, Quezon province, starting this month until January next year, authorities said.

The hatchlings of different species were taken care of by fishermen, fish warden and the local government in four nesting sites in the villages of Castañas, San Roque, Guisguis and Bignay 2, said Sherwin Rosales, fishery technician at the municipal government’s agriculture office.

They will be returned to Tayabas Bay in batches, he said. The bay stretches from San Juan town in Batangas province to the towns of Sariaya, Pagbilao, Padre Burgos, Agdangan, Unisan, Pitogo, Macalelon, General Luna, Catanauan, Mulanay and San Francisco, and Lucena City in Quezon.

On Friday morning, fishers, villagers and visitors set free 79 olive ridley hatchlings in Sitio Bacungan, Barangay Castañas.

Photos and video posted on Rosales’ Facebook page showed the turtles crawling on the shore toward the bay. Some onlookers recorded the spectacle with their mobile phone.

Rosales said spectators would be welcomed every time turtles were freed to the sea, but they must strictly observe health protocols to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease.

Nesting sites

The coastal villages of Sariaya are known nesting sites of the green sea, olive ridley and hawksbill turtle species, which are considered endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

They return to the beach from October to December and stay for 58 days throughout the nesting period.

Republic Act No. 9147 (Philippine Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act) prohibits the hunting, selling and killing, as well as collecting of eggs, of endangered species.

The local government has been promoting Sariaya, known for its beach resorts and other tourist-oriented businesses, as a “home of sea turtles.”

Most residents along the coast of Tayabas Bay in Quezon used to keep sea turtles as pets. But Tanggol Kalikasan, a Lucena-based public interest law office that advocates environmental protection, has been conducting a campaign to educate the public on existing laws on environmental and wildlife protection. INQ