Grace Poe releases sea turtles in Lingayen Gulf

DAGUPAN CITY – Senator Grace Poe led the release of two sea turtles named “Flora” and “Urduja” in the Lingayen Gulf on Saturday night.

The Olive Ridley turtles (Lepiddochelys olivacea) were kept under the custody of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources after they were found in a beach in San Fabian town in Pangasinan province.

Flora, which weighed 15 kilograms and was 26 inches long, was brought by the San Fabian police to the BFAR research center here on March 26, 2017.

Urduja, which weighed 15 kg and spanned 24 inches, was taken to the BFAR center on November 5, 2016 by San Fabian resident Eduardo Dulay.

It was Poe who named the sea turtles. Flora was named in honor of the character played by her mother Susan Roces in a long-running television series “Ang Probinsiyano” while the name Urduja was taken from the mythical Princess Urduja of Pangasinan.

Poe said Roces has a pet turtle “so I am familiar with turtles.”

“It is best that sea turtles are released to their natural habitat where they have a role in balancing the eco-system,” she said. /ee