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Turtles has appeared on earth for
more than 100 million years,
to the age of dinosaurs, with the
different that these living
dinosaurs are still surviving through the
decades, despite that environment on earth has been changing throughout
the this period. Studies reports
show
that
it is possible for a turtle to
live
for
hundreds years of time, and this explains
why the
Chinese
society
treats turtles as a
symbol of longevity.
Turtles are categorised according to its physical appearance, behaviour
and nesting site. To your surprise, sex of hatchings is determined by
the temperature of the surrounding sand, which a female turtle lays its
eggs. A warm nest will result in mostly female hatchings while males are
mostly come from a cooler nest.
There are
seven recognized species of sea turtle in the world,
which
are divided into two families, Dermochelydae and Cheloniidae.
The only species that is categorised in the Dermochelydae family is the Leatherback
turtle
The
rest
six species,
i.e.
Green turtle,
Olive
Ridley
turtle,
Hawksbill turtle,
Loggerhead, Kemp’s Ridley
turtle
and
Flatback turtle
are all
belong to the Cheloniidae family. Among these seven
species, four choose to nest in Malaysia beaches.
Leatherback turtle
(Dermochelys coriacea)
The name Leatherback turtle
derives from
its smooth
leathery carapace or shell. Because of its star fruit-like leathery
soft shell, the locals also call Leatherback
‘Penyu Belimbing’. An adult Leatherback
can reach
a
length of
2 meters and weigh up to 900 kg.
It
is the
largest turtle in the world.
Although leatherback breeds in the
tropics, they spend much of their life foraging in very cold seas. Their
body
temperature
raises
several degrees above that of their environment. The powerful front flippers of these turtles enable them to swim for a long periods of time in the sea.
They regularly dive to depth of over 400 meters with a recorded maximum depth of
1200 meters.
Leatherbacks
are
excellent swimmers and divers, indeed.
In Malaysia, Leatherback nests only in beaches in Terengganu with Rantau
Abang famous to be the major nesting concentration.
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Leatherback Turtle
Turtle lay eggs |
Green turtle
(Chelonia
mydas)
Green turtle
or Penyu agar
is called by this name because of its greenish soft body and jelly like
substance. Unfortunately this special feature has also made them a very
popular food in some restaurants. Green turtles are carnivorous in the
first few days of their lives and subsequently become herbivorous. They
feed on seaweeds and algae. An adult Green turtle can reach the length
of 110cm and weight of 150kg. Female Green turtles can lay 140 eggs per
nesting and each takes 50-70 days for incubation.
To date, Green turtles are among the most widely spread turtles in
Malaysia waters with the nesting site can be found in Pulau Redang
Pulau Perhentian and Cherating in east coast, Pantai Remis in
west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and some other beaches in west
Malaysia.
Hawksbill turtle
(Eretmochelys imbricata)
The Hawksbill turtle or Penyu Karah derives it names from the hawk-like
beak. Hawksbill turtle has hard attractive dark brown shell or shell
with yellow and brown overlapping scales. This beautiful shell makes
Hawksbill turtle a hunting target for the tortoise-shell jewelry trading
which lead them to endangering. Adult Hawksbill has a carapace of
70-90cm and weighted up to 60kg.
Beaches in Pulau Gulisaan of Sabah is the major nesting site of Hawksbill
turtle found in South East Asian region. However, this beautiful turtle
can also been found in Pulau Redang of Terengganu.
Olive Ridley turtle
(Lepidochelys olivacea)
Another species, which is found in Malaysia waters is the Olive Ridley
turtle. Olive Ridley turtle is the smallest of all the turtle found in
the world where an adult Olive Ridley is only 60-65cm in length and
35-40kg in weight. It is also called Penyu Lipas by the locals. Just
like the name implies, Olive Ridley turtle has olive-green or gray
colour shell. This turtle feeds mainly on shrimps, jellyfish, crabs and
snails.
Although nesting of Olive Ridley in Malaysia is not concentrated and
sparse, some nesting can still be found in Pulau Redang and beaches in
Kelantan.
77A, Jalan Sultan Sulaiman, 20000 Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu,
Malaysia.
Tel : (609) 626 2020 Fax : (609) 626 2022 / 622 8093 E-mail :
info@redangisland.com
(KPL/LN2117 / 209874W)
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