South China Sea Turtle Relocation Plan

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http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/222275/1/.html

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*11 endangered sea turtles to be released, tracked

By Wong Mun Wai, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 31 July 2006 1901 hrs *

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*SINGAPORE : A batch of captive turtles on the endangered species list is

being shipped from Singapore to the South China Sea where they will be

released.

 

Nanyang Technological University's scientists have fitted the turtles with

satellite tracking devices to study how they will survive in the wild.

 

2006 is the Year of the Turtle - not according to the Chinese Zodiac

Calendar, but according to the United Nations Environment Programme, which

is devoting the year to celebrating the marine turtle and its conservation.

 

And as part of that, 11 turtles will be released back into the wild to study

how they live.

 

National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said, " Today's event is

significant. It is not just our contribution to the research effort but also

we are launching a modest education effort to try to educate the children. "

 

And the message being sent is turtles are an endangered species, with

Leatherhead, Green and Olive Ridley turtles making up the batch being

released.

 

Dr C H Diong, Associate Professor of Zoology, Nanyang Technological

University, said, " The purpose of the project is to release (these) captive

turtles in the open sea in international waters to understand and study

their open sea migratory behaviour...and their dive behaviour to see if

they're able to move and travel on their own, and able to use their

navigational cues to travel and migrate, and find new feeding grounds,

perhaps even to find new members of their own kind to mate and reproduce. "

 

To study the turtles, they are fitted with global satellite tracking

devices.

 

The batteries on them are expected to last at least a year so scientists can

study the data.

 

The turtles are being transported from Singapore in a cargo ship heading to

Hong Kong.

 

On the journey they will be released in open waters in the South China Sea.

 

The aim is to ensure they will be put into safe waters - away from shipping

- and more importantly, where species of their own kind live.

 

The scientists plan to release the turtles around 10am on Tuesday.

 

Meanwhile, a Sea Turtle Conservation Gallery has opened at Sentosa's

Underwater World.

 

The gallery has the support of several Indian Ocean and Southeast Asian

countries in promoting turtle conservation and education. - CNA/ms*