Off the coast of the Thai resort island of Phuket, marine conservationists have released 11 leatherback turtle hatchlings into the Indian Ocean, hoping they can thrive in the wild and return in two decades to breed.
The release of the year-old turtles, each the size of a rugby ball, follows an intense conservation effort to increase the leatherback turtle's chances of survival following the discovery in 2018 that the endangered species had returned to lay eggs in southern Thailand.
The strongest turtles managed to successfully enter the ocean, while others perished after birth, so a program was launched to care for the weak leatherback turtle hatchlings, according to Pinsak Suraswadi, Director General of the Department of Marine and Human Resources. Coastal Thailand.
Thailand is one of five countries, including Sri Lanka and Canada, that have managed to care for this species of baby turtle until its first year. A typical leatherback turtle will lay eggs after 20 to 25 years.
They were released in April by conservationists and are equipped with satellite tags to monitor their progress, as part of an international initiative by conservation nonprofit Upwell Turtles.
“It is necessary for us to study the travel routes of baby turtles to understand where they are going so that we can implement measures to protect leatherback turtles while they are hatching from their nests,” Pinsak said.
Despite having an evolutionary history of over 150 million years and surviving the extinction of the dinosaurs, the species is now critically endangered in the Pacific region.
This type of turtle has an estimated population in the Pacific of fewer than 2,300 adult females, according to the World Wildlife Fund.
After their release, the turtles still face dangers from fishing gear, ingesting plastic waste and exposure to toxins.
“I am happy to know whether our effort in caring for leatherback turtles for a year will be fruitful or not,” said senior fisheries biologist Hirun Kanghae.
“If they survive, that answers everything about conservation and restoration of the leatherback turtle population in the best way possible,” he added.
Source: CNN Brasil
Bruce Belcher is a seasoned author with over 5 years of experience in world news. He writes for online news websites and provides in-depth analysis on the world stock market. Bruce is known for his insightful perspectives and commitment to keeping the public informed.
