KUALA TERENGGANU: The number of dead adult sea turtles washing ashore in recent days is worrying, says a researcher.

       Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT) Institute of Oceanography and Environment (INOS) field research laboratory head Dr Mohd Uzair Rusli said 26 years of research at the Chagar Hutang Turtle Research Station in Pulau Redang had shown that large mother turtles have high reproductive capability.

       "They have the capacity to produce a lot of eggs which would in turn increase the chances of their babies achieving maturity at 20 or 30 years old.

       "What a pity it is for the country when there are consecutive mother turtle deaths as it will affect turtle population recovery,” he said of the endangered marine creatures.

       Since last Friday (April 15), six turtle deaths were reported in the east coast: two in Pulau Redang, two in Pulau Kapas and one each in Pulau Perhentian and Pulau Tioman.

       On the survival odds of hatchlings, Dr Mohd Uzair said it was better if there were a lot of eggs in a nest because once they hatch, the baby turtles can work together to dig themselves out, conserving energy and enabling them to swim out to sea.

       "The hatchlings take up to five or seven days, and half their energy, to push themselves out from depths of 50-80cm of sand.

       "Excessive energy use will cause exhaustion and put them at greater risk to predators during the early stages of their journey,” he said.

       According to UMT’s latest research findings published in the (bimonthly peer-reviewed scientific journal) Global Ecology and Biogeography on April 19, nest monitoring at Pulau Redang for nearly 30 years revealed an increase of large mother turtles nesting there.

       However, Dr Mohd Uzair feared that if more mother turtles continued to die, conservation efforts that have been carried out for decades would be for nothing. – Bernama