HERE comes another huge sea turtle shock. A massive count of 12,000 turtles were estimated to have been killed, judging from 9,000kg of dried meat seized in Kudat waters on Nov 29.
SANDAKAN: A total of 500 turtle cages were given to the management of the Turtle Islands Park (TPPP) to help protect and conserve the turtles around Bakungan Kecil, Selingan and Gulisan Islands, near here, recently.
SILO mindset and practices hurt. When Alex Yee started the turtle hatchery in Libaran Island in 2013 at the asking and technical inputs from the Wildlife Department, it turned out to be a silo operation, a lone vanguard in chase of a transcendental cause.
Reaching out to a village chief for support, he found not only rejection but also literally obstruction – a classic silo mindset. Reaching out to the Sandakan local authority to clear a kilometre long turtle nesting beach buried under a mountain of garbage, he was also rejected, another silo mindset.
One day, a few years later, he sounded his intention to quit but changed his mind when a lone journalist and supporter reminded him of Vince Lombardi’s famous quote: “Winners never quit, quitters never win”.
POOLING the interest and strength of everybody can do wonders. Pooling power works also in sea turtle conservation, even though turtles are not a preoccupation of the human race.
IN 2019, the Terengganu government grimly declared their Leatherback turtle had gone extinct from Rantau Abang. A sad West Malaysian failure to keep this great ancient gift that had existed in its present near-tonne form since the days of the dinosaurs.