750 sea turtle hatchlings make their way back to sea
Around 30,000 turtle eggs were kept safely along the coast of Cox's Bazar from November to March
A total of 750 sea turtle hatchlings returned to sea after being released along various coastal areas of Cox's Bazar on Friday (20 April).
Among those, 350 were released at Pechardwip in Ramu, 250 at Sonadia Island in Maheshkhali, and 150 at Madarbunia in Teknaf.
Around 30,000 turtle eggs were kept safely along the coast of Cox's Bazar from November to March, said the officials.
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Of these, 5,000 hatchlings have already been released into the sea.
"A sea turtle conservation and breeding centre is located on the sandy shores of Pechardwip. It takes about 65 days for the turtle hatchlings to emerge from the sand," said Abdul Latif, a conservation worker of the Nature Conversation Management (Nacom)'s EcoLife project.
He added that approximately 2,700 turtle eggs were collected from a four kilometre area of the beach this season and buried in the sand at the conservation centre.
Abdul Kaiyum, manager of the Natural Resources Management and Climate Change at Nacom, said, "Turtles are now facing threats. On the one hand, turtles are dying due to trawlers, and on the other, mother turtles are getting caught and killed in fishermen's nets when they come ashore to lay eggs.
"Dogs are also causing the death of turtles. Therefore, sea turtles are increasingly at risk," he added.
Dr Shafiqur Rahman, DPD of Nacom's EcoLife project, mentioned that 29,450 eggs have been collected over the last three years.
"85% of the hatchlings from the collected eggs were successfully hatched and released into the sea. This method is referred to as ex-situ conservation. Ten in-situ conservation efforts have been made to release hatchlings into the sea in the last three years," he said.
Nacom has been conducting sea turtle conservation efforts for about 20 years, funded by USAID and Summit and guided by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
"Turtles play a unique role in maintaining the balance of marine biodiversity by cleaning up marine debris, weeds, and consuming jellyfish larvae," said Dr Shafiqur Rahman.
He believes governmental and non-governmental efforts are needed to conserve these environmentally friendly turtles.
Mohammed Sarwar Alam from the South Forest Division of Cox's Bazar said, "Turtles are nature's sweepers. They play a leading role in maintaining the natural balance by consuming marine debris.
"However, due to our negligence, this beneficial creature is losing its habitat. Turtles are also dying caught in illegal fishing nets. Due to increased lighting from tourism development, turtles are being attacked by dogs when they return to the shore," he added.
Sarwar expressed hope that the coastal areas would be made safer for sea turtles with the government's different measures to protect marine animals.
The number of mother turtle deaths on the shores of Cox's Bazar has been particularly high this season, with 103 deaths reported in the last three months.
Although trawling ships and fishermen are blamed, experts see a lack of good intentions in turtle conservation efforts.
