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| Schooling Devil Rays |
It has been another busy couple of weeks at Scuba Junkie,
both at our Semporna/Mabul resorts as well as up in Kota Kinabalu. Recently, whilst
diving around Kota Kinabalu, our Scuba Junkie team came across an upsetting
sight. Having just jumped into the water for a quick dive site check, Rowan –
an Instructor at Scuba Junkie KK - came across four Spinetail Devil Rays
entangled in a large fishing net. He
quickly gathered the rest of the staff and interns on the trip and they began
their rescue mission. Whilst they worked to cut the rays free the rays remained
placid, seemingly aware of the efforts to help and welcoming the assistance, allowing
Rowan to cut through the netting. As soon as the first one was freed it zoomed
off, showing us just how quickly and effortlessly they can move. The second ray
they saved was extremely weak, and struggled to swim away once released. The
video shows Rowan lifting the ray and moving it slowly through the water. This
allows water to pass through its gills, putting oxygen back into its body - it
quickly regains its strength and swims away! Thanks to the quick action of
everyone involved two of the rays were cut free and swam off, their lives
saved; unfortunately for two, they were too late. It was both an exhilarating
and disheartening experience for those involved.
A video of this once in a lifetime experience can be seen at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OEWbb7GC3Q
The next day the net was removed, and it was a large one.
Without our intervention who knows what else could have become trapped and died
in it. This is a clear demonstration that we need to get this area protected.
These were discarded nets, not ones in use; maybe they were damaged and
fisherman left them behind, not wanting to haul them back onto their boats. It
is a disgraceful practice, and in this case we can consider it lucky more
things were not caught up in the nets. Turtles and dolphins have previously
been found dead, having drowned whilst entangled in similar nets. Getting to
save two Devil Rays is something extremely special, the net may have caught
four, but who knows how many more are swimming around in the waters off of Kota
Kinabalu!
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| Before the hatchlings break free, the sand in the nest starts to drop (See the small indent near the bottom of the photo) |
It’s been a good few weeks in Mabul as well. Remember all
those turtle nests we have in our hatchery? Well we were very lucky to have one
hatch just a few weeks ago. Dave and Steve had spent a few hours overseeing the
relocation of a new nest, a Green turtle that had come up and laid 134 eggs.
Just as they had finished relocating the nest to our hatchery, the sand from
one of the old nests erupted with tiny baby turtles. A night of non-stop turtle
action! Other staff, interns and guests
were alerted to the action. The little Green turtle hatchlings were carefully
placed in a bucket full of sand and carried down to a few meters off of the
shoreline. From here they are released, just a few at a time – something that
everyone can get involved with. We released
101 from this particular nest. This is an extremely controlled
procedure, no torches or camera flashes are allowed so that the setting is kept
as natural as possible, and everyone who releases a turtle is required to wear
gloves. Everyone is asked to stand well to the side, so there is no risk of the
hatchlings running into the crowd. It is an amazing sight, watching tiny little
turtles sprint into the ocean, relying completely on natural instinct to know
where to go and how to get there.
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| Sprint to the Ocean! |
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| Tiny Green Turtle!! |
We still have a further 6 nests in our hatchery, some of
which are due to hatch in the next few weeks. With Turtle Week just around the
corner, it’s a great time to be on Mabul!
Facts about Green Turtles:
- Green Turtles are named after the green colour of their fat
- Green turtles hatchlings have a special ‘egg tooth’ that they use to break out of the egg, that they subsequently lose
- They reach sexual maturity between 26 and 40 years
- The temperature of the sand determines the sex of the hatchlings
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