Showtime for endangered turtles on a dark East Java beach

By Tarko Sudiarno

BANYUWANGI, East Java (JP): It is a thrilling experience to watch turtles lay their eggs under the cover of darkness at Meru Betiri National Park in Banyuwangi regency, East Java.

Humans are not the only fascinated observers along the strip of the Sukamade coastline. Black panthers also look on from the camouflage of sparse brush, probably drooling in anticipation.

Leopards and black panthers are partial to newly laid turtle eggs. As soon as a mother turtle has returned to the sea, the wild cats emerge from their hiding places. They frantically dig up the sand and feast on the eggs.

A subsidiary office of the Meru Betiri Natural Resource Conservation coordinates tours for visitors. Groups usually leave from the camping ground at around 9 p.m. and trek along an 800- meter forest path.

The venue is a slightly sloping beach five kilometers long. Here visitors are prohibited from lighting fires, switching on a flashlight or even smoking a cigarette; the smallest ray of light will deter turtles from laying.

The Sukamade coast is an expansive turtle habitat. In addition to the green turtle (chelonia mydas), the most common species, the Altantic hawksbill (eretmochelys imbricata), olive Ridley (lepidochelys olivacea), and leatherback (dermochelys coriacea) also nest there. Several turtle species are threatened.

In daytime, black monkeys and long-tailed macaques hang from the trees. At night, visitors hear the menacing sounds of nocturnal animals, apparently alerted by the smell of human intruders.

And then there are the panthers. According to Warsito, an official and guide at the national park, visitors always meet a pride of panthers under an old tree.

"I am used to it," he said confidently. "I am not afraid anymore. I just shine my flashlight on the panthers. They will disappear."

He was not exaggerating. A panther ran away when Warsito turned his light on the animal.

The presence of many human visitors will keep the onlooking animals, including wild hogs, at bay. Warsito said they would peek furtively from the bushes fringing the beach.

"We do not see them, but they are watching us."

Warsito said the animals competed with the park employees who collected the turtle eggs from the nests for artificial hatching. When a mound is overlooked, the animals seize their chance to devour the eggs.

On their tour, visitors also view the building which serves as the laboratory. It is located 15 meters from the coastline. The pounding of the waves of the Bali Strait replaces the sounds of wild beasts in the forest.

Turtles revisit the beach several times until they feel it is safe from predators, Warsito said. Although their are numerous turtle tracks, there are not as many mounds containing eggs.

"They return to the sea because they do not feel safe," Warsito explained.

Usually turtles start clambering ashore to lay their eggs beginning at 6 p.m.

Although turtles lay eggs throughout the year, the main season starts in November and ends in March. Warsito must explore the coast to check tracks of turtle fins, resembling small tank wheel markings.

This is an extremely delicate process because turtles are easily disturbed. Even if it has painstakingly dug its hole, the turtle will abandon it if it feels disturbed by a stranger's presence.

Once its egg laying has begun, however, the turtle will remain, regardless of the gawking visitors around it.

A turtle with a 90-cm-diameter shell hung suspended above a hole. Occasionally, it moved its back fins and secreted a transparent fluid to smear and protect the soft eggs as they rolled into a 50 cm hole.

A turtle usually lays 50 to 200 eggs over two and a half hours.

Whenever Warsito finds a turtle laying its eggs, he examines its body to check for the tags which all registered turtles have, usually on their front fin.

After finishing laying, the turtle uses its back legs to cover the eggs with sand. It then assembles a heap of twigs to cover the hole and traces of the digging. Unlike its caution when coming ashore to find a suitable spot, the turtle returns unhurriedly to the sea, seemingly unperturbed by any creatures around it.

After the mother turtle has departed, park employees immediately dig into the sand and carry the eggs to the hatching site in the laboratory. This is a necessity because panthers or hogs would raid the nests wait if they were left until daylight.

Turtles hatched in the laboratory are eventually returned to the sea.

Conservation employees at Meru Betiri National Park also have to ward off intrusions by people, some of whom sell the eggs to those who believe they are an aphrodisiac.

They are also sold as a delicacy. Fifty kilometers away in Banyuwangi, turtle eggs are readily available at market stalls for Rp 750 each. A unique feature of the eggs is that only the yolk hardens when boiled.

Poachers also catch the turtles to sell the flesh and shell. The Balinese prize the meat, which is usually used as one of the components of their traditional ceremonies. Turtles can sell for as much as Rp 500,000 each.

Meru Betiri, established on Oct. 14, 1982, was once known as the last refuge of the Javan tiger, now believed extinct. Today, it is famous for its turtles; the conservation office released 481,329 young turtles into the sea of the 544,818 eggs hatched between 1984 and 1993.

The park offers several tourist and research facilities. Apart from the laboratory, there is a turtle aquarium, lodgings for 24 people and a camping ground for 100. Visitors can trek through the forests to observe other park residents, including herds of Java's rare wild ox called banteng.

The Sukamade coast can be reached from both Banyuwangi and Jember in the southeast. Public transportation from Banyuwangi does not go directly to the site. Visitors still have to use local village transportation vehicles or a motorcycle taxi (ojek) to cover a distance of 40 kms.

Approaching the national park, the road becomes less accessible as it traverses forest and a shallow river which can only be plied by all terrain vehicles like jeeps.

Park employees will gladly accompany visitors to watch the turtles laying their eggs. The amount of a tip is left to the visitor's discretion.