First, there is a slight movement in the sand; then a small crater appears and suddenly, dozens of tiny turtles swarm out of the ground. Instinctively, these little reptiles know exactly in which direction they must go.
As fast as possible on their four fins, they slither and slide across the beach for their life — with monitor lizards, crabs, reef fishes and birds of prey already waiting for a welcome meal.
Only one out of 1,000 baby turtles will survive in the world’s oceans to finally return to their birthplace after around 20 years, when the females are ready to produce eggs.
“It is so touching when those little creatures hatch into the daylight and immediately know what to do. And it breaks my heart every time when one has just made it into the sea and then right away is grabbed by a bird,” said Roswitha Recker.
For the past two and a half years, the 54-year-old German has been committed to the protection of sea turtles around the Derawan Islands of East Kalimantan. Married and resident in Yogyakarta for 25 years, the mother of two is volunteering as a coordinator for the German Turtle Foundation.
The non-profit environmental foundation was founded in 2000 by a film crew from Germany after shooting a documentary on the marine life of the Derawan Islands, located to the east of Berau district, a chain with only two inhabited islands.
Worldwide, the region is one of the most important breeding sites of the Green Turtle and the feeding grounds for Leatherback, Hawksbill, Loggerhead, Flatback and Olive Ridley turtles.
All of these are endangered species, thanks mostly to the continuing consumption of turtle meat and eggs in many Asian countries.
Although sea turtles are 100 percent protected in Indonesia today, the illegal trade is still big business — in Berau too. The eggs the size of ping-pong balls are used in obat kuat (tonics) and are also smuggled to China. At the central market of the provincial capital Samarinda, turtle eggs are easily available for Rp 5,000 apiece.
The adult animals are not safe from poachers, either: Only in May, the Indonesian police captured a Chinese boat with 397 dead sea turtles on board.
“Hundreds of females in formalin — none of them will ever lay eggs. I could not even look at those pictures,” sighed Vany Ahang Moord, head of the turtle monitoring and research station on Sangalaki, one of the uninhabited Derawan islands.
Due to its protected location and ideal conditions — an open and clean, white sandy beach with protected and overgrown sand dunes directly behind — around 40 percent of all female turtles in the area lay their eggs on the 13-hectare island.
It is also the perfect place for the turtle monitoring station, built by the local government, the local Natural Resources
Conservation Center (BKSDA), the Turtle Foundation, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the local Kehati Foundation and the German Embassy.
Besides the turtle station, Sangalaki, which is mainly populated by giant monitor lizards, only has a currently closed diving resort.
In total, 11 men live and work in and around the wooden stilt house that is the station. Electricity comes from a solar power generator, waste is separated and fresh water is limited, since it comes from large rain drums.
Three times a day, patrols circle the island to calculate the number of new hatchlings by counting the egg shells, to check the state of the remaining turtle nests and — if needed — to relocate them in a fenced hatchery. In the night, the staff survey how many turtles land to lay their eggs.
The WWF fund two of the staffers while seven are employed by the Turtle Foundation. The local police and BKSDA have each provided one man, mainly to protect the others: The first turtle activists on Sangalaki had to flee the island after they were repeatedly threatened and beaten up by armed poachers.
“After initial resistance, the local people have now begun to work with us,” said Mulyo Hutomo, head of the BKSDA-Berau. “But the awareness is not yet high enough, there is still a lot of work to do. Therefore, it is really helpful that we are supported by international NGOs.”
Since 2002, Sangalaki is a fully protected nature reserve. Snorkeling or diving around the recovering island will bring any visitor within sight of adult turtles, which measure more than a meter long.
Every night, dozens of the heavy females, weighing up to 150 kilograms, crawl onto the beach — just this June, a new record of 52 visited in a single night. With great effort, they dig a deep hole of 70 centimeters and lay up to 100 eggs in it.
“It is totally fascinating, how these creatures that look like they came directly from the Stone Age pull themselves panting onto land and leave real truck trails behind them,” said Recker, who comes every other month to the island.
The trained teacher and translator volunteers as a mediator between the German donors, the local NGOs and authorities.
“It is not so much about translating, but rather imparting the meaning between the lines. Especially the bureaucratic processes often consume a lot of time. We really need to be patient, although we are running against the clock of extinction,” she said.
Encouraged by the recently increasing numbers of turtles hatching on Sangalaki, the Turtle Foundation, together with the BKSDA, plans to open new monitoring stations on Bilang-Bilangan and Mataha, two other uninhabited Derawan islands.
“Although we still have occasional encounters with illegal fishermen around here, Sangalaki is relatively safe for now,” said Moord.
“Despite the personal risk, it is time for the new challenge to widen the protected area and to assure that we still will have sea turtles here in 30 years.”
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