"As soon as the eggs are laid, they are immediately removed by the Rangers - and taken to the Hatchery. The Rangers then dig a" nest "in the Hatchery and place iron wire to protect against the lizards who want to dig the eggs. We went back to the beach to see how 21 hatchlings were released - so brilliant. There were five turtles on the beach that night and they laid a total of 337 eggs."
The Turtle Islands Park, also known as Pulau Penyu National Park. This park comprises
four islands, which are Pulau Selingan, Pulau Bakkungan
Kecil, Pulau Gulisan and Pulau
Libaran. The Park is famous for its green and hawksbill turtles, which lay their eggs on the beaches of the islands. The islands are
protected within marine parks on both sides of the Malaysian and Philippine borders. Green turtles and hawsbill turtles lay their eggs all year round, consistent with sightings reported by park rangers who have witnessed nesting and hatchlings everyday. The best time to visit the Turtle Island would typically be from July to October, when the weather and sea condition is more favourable.
By boat to Pulau Selingan from Sandakan town. No public boat services are available, and one really needs to go through the Parks office or arrange a visit through a tour company. It would take approximately an hour’s boat ride from the jetty along Jalan Buli Buli Sim to reach Selingan Island. If you are lucky you might catch a glimpse of Irrawaddy Dolphins
Turtle Island, or Selingan Island, is the largest of these islands and has been developed to house the park's headquarters, a visitors centre, basic tourist facilities and a turtle hatchery. The other
islands are usually off bounds to the casual visitor. The nearest mainland town to the park is Sandakan. This was the former capital of Sabah, and was
once in the mid-1970s, the heart of a "seemingly" booming timber
industry. The town today is probably most renown for the Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre (Sepilok), which is located on its outskirts.
Turtle landings usually occur after dusk. The park has a sensible policy of allowing visitors to see only one landing a night.
This allows undisturbed nesting to go on throughout the night. Whilst waiting for the evenings highlight, all that is left to do is to laze around the beach or snorkel. The west side of the island is ideal for this.
They are clean, quiet, and offer some interesting coral and sea life for a decent days snorkelling.
Have a wander around the island and you'll be surprised how many turtles have landed in the last few days, their tracks, like mini-tractors, which remain in the sand for a number of days.
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Sea turtles are typically not the most social of marine creatures, however, they do enjoy a good tango every once in a while and will set off in search of a mate. Once they have successfully done the deed, nature will take its course and the female turtles will make their way to shore to nest. These turtles can take around 1 to 3 hours to complete their nesting as they plod to shore, hollow out a nest with their flippers, lay, and bury their eggs before returning to sea.
Selingan has a small visitors centre, which is highly recommended, and is open later in the evening. You will not only learn about sea turtles but
also of the different parks in Sabah and its unique nature. The evening's program begins after supper, when the wait for the first landing begins. If you are lucky this could be right after dessert!
Once a landing has been sighted by the Park Rangers, the rangers will escort visitors to the nesting turtle. Remember not to shine your torchlight's on the nesting mother, as it is stressful on the turtle.
Once the eggs have been laid, the eggs are removed by the Park Staff. This is to ensure that wild predators, such as the monitor lizards, do not get to the eggs. After a
period of incubation the eggs woul. These hatchlings will then have to fend for themselves until they are mature enough to mate and return back to the Turtle Islands.
The hatcheries are situated 50 feet away from the high water mark. Each pit is 30 inches deep, fenced around with wire mesh and identified by
a bamboo marker bearing the serial number of the nest, collection date and number of eggs.
After an incubation period of between 50 and 60 days, the hatchlings dig their way up to the surface of the pit, usually at night, when the sand is cooler.
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The hatchlings are normally released in the early morning or night from various points of the islands.
Once in the sea they are exposed to numerous dangers including being eaten by bigger fish as well as birds. Fatalities can also occur when they encounter plastic bags or mistake tiny hardened balls of oil for food.
The sea turtle is a reptile which spends all of its life in water. Only the female turtle returns to land to lay its eggs. All sea turtle eat marine animals such as sponges, marine worms and molluscs. Adult green
turtle are largely vegetarian, eating underwater grasses and seaweed while the hawksbill turtle is carnivorous and eats invertebrate animals of the coral reefs. The natural longevity of the sea turtles is unknown.
They grow very slowly, taking from 10 to 20 years to reach maturity.
Three fully-furnished chalets are available on Selingan for accommodating up to a total of 20 persons per night. There is
now a restaurant on Selingan where visitors can order hot meals. Apart from the Turtle Islands, the other attractions in the eastern region include the Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre, Sepilok Forest Reserve, Australian War Memorial and further a field, the lower Kinabatangan river
which is one of the best places to see a wide array of wildlife from thecomfort of the boat!
