Rare turtle rescued in Tayabas Bay

By: Delfin T. Mallari Jr., Inquirer Southern Luzon

A 40-kilo green turtle was found drifting near the shoreline of Tayabas Bay in Sariaya town in Quezon province on Friday and was eventually released back to the sea, an official of an environmentalist group said.

The green turtle was 63 inches long and 61 inches wide, according to Zenaida Bernal, coordinator of Tanggol Kalikasan-Southern Luzon.

It is considered an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

Bernal said a fisherman named Luisito Diones found the turtle struggling to reach the shore of Barangay San Roque. Diones reported his discovery to village fish wardens.

Before the turtle was released back to the sea on the same day, Mel Camara of the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office attached a copper tag “PH 0301” to the right flipper of the turtle for documentation and monitoring, Bernal said by phone on Sunday.

Aside from the coastline of Sariaya, sea turtles are often found and rescued off Alabat and Atimonan towns in Lamon Bay and off Agdangan and Unisan towns in Tayabas Bay, according to Shiela de Leon,

TK-SL executive director.

Late last year, Sariaya officials released 47 Olive Ridley turtle hatchlings back to their habitat at Tayabas Bay.

Once a marine habitat ruined by destructive fishing practices, the Tayabas Bay off Quezon, Marinduque and Batangas is now a sanctuary for endangered sea turtles locally called as “pawikan” after Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala, then a businessman-environmentalist, initiated the bay’s rehabilitation and the “Save the Endangered Species Campaign” in 2003.