Pulau Selingan (Turtle Island):

One of our long held desires has been to see turtles in the sea. One of the must see things on our list was the sea turtle. We were fortunate to be able to work in an overnight trip to Selingan to take part in the turtle programme, where we would get to view a turtle that had come ashore to lay its eggs and take part in the release of baby turtles back in to the ocean.  At 9:30 we boarded a speedboat that took us on the 40 km in 60 minutes. The sea flat calm and we zipped along nicely. The guides tell me that Selingan is close enough to swim to the Philippines. We stayed in an air-conditioned chalet which is well concealed from the beach and all meals were provided. We had the afternoon to spend at our own leisure, in my case I hired snorkeling equipment and spent it in the water enjoying the coral reef area and the abundant fish life. No turtles were seen at this stage. Of course we had Kermit and I was able to get some great underwater photos. After 6:00 pm none is permitted to go on to the beaches and at 6:30 everyone meets at the restaurant where they go upstairs and view a small turtle museum  The exhibits in this area are very interesting and give a good explanation of the history and reasons for protecting the turtles. At 7:00 pm we viewed  a movie which gave more information. That was enough to get us all excited we just might get lucky and have the opportunity to view a turtle laying its eggs.

The Clams were amazing

I couldn't help myself, each clam was so different.

I never realised that they had such a variety of colours

There were quite few giant clams.

The coral was so colourful. They reminded me of tiny Christmas trees

These fish were very colourful and aggressively protected their  patch of coral

I was pleased when this fish stopped still long enough for me to catch his photo.

This cheeky fellow swam right up to my mask.
I loved my afternoon in the water enjoying the fish and coral.

Everyone had to stay off the beach after 6:00 pm in the evening.
 During the afternoon we enjoyed swimming  here.

The whole process of climbing up the beach and laying eggs takes its toll.
After laying the eggs the mother turtle rests. 

After the movie it was time for dinner, buffet with a range of tasty local dishes. Drinks could be purchased from a small shop. After dinner it was waiting time, everyone waits in the dining area for the call that a turtle has arrived. Apparently the turtles wait offshore until they are convinced it is quiet onshore. It takes them about an hour to slide across the sand and dig their hole for laying eggs, during this time they can be easily disturbed. Once they have positioned themselves over the hole and start laying eggs they go into a trance and as long as they are not approached from the front they lay eggs. As many as 140 eggs can be laid in one clutch. This part of the process takes an hour to an hour and a half. We were called about 9:00 pm because a medium sized Green turtle had come ashore and was laying her eggs. It was amazing to think that turtle have been on this planet for 600 million years and we were able to see this continuation process taking place. Once the eggs are laid a local ranger removes the eggs and carefully places them into a bucket for transplanting to the hatchery. The female covers the hole with sand and was quite unaware that they had been removed. At this stage we were able to go around to the head and take photos without the flash. The turtle would spend around an hour resting after she had completed her egg laying task. She just lay peacefully while the local ranger cleaned her shell of barnacles, then measured her and checked her for tags. This particular turtle was tagged which confirmed that she was from this island and the this was her second clutch of eggs this year. 

Once the laying is done, the ranger moves in and gives the turtle a  a clean and polish.
She was also measured and checked for a tag.

There were 140 eggs in this clutch. 19 turtles on the night we were there.
1440 eggs were collected and buried in the hatchery.

Once we had viewed all of this we followed her eggs to the hatchery. This is a fenced off area where the eggs are buried in the sand. The fence is designed to keep out snakes, rats and monitor lizards. The hole had already been dug and the eggs were gently placed in the hole a wire mesh about the size of a bucket was placed around the hole to protect early hatchlings from getting lost. The information regarding , type, date, number of eggs recorded on a sliver of bamboo and placed inside the mesh. This has to be done quickly to prevent the eggs from dying.

These guys work very hard collecting eggs and saving turtles from extinction.

Our batch of eggs recorded.

The last job to be done that evening was to release 140 turtles that had hatched four days earlier. These guys were in a shopping basket and looked ready to go. They were released onto the sand and a guide stood in the water with his spotlight on. The turtles headed towards the spotlight. Once in the ocean they began their life in the ocean. The chances of them surviving to return to this beach and continue the ancient egg laying process  is not stacked in their favour. For us it was amazing to think that this has been going on for so long and that man made issues are impacting so badly that turtles are badly in need of help to survive. 

These guys are  4 days old and ready to swim off to begin their life in the ocean.

Off they go!