Satellite Transmitter deployed with the help of Army Camp
Posted on 28 August 2007
© WWF-Malaysia/Lee Chuen Yap
A hawksbill turtle attached with a satellite transmitter at Kem Terendak with the cooperation of military personnel and the state Department of Fisheries.
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WWF-Malaysia with the help of the Kem Terendak military personnel, state Department of Fisheries and licensed egg collectors deployed the third satellite transmitter this year on a female hawksbill turtle on the beach of Kem Terendak on early Saturday 11 August 2007. The adult sea turtle (fitted with flipper tags MY4444 and MY4445) was 81.8 cm in shell length and weighed 52.0 kg. She laid 133 eggs earlier that night and was released at around 4.30 am. Her movements have been tracked by satellites since.
In order to deploy a satellite transmitter, a turtle must be intercepted before it returns to sea after nesting. This process can be completed within four hours or less.
The two to three kilometres of beach in the army camp is part of an important string of beaches lining Melaka’s coast which is home to the largest nesting population of hawksbill turtles in Peninsular Malaysia.
Illegal poaching of nests is rampant and poses a threat to the survival of the species, especially at prime nesting beaches that are scattered along the coastline.