The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) appealed to local law enforcements and coastal communities for the protection of endangered marine turtle’s nesting site, following the recent egg laying of the Leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) in Sta. Ana, Cagayan Province earlier this month.
It was reported that the marine turtle has laid eggs along the shoreline for the third time now. DENR Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo Loyzaga said that the incident gives the sector more reason to pursue putting up a marine scientific research station in the said town.
In addition to that, a study from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said that it takes 20 to 30 years for a sea turtle to mature, and can lay several times throughout nesting. The branch expects about a hundred hatchlings in two or three months.
Earlier in June, security officers of a resort in Cagayan found the marine turtle crawling on the shore before nesting two meters away from the first recorded nesting area. The Community Environment and Natural Resources (CENR) Office of Aparri and the Philippine Coast Guard took immediate action.
They later confirmed that it was the same Leatherback turtle that laid eggs before based on its physical features.
Two coastal officers were hired by DENR to patrol the marine turtle’s nesting site in the area. The Cagayan Economic Zone Authority also vouched to deploy personnel to provide assistance and monitor the resort.
The Leatherback sea turtle is considered the largest turtle species, and can migrate to and from different nesting beaches. Despite its wide global distribution, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) stated that they are listed as Vulnerable and are even Critically Endangered in some areas of the world.
