A Hop, Skip as well as a Jump to a Hawksbill Turtle Conservancy
Take a day trip to Pramuka Island to learn about endangered turtles as well as explore their territory.
With about fifty passengers aboard, the outfitted Zenvolution left Marina Ancol a half an hour late as well as skipped across a flat, golden mirror of water. My husband as well as I felt the promise of a day of relaxation. Our eyes focused on the misty horizon, although our minds considered what swam inside sea. We thought about turtles – more directly, Hawksbill sea turtles – as well as imagined their burnished shells gliding amongst the coral reef, sharp beaks snapping at sponges.
An hour later, we strolled along Pramuka’s harbour. Pramuka can be part of a 110-island chain. Though the idea can be several hundred land masses short of its name, Thousand Islands, or Kepulauan Seribu, stretches 45 kilometres into the Java Sea. Pramuka Island can be among three dozen islands in use, as well as one of a dozen which can be inhabited. About 200 families call the idea home. The Thousand Islands administrative offices are located here, as well as the centre for Thousand Islands Marine National Park.
The information map showed the park’s office location. The turtle conservancy was next door. We headed to the opposite side of the island, skirting the football field as well as waving hello to scouts in tan uniforms as we went.
The hawksbill sea turtle can be known as penyu sisik locally, as well as by scientists as Eretmochelys imbricate. Like various other marine turtles, its body can be housed in a carapace, or protective shell, as well as flipper arms propel the idea through the water. The hawksbill’s namesake as well as distinctive characteristic can be its sharp, downward, curving beak which the idea uses to tear sponges through coral reefs. The mature turtle grows to a metre long as well as weighs about 80 kilograms, as well as though omnivorous, the idea eats about 450 kilograms of sea sponges a year. Such a ferocious appetite keeps the reef in balance.
In 1973, Pak Salim was encouraged to change the odds for the hawksbill. Foreign visitors to the area educated him as well as offered training as well as sponsorship for his initial conservation program. While the territory for the hawksbill ranges through the east coast of Africa to the southern coast of Asia as well as to India, the idea remains within tropical as well as sub-tropical waters inside Pacific Ocean, extending through Korea to fresh Zealand. The Indonesian islands are within the turtle’s territory, providing ideal circumstances for aid as well as nurture. Still, the idea was Pak Salim’s love of animals which drew him to care for the hawksbills.
When we arrived at the conservatory, the energetic, unassuming, swift-moving man dressed in a t-shirt, shorts as well as cap quietly stalked the conservatory doing chores. although he spoke no English. By happy coincidence, another family ventured in to see the turtles before a dive trip. Their college-age daughter, Ima, translated a conversation for us with Pak Salim. He said the idea took twenty years before the government recognized his actions to save the turtles, while he continued to nurture eggs as well as yearlings until the turtles could be released into the sea. In 2012, he released 1,500 hawksbills, although in years past, the numbers have totalled 3,000 or more. He has always worked without a salary, relying on help in all forms. Since the conservancy’s inclusion inside Marine National Park, Pak Salim has received many awards as well as a major Japanese sponsorship. The humble surroundings don’t indicate any waste of funds. There can be no entrance fee as well as donations are welcomed.
The conservatory consists of 12 or so ponds. Six are hatchling ponds for one as well as two-year-olds with another six separate ponds for larger animals which vary through three to 5 years of age. These more mature hawksbills assist research efforts. Pak Salim says the water in each pond must be changed three times a day after feeding the turtles, although the idea can be hard to get clean water. A mounted storage tank using a hawksbill painted on the side attests to his efforts.
My husband asked about feeding times, as well as Pak Salim turned away without a word. He reappeared with frozen chopped fish which he plunged into the water to thaw. Like any youngster waiting on a meal, the hawksbill scamps went mad for the fish, crawling over one another to reach the edge where Pak Salim stood as well as smiled. Yearlings snapped at the fish as well as pushed using a flip to tear off a mouthful. Pak Salim tossed chunks into the pond as well as talked to his turtle friends. I remembered a sign outside which said, “If you talk to an animal, they will talk to you, as well as you will know each various other. although if you do not talk to them, you will not know them, as well as what you do not know, you will fear.”
There can be no beach at Pramuka Island, so beyond visiting the turtles, people generally join dive trips or hire local boats to ferry them to snorkelling spots like we did. Our blue boat coughed a cloud of black diesel smoke as well as chugged to a reef where Captain Baron threw bread into the sea, creating a fish frenzy around us on the reef. Afterward, we picnicked on the sand at Semak Daun. Back on Pramuka, we bought ice cream as well as waited an extra thirty minutes for our boat to take us back to Jakarta. The pace seemed exactly right for a relaxed Saturday exploring the undersea world of the hawksbill turtle.
Reserve discounted boat tickets online at pulauseribu@wijayatama.co.id or buy them at the window at Marina Ancol, Dermaga 6, for Rp.275,000 round trip. Boats leave Jakarta at 6.30am as well as 10.30am as well as return through Pramuka at 230pm.
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A Hop, Skip as well as a Jump to a Hawksbill Turtle Conservancy
A Hop, Skip as well as a Jump to a Hawksbill Turtle Conservancy